Filament Monitor

thingiverse

A custom filament monitor designed specifically for use with the Ender 3 printer. In the past, I've encountered issues with lower quality filaments that tend to snap and ruin prints, as well as situations where the printer runs out of filament mid-print, leaving me frustrated. This system aims to address these problems by sending a notification to my phone when the filament runs low, allowing me to intervene and pause the print in time. It utilizes two rotary encoders and a Raspberry Pi to detect both printing and filament depletion states. If the filament stops, the pi sends a notification to a paired phone. For more information on code and diagrams, please visit [here](https://github.com/nikwl/filament_monitor). The physical design of this project was created with the goal of minimizing space usage and material requirements while maintaining reconfigurability. Ideally, both modules should occupy very little space and require minimal materials to print. The module monitoring printing state could easily be swapped out for a module that monitors the printhead fan or lights. Additionally, the raspberry pi can be mounted anywhere on the printer as long as it's connected with long enough cables. I utilize the excellent Raspberry Pi Ender 3 Mount by Bugwhale ([Bugwhale](https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3367387)) to mount the pi. Required parts include: Raspberry Pi (I use a zero w for its small footprint and wireless capabilities). Two rotary encoders. Breadboard wires. Soldering iron, used for making y-cables. A spring or small rubber band. A flat rubber band. Wiring follows [this](https://thepihut.com/blogs/raspberry-pi-tutorials/how-to-use-a-rotary-encoder-with-the-raspberry-pi) tutorial. The filament monitor encoder should be set up according to the instructions given there, while the second encoder should be set up the same but with the DT pin tied to GPIO Pin 27 instead of 17.