trohn_javolta Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 Hi, I plan on running octoprint on my Amlogic S912 china android box. Now I need to connect a filament runout sensor via gpio, in a octoprint plugin one specifies the used pins. Unfortunately my device has no dedicated gpio header built in, so I want to ask: Is there a way (that maybe works easily with armbian) to have gpio somehow? Like some usb stick with gpio on it that can forward gpio in and output? I have a pi zero lying around and found this https://github.com/raspberrypi/gpioexpander/wiki where some pigpio library is mentioned. But no idea if or how this could work on an Amlogic box. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldiaz Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 The software you are referencing is for RPI will not work on other devices without major ports. On the other hand the TV boxes typically do not have GPIOS exposed so is a poor choice for custom octoprint controller. I think it will be better off if you use a cheap SBC with armbian. I run my octo print in a $15-OpiZero 512MB with out problems. I made a mini distribution with octo print just plug an play. cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trohn_javolta Posted January 19, 2020 Author Share Posted January 19, 2020 On 1/15/2020 at 11:30 AM, ldiaz said: The software you are referencing is for RPI will not work on other devices without major ports. On the other hand the TV boxes typically do not have GPIOS exposed so is a poor choice for custom octoprint controller. I think it will be better off if you use a cheap SBC with armbian. I run my octo print in a $15-OpiZero 512MB with out problems. I made a mini distribution with octo print just plug an play. cheers. Too bad I only tried octoprint directly on the pi zero and I found it to be too weak for it. The orange pi zero doesn't seem to be that much more powerful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldiaz Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 Well, If you don't use fancy plugins and slice your models in the PC, octoprint just streams/monitor data to/from the serial port and uses a websocket to send status to the web browser. This typically loads one core with 10%-15% while printing. OpiZero has 4 cores and with armbian the frequency is scaled automatically controlling the heat and giving extra juice when needed. Even with a super cheap USB camera (no 1080p) without mjpeg chip the OPI is capable to stream video using 50% of other core. I even run a mini samba server on the OPI for editing files on the PI form the PC. I use builtin 100mb ethernet and networking is not a problem, I did not test using octoprint via WIFI. Other advantage of using SBC vs TVBox is that you can easyly prower the board from GPIO header, using a small DC-DC stepdown module($0.5) you can power the board from the printer PSU directly and avoid using a charger. If you need extra power you can find 1G RAM with better processors 64bit processor such H5/H6 with plenty of GPIOs for sensors, leds.... at good prices that are supported by armbian. If you want to give it a try please let me know Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trohn_javolta Posted January 28, 2020 Author Share Posted January 28, 2020 On 1/21/2020 at 1:42 PM, ldiaz said: Well, If you don't use fancy plugins and slice your models in the PC, octoprint just streams/monitor data to/from the serial port and uses a websocket to send status to the web browser. This typically loads one core with 10%-15% while printing. OpiZero has 4 cores and with armbian the frequency is scaled automatically controlling the heat and giving extra juice when needed. Even with a super cheap USB camera (no 1080p) without mjpeg chip the OPI is capable to stream video using 50% of other core. I even run a mini samba server on the OPI for editing files on the PI form the PC. I use builtin 100mb ethernet and networking is not a problem, I did not test using octoprint via WIFI. Other advantage of using SBC vs TVBox is that you can easyly prower the board from GPIO header, using a small DC-DC stepdown module($0.5) you can power the board from the printer PSU directly and avoid using a charger. If you need extra power you can find 1G RAM with better processors 64bit processor such H5/H6 with plenty of GPIOs for sensors, leds.... at good prices that are supported by armbian. If you want to give it a try please let me know Cheers, I have 2 printers, do you think I could connect both to one sbc? For now I plan on using filament runout plugin and that bed level visualizer plugin. I found 2 sbc's in the orange pi line that could fit: Orange Pi One plus which has 64bit processor but only one..or 2? usb ports and Orange Pi Pc which has 3 usb ports but no 64bit processor. However both "only" have 1gb ram... I'm unsure if I'll just abandon the filament sensor and stay with amlogic tv boxes. Imo they have a much better price/performance ratio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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