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3D Printer Controlled With a Touch-Screen Linux Tablet

Posted by timothy on from the make-new-chess-pieces-anywhere dept.

New submitter drachensun writes "Francesco Santini was looking into the possibilities of stand-alone printing with the Solidoodle. He choose the PengPod 700, a tablet that runs a full Linux distribution and turned it into a standalone interface for the SD2. 'So, in summary, I now have a fully-functional touchscreen pronterface installation that can drive the Solidoodle, for a total cost of 110$. No assembly, soldering, firmware modding required. Just a little bit of fiddling with Linux (if required, I can post a step-by-step guide, or prepare an ad-hoc linux image).'"

18 of 30 comments (clear)

  1. Can I run this from a Raspberry Pi? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I would also like to pay using Bitcoin. Thankee-san.

    1. Re:Can I run this from a Raspberry Pi? by csumpi · · Score: 1

      +1 super funny. wish i had mod points.

    2. Re:Can I run this from a Raspberry Pi? by b4dc0d3r · · Score: 1

      +1 super funny. wish i had mod points.

      Then post something worth reading. Otherwise, don't tell me what to do with mine.

    3. Re:Can I run this from a Raspberry Pi? by ajlitt · · Score: 1

      Yes you can. Now pay up.

    4. Re:Can I run this from a Raspberry Pi? by DKlineburg · · Score: 2

      But you can't mod parent up now, you posted.

      --
      Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today's events. - Albert Einstein
  2. It's not like much manual control is needed. by Animats · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Since there are 3D printers controlled by four buttons and a two-line character display, the touch screen interface doesn't have to do much. Much modern industrial equipment has a touch-screen interface, simply because it's cheaper than building panels full of buttons and dials.

    The emergency stop button on industrial machinery is always a physical big red button.

    1. Re:It's not like much manual control is needed. by jockm · · Score: 4, Informative

      While it is true you don't need more than that, it is very very nice to have more than that. I routingly move the bed and printhead to aid in cleaning the bed (and not always to the same location). I like to raise the Z axis before a print to make sure I get any stray material from the head. There is the big red stop button (which Pronterface really needs to add), and then there is loading and viewing models, interacting with the printer, etc etc etc

      We technically don't need a lot of things, but doesn't mean they aren't really nice to have...

      --

      What do you know I wrote a novel
  3. "No assembly, soldering, firmware modding?" by ciaohound · · Score: 2

    So, where's the fun in that?

    --
    Oh, yeah, it's not easy to pad these out to 120 characters.
  4. Re:Results by nametaken · · Score: 1

    That was bizarrely random.

    First, that's certainly not the best print job even an inexpensive 3d printer can do.

    Second, very high fidelity isn't the only metric for utility.

    And finally, there are finishing techniques that are useful for aesthetic qualities of a part, if that's something you're concerned with.

  5. A pronterface? by Chas · · Score: 5, Funny

    New submitter drachensun writes "Francesco Santini was looking into the possibilities of stand-alone printing with the Solidoodle. He choose the PengPod 700, a tablet that runs a full Linux distribution and turned it into a standalone interface for the SD2. 'So, in summary, I now have a fully-functional touchscreen pronterface installation that can drive the Solidoodle, for a total cost of 110$. No assembly, soldering, firmware modding required. Just a little bit of fiddling with Linux (if required, I can post a step-by-step guide, or prepare an ad-hoc linux image).'"

    A pronterface?

    So this is an NSFW project we shouldn't expose our children to?

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
    1. Re:A pronterface? by Provocateur · · Score: 1

      And no links to pics? Guys, you can have the new Slashdot!

      --
      WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
  6. Don't we just call that a computer? by jockm · · Score: 2

    Don't get me wrong it is very cool, but since the tablet is just running a fairly stock Linux, isn't it really just a computer at that point?

    I control my PrintrBot LC with an older model TabletKiosk UMPC. It means I don't have to dedicate a more powerful computer to the task, and gives me touchscreen control. And do not discount how useful that is.

    I really like the UI customizations and am going to have to do something like that to get the temp display into a more useful location. So I am not saying what he did is uninteresting, far from it. But it isn't that hard of an accomplishment. The software being iOS or Android based and customized to that kind of UI would have been more interesting. To me at least.

    --

    What do you know I wrote a novel
    1. Re:Don't we just call that a computer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Don't you get it? It's teh Linux!!!!1111!!!!!
       
      Anything that anyone can lay some amount of claim to being somehow related to something remotely Linux makes the front page of Slashdot. Regardless of the truth behind it or wether or not the fact that Linux was used even matters. I swear, the fanboys around here shit their pants anytime Linux is mentioned and if you happen to show them that a 10 dollar integrated system does everything just as good as a 200 dollar Linux solution they act like there is some reason that Linux was the better choice.
       
      It's just another reason I think so many people who I knew who were early adopters of Linux got sick of the culture and left Linux. The single one I still know who has any interest in Linux is a server admin who just passes it off as another tool of his job.

    2. Re:Don't we just call that a computer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      While I actually like the article, I agree that it's a bit sad what kind of obsession this website has for Linux. It's like having just the Linux kernel at the core somehow automatically makes the whole system a thing to worship.

  7. Control? I want full creation / creativity by WillAdams · · Score: 1

    Where's the elegant, intuitive interface which effortlessly converts a sketch into arcs and lines for G-code output? And I don't mean by faking it as polylines. Best list of software I can find is: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Advanced_Software and I'm reduced to hand-coding G-code: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/File:Circle-diamond-square-50mm.txt 'cause nothing works well on my Fujitsu Stylistic --- at least it works well for using Grbl controller: http://zapmaker.org/projects/grbl-controller-3-0/ to interface w/ the machine.

    I'm hoping I'll be able to grok the Python code in xasy the Asymptote front-end and tweak it into something I find as comfortable as Macromedia Freehand.

    --
    Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
    1. Re:Control? I want full creation / creativity by WillAdams · · Score: 1

      To be fair, OpenSCAD runs fine --- it just doesn't allow easy Bezier drawing and I still haven't found a nice CAM package which works well for me on my ancient Fujitsu Stylistic.

      The Doodle3D program is interesting --- does one use GNUstep to compile it for Linux or Windows?

      --
      Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
  8. Linux companies by weegiekev · · Score: 2

    There was a thread recently on slashdot about the negative image of "Linux Inside". If you needed any kind of example of why that might be the case, just look at that tablet.

  9. Re:Results by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    I'm printing functional prototypes for a new product for work right now on my Makerbot Replicator at home. You can make very functional things with a 3D printer. It's more than strong enough, but not injection molded strong.