Hey guys,
What are people’s thoughts on the best way to view prints remotely or even record them to upload to youtube? I was thinking about ordering a hd webcam or something ready to mount in the printer when it arrives.
I would like to be able to view the printer remotely on my iphone or iPad !
Has anyone got any tips or advice ?
Cheers,
Jay
I was using the In.sight
http://www.amazon.fr/gp/aw/d/B00AEMIRR2?vs=1
It was working fine until yesterday when it just died. I think it is because I put it inside the printer and it was damaged by the temperature. ;(
Except that, it was working fine. And I was recording the videos in my Dropbox folder directly.
I have been thinking the same thing this is what I am looking into
[quote name=jayceekeys]I would like to be able to view the printer remotely on my iphone or iPad !
Has anyone got any tips or advice ?
[/quote]
Julia uses some kind of webcam to view hers remotely. I eventually would like to do that myself.
I use IP cams with pan/tilt (and hopefully optical zoom soon when Fostex releases their newest model in the USA…). I mount them on these arms:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AF6MFX4/ref=pe_385040_30332190_pe_175190_21431760_3p_M3T1_ST1_dp_1
which allows them to swing completely out of the way for access to the printer, and lets me use them to monitor other things from time to time too, like a spool that’s running low to keep an eye on it.
I’ve had a couple of WANSview IP cams but they’re very susceptible to static electricity and I have to reboot them frequently. My Foscam has been much more reliable.
Some great ideas ! I know I can get up camera apps for iOS so that’s probably the direction I will head in. I do like the ai camera ball gadgetstogo … I saw that one on eBay yesterday (obviously the link you sent was just for the cradle. I can’t find them for sale on eBay in the uk though. It looks like those all ship from Shanghai 
looks like the perfect size though ! I may have to see if they are sold somewhere else and also check out what power supply I can use rather than using a battery which is the default power.
If there are any other ideas keep them coming !
Cheers,
Jay
Some great ideas ! I know I can get up camera apps for iOS so that’s probably the direction I will head in. I do like the ai camera ball gadgetstogo … I saw that one on eBay yesterday (obviously the link you sent was just for the cradle. I can’t find them for sale on eBay in the uk though. It looks like those all ship from Shanghai looks like the perfect size though ! I may have to see if they are sold somewhere else and also check out what power supply I can use rather than using a battery which is the default power.
If there are any other ideas keep them coming !
Cheers,
Jay
Hmmm the ai camera ball has to have a special adaptor for power. But, it seems like the resolution isn’t great and reviews suggest that quality isn’t all that (light level issues and grainy etc). I wish it wasn’t the case as it looks perfect, but I think quality would probably be comparable to far cheaper webcams.
Hmmm the ai camera ball has to have a special adaptor for power. But, it seems like the resolution isn’t great and reviews suggest that quality isn’t all that (light level issues and grainy etc). I wish it wasn’t the case as it looks perfect, but I think quality would probably be comparable to far cheaper webcams.
[quote name=jayceekeys]Some great ideas ! I know I can get up camera apps for iOS
[/quote]
Just to clarify, I don’t use a phone with the swing arm; I remove all the phone/tablet mounting stuff from the swingarm and mount an IP cam on it upside down. I can watch the printers from anywhere with a web browser. The pan and tilt are really nice to have. It’d be really cool to motorize the swingarm too 
[quote name=jayceekeys]Some great ideas ! I know I can get up camera apps for iOS
[/quote]
Just to clarify, I don’t use a phone with the swing arm; I remove all the phone/tablet mounting stuff from the swingarm and mount an IP cam on it upside down. I can watch the printers from anywhere with a web browser. The pan and tilt are really nice to have. It’d be really cool to motorize the swingarm too
Ooooooh … motorised arm? Now we’re talking my language!
I have one possible suggestion … The robots that I am building, use an ARM processor by EZ-Robot that has onboard facility to stream the cameras that they supply. The controller board is IP / WIFI connected so can be controlled/viewed from anywhere. The controller has direct servo driver outputs so you could mount the camera on a robotic servo controlled arm that can shoot video from preset angles?
