Introduction: How to Install Pronterface on Raspberry Pi

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About: Electrical Engineering student. Passionate FPV pilot. 3D printing fanatic.

While many people find it easy to just control a general Rep-Rap 3D printer from their own computer, there will come times when you must use something portable If you need to, for example, take your computer to work. The Raspberry Pi would be the go-to solution for you. These steps will take you through on how to run the software "Pronterface" on your Raspberry Pi 2 B. Pronterface is a wonderful software that most people know about if they have a Rep-Rap. I will assume that you have a general knowledge of the Raspberry Pi, and that you are able to boot it up, and have basic command terminal experience (This is my first Instructable).

Materials:

Raspberry Pi 2 B with Raspbian

Peripherals for Raspberry Pi

3D Printer (Rep-Rap)

Mouse

Keyboard

1. First, boot your Pi up, and direct yourself to the command terminal. Then, type in the following (This is VERY important because it updates your Pi's software cache):

sudo apt-get update

Then:

sudo apt-get upgrade

2. After that, then, type this:

sudo apt-get install python-serial python-wxgtk2.8 python-pyglet python-numpy cython python-libxml2 python-gobject python-dbus python-psutil python-cairosvg git

3. Finally, type out this:

git clone https://github.com/kliment/Printrun.git

4. In your home folder, go to the folder "Printrun", and open up the file "Pronterface.py". It should ask you to if you want to execute the file, and when it does, click "execute", not "execute in terminal"

5. Going further, if you want to make a desktop icon, type out the following into "leafpad", or any other text editor:

[Desktop Entry]

Name=PRONTERFACE

Comment=3D Printer

Exec=/usr/bin/python /home/pi/Printrun/pronterface.py

Icon=/home/pi/Printrun/pronsole.ico

Terminal=false

Type=Application

(NOTE: Make sure that there are no spaces in the text document for the icon.)

6. You're done! Enjoy using Internet free, hassle free 3D printing. Once you connect you printer during the boot process, you're just about done.

7. Also, remember to, in the drop-down list of ports in Pronterface, please pick the correct one. The device should end with a "0"

NOTE: The following information and code has been only tested on a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B, and controlling a Printrbot Simple Metal with a Printrboard Revision F5.

NOTE: If you have any trouble with the code, go to these websites, as they have the instructions listed above:

https://github.com/kliment/Printrun

http://bukobot.com/raspberry-pi

8. Expand Your Project:

If you really want to extend your Raspberry Pi, add a touchscreen on it! Adafruit has some great models such as this one:

https://adafruit.com/products/2298

Also, you could 3D print a mount for your Raspberry Pi to connect to your 3D printer. This link is for a Printrbot Simple Metal if you want to mount your Raspberry Pi:

https://thingiverse.com/thing:673133

Finally, you could add a Raspberry Pi camera to you Pi, and take time-lapse videos with it. Refer to "The Raspberry Pi User Guide" for more info:

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118921666.html

NOTE: If you have successfully completed the steps above, please click the "I made it!" button and post some pictures. I would love to see them!