Focus 3D printer or CNC machine camera based on X-axis position.

In many cases it is difficult to use auto focus camera with 3D printer or CNC machines since the object and machine parts are tricking the automatic focus algorithm in cameras. Manual focus works better but it's not optimal if the camera is attached near the head of the machine because it's difficult to find a focus point which works for the whole working range.

Since X position is given in the G-code it's rather straightforward to parse the position from there and adjust the focus of the camera dynamically.

It is not just eyecandy for stream viewers but useful for checking if the head is clean and not damaged.

• Reads Octoprint serial log with inotify
• Feed it to a very simple G-code parser
• Translate coordinate commands to absolute coordinates
• Control manual focus of given V4L2 device using given lookup table
• Truncate serial log periodically from the beginning to save space (TODO)

See calibration.

• Linux
• glib
• cmake

Install dependencies. In Debian based systems for example:

sudo apt install cmake libglib2.0-dev

And build:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..

In production at Hacklab Jyväskylä. Calibration might need a helper tool.

Zouppen / Joel Lehtonen