Anet A8 Rpi camera Bed mount

2016.11.09 Added v3, based on v2 but with longer horizontal arm. With bed all forward and extruder at the far right, it has 0.5 cm gap from lens :)

2016.11.04 Added v2 that is very stiff and won't wobble. This is shorter, but you can't use the macro lens with this or it will hit the X axys. Working on v3.. Also added a timelapse video recorded with v1. Lights are very poor, that should be the next mod :D

Mounting a camera for timelapse\web monitoring was an idea I had from the beginning. So when I started planning the installation of OctoPrint I was looking around for a camera mount. The key was mounting the camera on the printer bed so resulting timelapse are much better. I found the beautiful mount design from Jerware http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:442063 and tried to adapt it for our Anet A8 (thus maybe it is good for other Prusa i3 printers too). So the back\front camera case and tilt arm are Jerware's original design, while the camera arm mount is my remix.

You need:

• Raspberry PI Camera (v1 or v2 - v2 has better quality);
• Rpi camera extension cable http://www.gearbest.com/raspberry-pi/pp_451150.html?wid=21 I bought three different sizes for maximum versatility;
• (optional, but recommended) 0.67 X Detachable Wide Angle Macro Camera Lens for Mobile Phones http://www.ebay.it/itm/122118851619?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=421705232711&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT it's only 1,30 eur and you have a perfect wide camera lens for this application!

Check out all my Anet A8 projects:

• Anet A8 Prusa i3 Simple filament guide (Horizontal) http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1764285
• Anet A8 RPi Camera Bed mount http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1867549
• Anet A8 Y Axis Cable Chain v2 http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1915486
• Anet A8 hotbed thermal insulation http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1917197
• Anet A8 Power supply cover w\LCD power meter http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2087761
• Anet A8 Z-Axis RPi Camera mount for panning timelapses http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2265949
• Anet A8 LED Illumination MOD http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2285674
• The One - Anet A8 - Universal Spool Holder https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2456038
• Anet A8 Easy Magnetic Extruder Access Mod (8x2 magnets) https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3512382

Print Settings

Printer:

Anet A8 (Prusa i3)

Rafts:

No

Supports:

No

Resolution:

0.2

Infill:

20%

Post-Printing

Place the RPi Camera inside the case, the case inside the tilt arm and then on the bed mount. You must place the mount not on the heated bed itself but on the bottom aluminium tray. The mount is thin enough to not hit the printer parts at the bottom.

I designed it with front installation in mind, that's the reason fot the extra-long horizontal mount. After that I changed to back installation and a shorter mount will work too and will have less vibrations, so stay tuned for version 2.

Tip: if you have a v2 camera you should thin a bit the inner edge of the back camera case, you can see two small black dots in one picture.

How I Designed This

I'm a real beginner here. I used Tinkercad and now I'm trying to learn 123D Design.

Bed mount v2 timelapse

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Category: 3D Printer Accessories