Reprap / Other (via Octoprint)

Which Printers Will Work?

Yes, you can connect your 3D printer to the Polar Cloud! Most users want to do this to connect a camera, control their printer(s) remotely, queue prints, make timelapse videos, share printer access with others, and more.

With the recent expansion of consumer 3D printers, new models are being released all of the time. Maintaining a perfect list of printers that will work with our platform would be exhaustive. Your printer is 99% likely to work with the Polar Cloud as long as it meets the following 3 criteria:

1. Is less than a decade old
2. Interprets GCode
3. Does not have a proprietary USB protocol (Afinia/UP, Cetus 3D, Makerbot Replicator +, New Matter, XYZ, 3D Systems)

This list of 3D printers below is not expansive. Our "printer compatibility" search list is a better place to check, but it too, does not list every single 3D Printer make and model on the market.

• Prusa Research: Original Prusa i3 (MK3, MK3S, MK3S+), Original Prusa Mini +
• Creality: Ender 3 and al variants (S1, S1 Pro, etc.), Ender 5, Ender 2 Pro, Sermoon V1 Pro, etc.
• Anycubic: Vyper, Kobra Max, Korbra Plus, etc.
• Elegoo: Neptune 3 Max, 3 Pro, 3 Plus, etc.
• Makerbot: Replicator 2, 2x.
• LulzBot: Taz 4, Taz 5, Taz 6, Taz Pro, Taz Workhorse, Taz Mini, Sidekick, etc.
• Custom Reprap: Voron, RatRig, VZBot, DIY/Custom

Getting Set Up

Securing the Hardware

Here we will mention a typical setup. If you want to use alternates (OrangePi, Windows Computer, etc.) we recommend you find a guide elsewhere that considers your use case. You will need the following:

1. Raspberry Pi
2. Power Supply
3. MicroSD Card
4. USB

Recommended hardware: Raspberry Pi 3B, 3B+, 4B, 5, or Zero 2. Expect print artifacts and long loading times with other options, especially when adding a webcam or installing third party plugins. Setups not using recommended hardware are not officially supported.

Installing the Software

Guy Sheffer maintains “OctoPi”, a Raspbian (and thus Debian) based SD card image for the Raspberry Pi that already includes OctoPrint plus everything you need to run it.

Download OctoPi and please follow the installation instructions (or Alternative Initial Setup) at the link below. They do a far better job than we could! Come back when you are successfully running OctoPrint.

After you're done with OctoPrint, it's time to install the Polar Cloud Plugin!

1. Click the OctoPrint Settings wrench button.
2. Click Plugin Manager on the left.
3. Click + Get More
4. Enter Polar in the search field
5. Find "Polar Cloud" and click Install
6. Reboot your instance if it asks you to do so

Get Connected

1. Click PolarCloud from the PLUGINS on the left
2. Choose your Machine Type
3. Choose your Printer Make. If you don't see yours listed, just choose Other/Custom.
4. Click Register Printer
5. Enter your Username and PIN (click here for more info)

Running Updates

Now, as is the nature with any open source project, several different pieces make up a whole. Your OctoPrint image relies on several packages and binaries that make the whole thing run! From time to time, they will offer updates. You run a risk of installing breaking changes any time you update your OctoPrint instance. Please read the release notes carefully and be sure that the release will not result in downtime for your printing program.

Preparing to Slice: Installing CuraEngine

When connecting your printer via Octoprint, the slicing is done on the Raspberry Pi (or other device you're using). Slicing is not done in the cloud.

Octoprint used to come with CuraEngine pre-installed in the image, but that's no longer the case. You'll need to install it yourself by following the steps below.

1.) Download and Compile cura_engine

First, you'll need to install the cura_engine slicer. SSH into your Raspberry Pi and run the following commands, in this order. Enter a command and then hit ENTER on your keyboard to execute it.

SSH into a Pi - MAC or LINUX Instructions

SSH into a Pi - WINDOWS Instructions

wget -O CuraEngine-15.04.6.zip https://github.com/markwal/CuraEngine/archive/refs/tags/15.04.6.zip
unzip CuraEngine-15.04.6.zip
pushd CuraEngine-15.04.6
make
sudo cp build/CuraEngine /usr/local/bin/cura_engine
popd
rm -r CuraEngine-15.04.6 CuraEngine-15.04.6.zip

2.) Install CuraEngine Legacy Plugin

Head to the Plugin Manager and search for "CuraEngine Legacy", or install from command line by following the instructions at the link below. (Note: using the plugin manager is going to be far easier for beginners.)

3.) Confirm a valid path

After you install the plugin and restart your instance, the CuraEngine setup window will appear, asking you to set the path to CuraEngine binary (installed in step 1 above). Set the path to /usr/local/bin/cura_engine, and click Test to confirm.

Slicing and Printing!

Once your instance is running, your steps to print an object are the same as if you were using any other printer.

Configuring The Slicer

Understanding Cloud Prints

When print objects are sent from the Polar Cloud, a folder called "polarcloud" will be automatically created under your OctoPrint Files. In this folder, you'll find "current-print.stl" and "current-print.gcode".

Video Instructions