Now that sounds awesome !!!
I may have to order up an additional board and camera - It would be incredibly easy to rig up and program (the programming of the robots is using a software that is very visual rather than lots of hard code.
Ooooooh … motorised arm? Now we’re talking my language!
I have one possible suggestion … The robots that I am building, use an ARM processor by EZ-Robot that has onboard facility to stream the cameras that they supply. The controller board is IP / WIFI connected so can be controlled/viewed from anywhere. The controller has direct servo driver outputs so you could mount the camera on a robotic servo controlled arm that can shoot video from preset angles?
Now that sounds awesome !!!
I may have to order up an additional board and camera - It would be incredibly easy to rig up and program (the programming of the robots is using a software that is very visual rather than lots of hard code.
[quote name=jayceekeys]Ooooooh … motorised arm? Now we’re talking my language!
I have one possible suggestion … The robots that I am building, use an ARM processor by EZ-Robot that has onboard facility to stream the cameras that they supply. The controller board is IP / WIFI connected so can be controlled/viewed from anywhere. The controller has direct servo driver outputs so you could mount the camera on a robotic servo controlled arm that can shoot video from preset angles?
Now that sounds awesome !!!
I may have to order up an additional board and camera - It would be incredibly easy to rig up and program (the programming of the robots is using a software that is very visual rather than lots of hard code.
[/quote]
I haven’t looked at the EZ-R camera, but it might be better than these surveillance cams because the surveillance cams are optimized for low light, long distance, and wide angle, none of which (except maybe wide angle) we really want for printer monitoring. Focusing them is a royal pain.
[quote name=jayceekeys]Ooooooh … motorised arm? Now we’re talking my language!
I have one possible suggestion … The robots that I am building, use an ARM processor by EZ-Robot that has onboard facility to stream the cameras that they supply. The controller board is IP / WIFI connected so can be controlled/viewed from anywhere. The controller has direct servo driver outputs so you could mount the camera on a robotic servo controlled arm that can shoot video from preset angles?
Now that sounds awesome !!!
I may have to order up an additional board and camera - It would be incredibly easy to rig up and program (the programming of the robots is using a software that is very visual rather than lots of hard code.
[/quote]
I haven’t looked at the EZ-R camera, but it might be better than these surveillance cams because the surveillance cams are optimized for low light, long distance, and wide angle, none of which (except maybe wide angle) we really want for printer monitoring. Focusing them is a royal pain.
I’m thinking that it could be very similar to the type of arm you use Julia (except printed of course as the camera is VERY lightweight). It could be attached to the top rear of the printer, the boom would then articulate to shoot video from either the front, the left, the right, or the filament reel - all as preset positions by pushing a select button on an iPad/android tablet.
I’m thinking that it could be very cool! I have a couple of boards and cameras on order with EZ so although they are planned for use in robots, I can definately try one for a temporary trial to see if it’s worth ordering another set.
I’m thinking that it could be very similar to the type of arm you use Julia (except printed of course as the camera is VERY lightweight). It could be attached to the top rear of the printer, the boom would then articulate to shoot video from either the front, the left, the right, or the filament reel - all as preset positions by pushing a select button on an iPad/android tablet.
I’m thinking that it could be very cool! I have a couple of boards and cameras on order with EZ so although they are planned for use in robots, I can definately try one for a temporary trial to see if it’s worth ordering another set.
You don’t really want to attach the camera to the printer. First of all it will vibrate along with printer movements, especially once higher speeds are available in the Zortrax software. Secondly, it will surely get in your way at some point when doing maintenance.
You don’t really want to attach the camera to the printer. First of all it will vibrate along with printer movements, especially once higher speeds are available in the Zortrax software. Secondly, it will surely get in your way at some point when doing maintenance.
Ok … that sounds sensible. I can always just sit/stand one of the robots next to the printer when I want to monitor things, as the two robots I am building will have onboard cams on them anyway. I can see how I get on with that as a temporary fix and then maybe go for something more permanent if the camera works well.
Cheers!!