Let's build a WiFi 3D Printing Filament Diameter Sensor

[@bhuvanmakes]

Very Well implemented, enjoyed your dehumidifier video as well, making one for myself ! This sensor will be the perfect addition

[@SasaKaranovic]

Thank you! I am glad you liked it! Let me know those two turn out!

[@CNCKitchen]

Amazing work!

[@SasaKaranovic]

Thank you! :)

[@sandaiulian8630]

Such a sensor may be used in the future for active flow compensation, based on real time measurements.

[@SasaKaranovic]

I agree. It could be very useful for demanding/challenging filaments or if you really want to "chase microns" on your prints. So far my experience is that most of my filaments are relatively dimensionally accurate, or maybe I'm not printing designs that are that demanding. Or maybe my standards are low. :)

[@JRT3D]

This would be great addition to the ARTME extruder :)

[@SasaKaranovic]

Let's add it then! :)

[@orestes_io]

Super cool to see. Here to ask for an optical sensor as well :)

[@SasaKaranovic]

Thank you! Your voice has been heard! I make no promise other than I will try to make an optical filament sensor as well at some point. :) I feel that making it "price competitive" to WInFiDEL/InFiDEL would be potentially a hard thing to do. But maybe that's part of the challenge. :)

[@Iam2lazy2register]

it would be great if it could measure not only one axis but two axis (have a second sensor 90° rotated ) to account for elliptic filament

[@SasaKaranovic]

You could do that but I'm planning on building an even better (optical) sensor for this purpose. Stay tuned! :)

[@filamentchris3d145]

​@@SasaKaranovichey sasa with methode will you prefer to mesurment optical? Laser, linear photo arrays, AI camera dia dedection?

[@SasaKaranovic]

There are obviously a couple of different ways I could do this... Since I plan on releasing it as open-source open-hardware project (same as this one), I'm still considering which one would be the most useful to the 3D printing community. There is no point in making a sensor that is extremely expensive or very difficult to make, because at that point someone could just buy an industrial/commercial sensor and call it a day. :) If you have suggestions or something you would like to see, feel free to let me know! Also subscribe if you don't want to miss when the video goes live. :)

[@bobharley6505]

Any news about the optical sensor?

[@SasaKaranovic]

I am planning on making another video about it, but can't promise when it will be available. There are (many) other videos that I am working on, so the best I can do is "soon!" :)

[@Vic-g5d]

WOW! very nice work Sasa , would love to purchase a few of these boards, and it seems so would of A-LOT of others , I know of 2 ARTME'S and a Filabot that is in need of such a sensor , are you going to be putting on your site soon ? :)

[@SasaKaranovic]

Thanks! I'm glad you like it! Actually enough people have asked for it, so it's going to be available on the shop soon! :)

[@Vic-g5d]

@@SasaKaranovic Fantastic, Thank you !

[@daf051983]

Will definitely give it a try.Did you bought the pcb or assembled it yourself?

[@SasaKaranovic]

Let me know how it goes! I assembled it myself. It's a very simple design so it's pretty easy to do.

[@RickDenoire]

I propose to develop the following, more practical gadget that I am really missing when 3dprinting: A measurement of filament slippage at the extruder gears. This is a big problem because slippage causes inconsistent extrusion. This would be possible by comparing the rotation of the gears with the actual linear advance of the filament. In case of a discrepance of those two measurements, a command could be sent to the controller of the 3d printer to compensate that deviation (increasing or decreasing extrusion) - volila, we have perfect prints! I would immediately build such a project!!

[@SasaKaranovic]

Thanks! I don't know how useful this would be to people in the community but on paper it sounds like a great idea. And it would be fairly straight-forward to add it to the filament diameter sensor. So you get the best of both worlds.

[@RickDenoire]

@@SasaKaranovic Let's simplify the project by stepwise execution. 1st step: build a device thats just measures the linear advance of the filament and offers an output interface. That alone would be great. 2nd step: measure the rotation of the gears of the extruder, using an optical encoder for example (which many common 2d paper printers use) for example. 3rd step: compare both and provide a digital output, an analog signal or just a lighting alarm LED as minimum when significant slippage or skipped steps are detected. Do not underestimate the importance of such a device to improve 3d print quality!

[@tommyscott7638]

where can I get the pcb to make one? do you have them? THIS ROCKS>>>>> I need this.

