One of the beauties of having a 3D printer is the ability to print accessories for it to make it better. [Sky] had been using a Logitech C920 webcam to record some of his prints, but it wasn’t really designed to mount off a 3D printers frame. So he designed his own enclosure for it.
He started by taking the webcam apart, getting down to the bare PCB level and taking some measurements. It turned out to be pretty compact! He modeled a rough outline of it in SketchUp, and then started designing his new enclosure around it. After a few failed prints — thanks to the 3D printer company that shall not be named — he put it altogether and did some test fits. It worked!
The new enclosure is designed to mount off the frame of his 3D printer, allowing for a wide angle view of the print bed. If you print something that makes use of the entire z-axis, you might run into some visibility issues, but [Sky] isn’t too worried about this.
For the full explanation and design, he gives a great walk through on all the details in the video below.
Reminds us of the time [Raster] saved some serious cash 3D printing a new camera arm mount for his RED One camera!
Have done this in de past with a cheap IP cam.
Me too, in my old job. We used it with an arm made of aluminium profile (80/20 style) in order to take clean and fixed pictures of RFID tag for a database. So much trials before getting a good enclosure… There was two parts : one for the webcam, and one sliding cover which was also able to slide in the 80/20 profile. I should try to find it back and publish it…
I have to say, that printer is complete garbage. Warping with such small parts with PLA? Really? I dont get warping with abs until I hit close to or over 200mm size prints. Now even with 300+mm sized prints I don’t get warping with ABS, that’s due to heated chamber.
I’ve never really seen a makerbot print, would the Z axis move/jitter too much to just mount the camera to it?
I wish someone would make a 3d cam for the r-pi 2
I would have put a hole in the center of the bracket for the hexhead bolt to snap fit in. It would then be centered and secure.