Manufacturing Stack Light - Great for Printer Farms

- Project Statement!!

I am always looking for a way to add a little bit more chaos into my "normal" working life, like indicating my meeting status to everyone is a four block radius!

The projects main purpose includes the formerly mentioned meeting status, equipment usage, occupancy status, or a seizure inducing strobe system. (that last one is not recommended)   

Or do you own a 3D printing farm and want to see the status of the farm at a glance? Indicate the status using Stack Lights and g-code commands!! 

Listed below are some sections to help with building and assembling your light stack, additionally I'll cover some ideas for future improvements in the Roadmap section.  

- Knowledge!!

What is a stack light (or tower light)? These are used as an indicator light that you will usually see on a manufacturing floor or on industrial equipment. This allows technicians and engineers to see the condition of running equipment without having to walk all the way around. I plan on using mine at my desk to tell other people if I am free. (or NOT) 

Wiki Article -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_light

 What do the colors mean? 

• Red: A failure condition or fault 

• Amber: A warning or alarm that is not a fail condition

• Green: In operation or ready to go

• Blue: Help is needed to continue 

• White: User defined option

But obviously, you can pick whatever color you want, along with whatever the colors mean to you. 

Case in point, mine will mean:

• Red: Busy

• Green: Free

• Yellow: Away

• Blue: HELP!

- Future Roadmap!!

- Smart Stack Light Expansion

I plan on creating a version with a microcontoller that I'm calling the 'Smart Circuit Version'. This will differ from the external control version as you'll be able to control it from your desktop with an app or via the MS Teams app. (coding in progress) 

- External Control Box Prints

I am currently finishing the design for a box that will house the relay board and a panel mount connector for ease of use. So stay tuned for that! 

- Videos

I will upload some videos for each version as I get them complete. 

- Stack Light Build Guide!!

Printing the Parts

All parts for the stack light and mount can be printed using normal settings with 2 perimeter walls and 15% infill. I designed them to minimize supports as much as possible. The only exception would be the magnetic mounting bracket, which will need 4 perimeter walls and 30% infill or more.

Total print time should be around 6 hours or so. (Prusa Core one) 

The same perimeter and infill settings can be used to print the base control box. The base should take about 2.5 hours to print, but will need some supports. 

All of the printed parts are designed to fit and hold together with friction including the stand holder and mounting bracket. However you can super glue them if needed.

The design is meant for some mixing of parts to give you the option/freedom to build it anyway you want, additionally you can use a M4 bolt and nut to hold the stand holder and mounting bracket. It is recommend to super glue the magnets in place on the mounting bracket. 

Some file come with STEP versions, these are meant to help  you personalize your build. You can bring these file into a CAD software and add or alter them as needed. 

Wiring and Testing

Test the brightness of your LED and resistor selection before assembly, try to test in the same light where you plan on using the stack light.  

Once you have the USB breakout board mounted, you should test it using a multimeter and the power supply meant for the lights. This will let you see what pins are needed and the power out that will be present for your resistor selection.

Assembly Steps

It should be noted that I'm using leftover wire for my build,  but for the BOM, I choose a cable with 5-wires that will work well for the 4 color stack light version. 

Base Control Box Assembly

Start the assembly with the base control box by pulling the wire through the back as shown below. 

Referencing the schematic, we can solder the resistor to the GND pin on the USB breakout board, then to the inner pin on the 5 position rotary switch. Verify that the cover plate can still fit on the base control box, you might need a little bit of wire along with the resistor. 

Solder 4 of the wires to the first 4 pins on the rotary switch's outer edge. The 5th wire can be wired to the power (Vbat) pin on the USB breakout module. Note: the 4 wires are based on the number of lights used, change the wire count accordingly.

you can now screw the base together with M4 Screws and apply the rubber feet. Additionally, you will need to super glue the cover in place. Check the dials positioning and adjust as needed.

External Control Box Assembly

Coming Soon!

Stack Light Assembly and Wire Prep

Start by cutting the shrink tubing down to about 3/8 inch long and sliding it over the longer lead of your LEDs. Repeat as needed for the number of LEDs. Apply heat to shrink the tubing. 

Insert two LEDs into each LED_Wire Stack Lower and Upper. you will only need 1 LED_Wire Stack Lower and the rest should be uppers. 

Twist the long side of both LEDS together, as shown below. repeat for the short side of the LEDs.

It is recommended to test the LEDs to ensure you have everything working correctly. 

Next cut off about ~1 ft of wire from the 5-wire cable, carefully cut down the length of the insulation to pull the colored wires out.

Make sure to feed the 5-wire cable through the magnetic stand holder and magnetic mounting bracket prints before continuing.

Prep the wire lengths needed for each light based on its position in the stack. Pay close attention to the final length of the wires and include enough at the end for either soldering together or using the WEGO connectors.

I found it was easier to solder the measured lengths of wire by putting the LED_Wire Stack on the light sleeve upside down and applying some solder to the LED legs before applying the wire. Cover with some heat shrink tubing. 

Connect each light as you go, be careful and feed each wire from the next light in the stack through one at a time.

I feed all 4 wires from the long LED legs to the WEGO connector, but you can also just solder each long LED leg to the next light in the stack as well.

This method would also reduce the amount of wires you have to feed all the way through the whole stack.

You can test the fit of the bottom stand to the LED_Wire Stack Lower and adjust as needed for each light you add. 

Finally, test each light, Your done with the Stack Light Assembly!

- Code for Smart Stack Light!!

Coming Soon

- Circuit Schematics!!

-Basic Stack Light Schematic

- External Control Schematic

- Description

With this version you can control the stack light using a relay board. Which means you can use any type of microcontroller or RPi and or ESP32 modules. Just pull the inputs low and the light should come on. 

Most 3D printers and CNC machines (using g-code commands) will have extra I/O for external equipment. I have linked some example that I was able to find for 3D printers, for Prusa, they even have a board and instructions you can use. (which is what I will be doing)

I looked for something similar when it came to BambuLab but all I could find was an article that gave you g-code commands for extension board, but no link to that board.

- Links and Articles 

Prusa Article: https://help.prusa3d.com/article/gpio-module_734695

Board: https://www.prusa3d.com/product/gpio-hackerboard-set/

Bambu Lab Article: https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/p1/manual/extension-board-gcode-reference

- Smart Stack Light Schematic

Coming Soon

-Bill of Materials!!

-BoM for Circuit Schematic

**You do not need to use the WAGO connectors, I am using them just in case I want to make changes or edit the stack later.

-BoM for External Control Schematic

-BoM for Smart Control Schematic

Coming Soon

- Obligations??

Like what I do, you can fund my war on sleep and future projects at the link below. 

https://buymeacoffee.com/engineerjoe2016