Panoptes

3D printer monitor, environment sensor and timelapse recorder

Panoptes software interface displaying live print view, printer telemetry, environment sensors data, system telemetry, and print history log for a 3D printing setup.

An integrated 3D printer timelapse and monitoring system created using MQTT to receive real-time printer status updates, external video cameras to capture timelapse footage, and climate monitoring sensors to record changes in temperature, humidity and air pollution.

Timelapse Recorder

Once the printer starts a new print job, its local MQTT broker (a lightweight publish-subscribe protocol ideal for telemetry unlike traditional HTTP) publishes a status update to all subscribed devices that it is starting a new print. This wakes up a mini-PC with 1 or more cameras pointing at the printer, which starts capturing footage. After a print ends, the footage is sped up by a factor of 8 for easier viewing of footage for failure analysis and creation of timelapse videos, and archived to network attached storage.

Climate Sensor

The workshop environment in South Wales presents persistent humidity and occasional sub-zero temperatures. Some printers will throw safety errors (MINTEMP) and refuse to print if their temperature probes detect sub-zero temperatures, as firmware interprets negative readings as a broken sensor rather than cold air.

To ensure the printers stay at an optimal printing temperature, the system triggers SMS alerts when the workshop temperature gets too low, as well as print status notifications.

Environmental sensor display showing room temperature at 25.0°C, humidity at 48.4%, particulate matter levels for PM1.0 (2 µg/m³), PM2.5 (4 µg/m³), and PM10 (4 µg/m³), along with particle counters.

Particulate Sensor

3D printers produce emissions that can sometimes be detected by smell, but many fine particles—specifically particles finer than 10 micrometres or 7 times smaller than the width of a human hair—can go undetected. These small particles are associated with lung disease, heart disease and cancers. An emissions monitoring system was built to monitor the emissions produced by the Bambu Lab A1, as well as background pollution caused by other activities such as soldering and sanding.

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