short question: is there something similar for lasers like octoprint/mailsail for 3d-printers to connect the laser via usb to a raspberry-pi and then control it via wifi and a webinterface with a pc/tablet/phone?
cheers
tom
Are you aware that Octoprint itself has plugins to support this?
LaserWeb is another program thatâs somewhat like this but doesnât seem actively developed.
this is the one i know but havenât tried yet. it doesnât look like it has anywhere near the functionality of what these programs do on 3d printers.
what are you using?
Is there something specific youâre looking for in terms of functionality or workflow? The needs of laser cutting and 3d printing are different so wouldnât expect these to be equivalent.
I donât use any intermediary software for my laser cutting.
ok - thanks - i see. but if you donât use it yourself you wonât be able to help me much on this subject. and iâm of course already aware of the differences in the use of my laser 3d-printer and the cnc.
so iâll try octoprint and better grbl plugin for now. homing and moving etc works. letâs see how it will be with real laser cutting work.
octoprint is already much lamer than mainsail - and the range of functions with better grbl could also be larger. raspberry-pi camera is still to come.
unfortunately the âlightburn-bridgeâ doesnât work via usb - which i canât understand. or did i miss something? but maybe someone here from the lightburn-team can tell me something about it.
cheers
tom
p.s. if someone here in the forum knows better or other solutions - Iâd love to hear it - feel free to share it with me.
Bridge only works for Ruida controllers. Itâs not a generalized solution.
Did you also look at LaserWeb?
1 Like
laser-web i had looked at before i bought lightburn back then and didnât really like it. but maybe i should take another look at just the server part.
thank you!
ok - took another look at laserweb. but there seems to be no development for more than a year. and i donât like riding a dead horse.
p.s. what i found so far is fluidnc. but i have to have a look if and how this could work for me. but at least at first glance it looks not bad and seems to be still developed on github.
FluidNC is good but itâs not really similar to Mainsail or Octoprint. Itâs an alternative firmware derived from GRBL but enhanced with support for ESP32 and other features.
I havenât heard of anyone running this on a Sculpfun S9 board which I believe is Atmega328p based.
1 Like
yep. but itâs really astonishing that there is nothing usable for either cnc or laser. and that although both have been around much longer than 3d-printers. but (except for lightburn) all software for cnc and laser is really creepy like from the last millenium. well and this lightburn.-bridge thing is also rather old-fashioned nonsense. a reasonable webinterface for pc/tablet/phone is the only way and then connected with wifi/raspi.
Not really following what you mean about this. Itâs possible youâre not familiar with the initial intent and purpose of that product. It was created specifically in response to unreliable USB connections primarily with Mac users. it provides an alternative interface when one simply did not work. Itâs not meant as a generalized print server or anything of the sort. Itâs a turnkey single purpose device, solving for a very particular problem situation. It has since been adopted more broadly for more people using Ruida even without USB problems but its raison dâetre has not changed.
Also keep in mind that I believe Oz for a while was reluctant to enable wireless connectivity for any lasers because he didnât want to create features that encouraged remote or inattentive operation. That stance seems to have shifted somewhat as evidenced by wireless support introduced for some GRBL devices (e.g. OLM3).
I think the major difference youâll see in between CNC/laser world and 3D printing worlds is that CNC/laser came up from an industrial background whereas 3D printing came up from the maker community and reprap philosophy. This has created shifts in priority as well as relative emphasis differences on open solutions.
3 Likes
You will never get a Mercedes to have the functionallity of a D9 Bulldozer, but you can get from A to B in both.
My collection of methods is here: Laser Remote Control - Diode Laser Wiki But I donât think it features more than has been discussed here already. 
The MKS DLC32 is a plug-in replacement for a Sculpfun laser, cables just fit right away.
1 Like
cheap sculpfun s9 now cuts about 1.000mm length - works over wifi (raspi 3 / octoprint / better grbl) and has a pi-camera. way less fast/modern than mainsail for 3d-print - but ok.
thanx
tom
You could try CNCjs. Itâs probably about the best Iâve seen for this type of thing.
2 Likes
thanx for the hint. I take a look at it.
Tom, nice to know octoprint can talk to s9 board with the help of this plugin. Because mine setup does work. Im googling for the solution, so far, unlucky. Octoprint says âconnectingâŚâ without any progress at all. Can be some settings which Iâm missing. Did you really connected octoprint to the original S9 board? Did you change any settings of the betterGRBL plugin ?
Thanks
You need to physically connect the Pi and the laser. Then check which serial port the laser gets assigned. You need to set this port in the plugin, if I remember correctly. Otherwise it canât connect.
Thatâs too quite obvious, but thank you for suggestion.
My problem lays in communication, there is something Iâm missing in the settings when octo talks to s9.