[@SasaKaranovic]

Thank you! I'm glad you like it! The PCBA's will be available on the web shop soon. There is also a GitHub repository link in the description if you want to take a look.

[@tommyscott7638]

@SasaKaranovic yes I found the GitHub link I was browsing through there. I was trying to get a list together of the materials needed and the actual board itself. If it's listed in there, I may have overlooked it. That's also great news. I'm glad you'll have them available soon.

[@alex3223223]

any way to buy this board in Greece? i've tried buying it from the website and it doesnt let me to go through!

[@SasaKaranovic]

Thank you for letting me know. Ordering to Greece should work now.

[@Ranbarilan]

Awesome job ! are there any plan to implement it into Klipper / Happy-Hare so that u can adjust filament multiplier live?

[@SasaKaranovic]

Thanks! I'm glad you like it! I mentioned in the video that I really don't have a use for filament diameter sensor, but I made one just for fun (and also potentially help people who have the need for one). :) I don't use Klipper/Happy-Hare (yet) but I think it should be fairly straight-forward to integrate it. So I am happy to offer support if anyone wants to take a first stab at it.

[@annyfss]

Hello, I really liked the project and I would like to use it for a filament extruder that I am designing. My question is whether you designed the PCB from scratch or if it can be purchased somewhere?

[@SasaKaranovic]

Thanks! Filament extruder sounds like a very interesting project! The PCB in the video is designed from scratch. At the moment it is not available on the web shop, mainly because I thought nobody would want to buy one. :) The design is open-source open-hardware so you should be able to just order a batch from any of the online PCB shops. Let me know if you need any help :)

[@calverajarda]

Hi its possible buy this sensor assembled? Czech Republic. Thanks.

[@SasaKaranovic]

Thanks for asking! The PCBAs are being manufactured right now and should be available on the web shop for purchase in a couple of weeks. :)

[@chschmit]

@@SasaKaranovic Are the PCB's almost ready to be listed on your website? I'm really interested in purchasing one ASAP.

[@SasaKaranovic]

@@chschmit if everything goes to plan I expect to have them available this, or next week at the latest. Please feel free to reach out via email if this is "urgent". :)

[@3dhustle]

deathstock? where can i get one?

[@SasaKaranovic]

I am working on getting these to be available on my web shop... :) In the meantime you also have the option of building one yourself if you can't want.

[@3dhustle]

@@SasaKaranovic thanks! Im about to try building one. Also in my country is hard to get components like that

[@SasaKaranovic]

@@3dhustle let me know if you need any help or get stuck. I would send you a sample but I already sent out all the extras I had laying around.

[@delita2663]

What PCB manufacturer did you use and do you think you might offer the completed PCB in your shop?

[@SasaKaranovic]

Hey! This is a pretty simple design so any PCB manufacturing shop would be able to manufacture it without any issues. A couple of people posted on GitHub which PCB vendor they used and how much it cost them.

[@rhyssmith4773]

Hi Sasa, I notice there is no board or build instructions linked. Do you have a printables link or PCBway reference so we can build our own? Or a BOM & schematic? Thanks

[@SasaKaranovic]

Same as all my other projects, all source files are available in the projects Github repository.

[@karneol3793]

Would you send an assembled sensor to Switzerland? 😅 I initially wanted to build one on my own, but the components are often only available in large quantities and as I will probably never need the other components again, it would be great if you could offer the sensors. 😃

[@SasaKaranovic]

I am on vacation right now but I might have a board laying around at home that I could send you. So send me an email to remind me to take a look when I'm back. I also might add this sensor to the web shop to make it easier for people to get one. :)

[@ChannelDavis]

@@SasaKaranovic Thank you for your video. Please let me know if it would be possible for me to purchase this sensor for my filament extruder. I live in US.

[@NuttiestNut]

I also really want to buy one. -Sweden

[@emircosic7860]

Jel ovo Saša iz gimnazije Vaso Pelagić

[@SasaKaranovic]

Pozdrav Cosa!

[@emircosic7860]

@@SasaKaranovic i tebi druže veliki poz!

[@justbecause4994]

Any plans on selling kits for these?

[@SasaKaranovic]

Thanks for asking! I am not sure if there is any demand for such "product"? Maybe because I don't really have the need for this sensor... But if there is enough interest I can find a manufacturer to build a small batch and add them to the store.