Skip to main content

Klipper

Klipper is the firmware and software responsible for running the 3D printer. It is different from traditional 3D printer firmware in that it has two components: a firmware that runs on the microcontroller of the BTT Octopus board, and a software that runs on a Raspberry Pi computer. With most firmwares, such as Marlin, g-code instructions are sent directly to the microcontroller, which are then processed into stepper motor movement commands. With Klipper, this processing is done on the much more powerful Raspberry Pi, which then sends the stepper motor commands to the microcontroller which executes them.

Klipper is configured to use Mainsail as its web interface

KIAUH

Klipper, Mainsail, and the backup addon are managed using the KIAUH program. Its GUI can be opened by running ~/kiauh/kiauh.sh

Configuration File

The printer.cfg and other important files are automatically backed up after every change to this GitHub repo using Klipper-Backup, which was installed using kiauh. The access token for it is stored alongside the password for the "Printer Bookstack" Bookstack account.

Configuration Template

The Octopus board comes with a configuration file template for an Octopus v1.1 / Voron 2.4 / Klipper combo design. This can be found here. Only use as a general guide because it does not exactly match our printer setup.

Crowsnest Webcam Streamer

As Klipper/Moonraker/Mainsail is a modular, minimalist 3D printer control system, it does not have built-in support for webcam streaming. To add webcam streaming support, Crowsnest was installed via kiauh that take a USB webcam input and stream it via a web socket that Mainsail will automatically detect.

Useful Klipper Features

The greater computing power of the Raspberry Pi allows many more printer features to be implemented, such as input shaping. Below are some references for Klipper features that could be useful:

No Comments
Back to top