Introduction: Printable Camera Mount for MakerGear M2

Ok, watching extruded plastic inure is rather look-alike watching paint dry. Hitherto, somehow it is downright hypnotic.... I also necessary to find out a way for 20+ students to ensure what was printing process when I gave a exhibit at a local lyceum.

I'm surely not the first to get the idea of pointing a camera at the maneuver of a 3D printer -- and I wish not beryllium the last. Alas, our generally rather impressive MakerGear M2 does not have an obvious place to position a tv camera. I tried moving an old USB webcam and a Fire-i400 firewire camera or so the printer and, honestly, some viewpoints worked pretty well. Unfortunately, the viewpoints that worked well had the camera awkwardly far gone from the printer rather than mounted on the printer. The little insight in this Instructable is that with a particular smaller-than-average USB webcam, you can easily print a part to inobtrusively mount the camera so that a close-risen panoram of the head is provided.

Total be is about $6 with a build clip low-level 40 transactions... assuming you already give the M2. ;-)

Step 1: Things You'll Need

Mostly you'll need the M2, which is about $1,750 assembled from http://www.makergear.com. Naturally, if you don't have an M2 (or standardized 3D printer), you also assume't need a tv camera mount for it, do you?

The other parts:

  • One of the USB webcams like the uncomparable shown. They come in a variety of colors and are sold by and large from China via eBay for about $6 to $8. The advertising generally claims that they are something suchlike "8.0 Mega USB Web Cam" -- but basically they deliver either a 320x240 or 640x480 video stream that can be scaled in computer software to be big and correspondingly blurrier. The image quality is lousy on the 320x240 version, only the higher firmness of purpose one is actually pretty good, and in either case the form cistron and lens angle of view are excellent for this utilization.
  • A little piece of 2-sided (carpet) tape operating room a hot glue shoote.

Footmark 2: The 3D Design

Equally you terminate see, the webcam mount is a very simple part. I spent only astir an hour designing it and creating the piece model using freecad.

This is actually the second version -- my first version placed the camera a number lower and utilized way Thomas More incarnate than was needed to check that the camera is held firmly.  I had well thought out making a edition with a elementary clip on that to hold the USB cable from the camera, but that didn't seem to be necessary as the fact that I routed the USB cable subordinate the pressman naturally kept IT about the printer body anyway

I have posted this "thing" over on Thingiverse as an STL file suitable for printing:
http://web.thingiverse.com/thing:62443

Whole step 3: Publish It

This divide is just 60mm x 40mm x 20mm, so it prints quickly.

The material body of the part makes it quite rigid, and the webcam isn't a heavy load, thusly you can use a Very light fill on this -- anyplace from 10-20% is plenty. Conditional how you slice the part, information technology should take 30-40 minutes to print.

Step 4: Some Disassembly Required

If your webcam came in pieces, don't set up the stand!

If it came amply assembled, you have around very minor disassembly to execute -- because we get into't desire to use the tolerate it came with. The clear plastic clip/stand comes unconnected by simply pull the steel springs off. You might need a pliers to get a better hairgrip on the springs. Once that's finished, the rounded caps on the ends of the camera come off easily. Those caps simply arrive easier to swimmingly rotate the camera in the stand, and we don't want the camera rotating (slippery) in our mount.

Step 5: All at once In real time

Mounting the webcam is now very simple:

  1. The end of the webcam (the end away from the LEDs) should fit steadfastly into the angle hole in the bracket. If information technology's too tight to go in, lightly scrape the inside of the hole with the edge of a screwdriver or a file.
  2. The bracket sits on the front left-wing corner of the M2's frame, side by side to the spinning chapiter on the Z axis. The little ledge in the square bracket fits over the left hand corner of the frame. Merely place a little objet d'art of two-sided taping over that corner, or squeeze a little hot glue there, and stick the mount on.
  3. Rotate the webcam thusly that the bailiwick of view covers up to the right side margin of the print head's travel. If the hole in the bracket is release, lock the tv camera in position with a splatter of hot glue or a tiny bit of cardinal-sided tape. The hole in our office was mean enough to hold the camera firmly without any such help.
  4. Spark plug the camera into a computer and watch the live view. With the print head of the M2 centered, turn the focus environ around the lens to revolve about the publish head.

Step 6: Done!

With a separately-mounted camera pointing at the printer, we saw a shell out of television camera shake artifacts due to the pressman's gesticulate shakiness the table. Although the tv camera is literally mounted along a frame with impressive parts (right next to the Z axis), the MakerGear M2 frame is exceptionally rigid, so we find that the camera vibrates with the frame as a social unit, and tv camera shake merely isn't an offspring.

That said, image quality is bad poor:

  • Resolution is a specified 320x240 (OR 640x480) pixels.
  • The LED lights on the camera (inside-out on by a turn on the back of the television camera) away themselves bash non provide enough light to capture satisfactory picture.
  • You do get motion blur from the question/platform moving during the relatively long exposure times the camera uses in usual room light.

On the former hired man, IT's pretty effective:

  • The camera is real inobtrusive in this backing; if information technology wasn't red, you'd scarcely comment it.
  • The camera has no problem at all with close focus and gives a good view lean.
  • The low-res video is small plenty to stream wherever you want it and time lag (video delay straightaway) is smaller than for many webcams.
  • The camera doesn't seem to have a trouble with being on for extended periods (some do).
  • Did I mention the camera price $6 to $8?

Overall, I rear pretty strongly recommend this... which is why I threw this Instructable unitedly.... ;-)

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