Printing over USB cable with Robo3D R2

Does the R2 printer support printing via USB cable? I am trying to get it to work with Simplify 3D - through a direct USB connection.

 

Not sure it supports that. I, too, was hoping the control panel of S3D would work with the R2, but it wasn’t listed as being supported. I imagine the USB port on the R2 is for inputting files only, not any sort of serial port use


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Hey supercazzola, thanks for your input - when you say it wasn't listed as supported, do you mean S3D wasn't listed on the Robo site? I didn't check that, but I did check on the S3D site, and they say they support the R2 (although the R2 wasn't listed upon installing the software!)
There is also a USB port at the back of the R2, which I had assumed was for serial port use - but when I connect it to the computer nothing happens.
I previously had an R1 and S3D setup like this - so was assuming I could just re-create that setup, but seems like it is more complicated now!

 

The product insert seems to gloss over this. Seaching the user guide turns up nothing about a USB cable. The Marlin intro suggests that it supports USB serial printing but suggests that host software like OctoPrint/Simplify3D might be a better choice (so in theory, S3D could talk to the printer over USB serial...?).

I'm guessing that everybody connects to their printers via wi-fi rather than a direct cable.

Plugging in a USB cable to the printer should trigger a Plug-and-Play response from your computer. If not, then that would need to be troubleshot.

 

No, I meant that the simplify 3D folks have a list of printers that their control panel will work with and Robo wasn’t there.

I didn’t notice the usb on the side of the R2. Perhaps Robo just needs to give us drivers and it could be done.




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One of my repositories actually does USB serial in C#. Each USB device must respond with a unique HID which allows the operating system to try to fetch the right driver for it.

So... Robo3D would have needed to write a driver, submit that to both Apple/Microsoft for that to be available for their respective update capabilities or to have provided software to install the driver to your computer so that's it's in the local driver database/catalog. I'm guessing they just never got around to that.

That said, if the printer reasonably talks like a former version like the R1 and that driver is available, I could work up a tweak if necessary.

Interesting read on Marlin's github

For what it's worth, Apple's open-source CUPS printing system for UNIX-like operating systems appears to fully support 3D printers. I guess I'll see if this thing will auto-install on my C2/MacBook.

 

That is not intended operation for these printers, and the accessible USB ports on the R2/C2 are host ports, not device.

But it's no rocket science, just basic standard components tied together. You can lift the bottom cover under the bed, disconnect the USB cable that goes to the printer control board from the Pi, route that outside and connect it to your PC, and it will work like any generic Marlin-based printer with any software you want.
I've previously connected mine with Repetier for some troubleshooting.

 

Hmm, so maybe a powered USB hub in the bottom with the proper cables might be a good idea.


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So I'm here at home, opened the cover (C2) and have confirmed that the blocky device-style (USB Type B) of USB receptacle on the back of the printer goes straight to the Pi rather than the Robo controller board itself. (The Robo controller board is connected via USB with the device side of that cable on the Robo side of things, making it a device of the Raspi.)

That said, it's odd to me that the printer has a USB Type B device connection on the back if that's not what it is. It gives all the appearance that somewhere there's a USB serial driver and that the printer would respond in this way. It does not and there's no driver. (It's like when Schwarzenegger's "Hydrogen Highway" Hummer had a fake receptacle on the side for the media.) I'll call "foul" to both fabrications of the truth here.

That said, one can turn a Raspberry Pi into a gadget (device) which will use serial USB to talk to a computer. In this way, it would behave like a 2D printer does when connected with a USB Type B cable.

Adafruit tutorial
Gadget API

The Raspi would need to be tweaked to add the support. And I would guess that an installation program would be necessary to add a generic Apple/Windows serial driver and configure it... or the Raspi would need to handshake with an HID/PID sort of thing so that Apple/Windows could lookup the device and auto-install it.

 

I get where you're coming from. I just think that in the future, 3D printers will have actual drivers so that a feedback loop can take place as well as include IoT "under the covers". Your average driver for a 2D printer reports back availability, status, capabilities, errors, percentage of available consumables. In the case of a scanner, it will stream data back to the computer rather than actively consuming it.

It's great that the Pi is in the box (it's why I bought this printer). Right now, the web interface seems to be supplying all that feedback and even has an API for the phone app. Your computer doesn't have to stay on for three days while the print job is running; that's the Pi's job.

 

You have a Type B plug? A only here.



If yes my guess is someone didn't know what they were doing at the beginning and that was fixed later. Maybe they had the intention of providing what OP asks about, then got put right by someone who knows that would require specific hardware in addition to the Pi.

 

Second from the right. Mine has the square-looking receptacle on it. Mark earlier indicated from my filament run-out sensor that mine's likely an older model.



Bummer. I thought everyone's looked like this. I was trying to pull together a generic CUPS-style driver for this.