Remotely control your 3D printer with free open-source software

A team of engineers at Michigan Technological University (MTU) has released free, open-source, web-based software and firmware that can remotely control your 3D printer. It’s also capable of controlling just about any 3D robot.

As part of a project for America Makes, an innovation institute aimed at developing low-cost 3D printers, the team is led by Joshua Pearce, professor of materials science & engineering and electrical & computer engineering. The team has already demonstrated open-source, weld-based metal 3D printing technology that can be built for under $1,200. 

You can build a low-cost, open-source metal 3D printer for less than $1,200 from plans and a bill of materials available from Michigan Technological University. Image source: MTU, Joshua Pearce.

Doctoral candidate at MTU, Bas Wijnen wrote the free motion control software and firmware known as Franklin. “Franklin can recover from communication problems that we encountered when using low-cost welders to print steel and aluminum,” he said in a press release published on americamakes.us. Franklin can be operated from any web-connected device, including laptops, smartphones, and tablets.

Developed as a scriptable software platform, Franklin can easily be integrated into other projects. The team has used it for several different applications in addition to weld-based metal 3D-printing. These include plastic 3D-printing on Cartesian and delta machines, laser welding, PCB micromilling, food printing, and digital microscopy. You can download the project’s software here.

Pearce, Wignen, and the other team-members describe the entire Franklin software and firmware in an accessible technical paper, stating it’s for CNC machines in general and specifically for 3D printers. The paper also reads, “Franklin can be set up and controlled entirely from a web interface; it uses a custom protocol which allows it to continue printing when the connection is temporarily lost, and allows communication with scripts.”

The low-cost 3D printer previously designed by Pearce and his team (which is mentioned in the technical paper) combines gas-metal arc welding and a version of the RepRap open-source 3D printer. You can find a bill of materials and download plans for building this printer on the project’s Appropedia page.

Source: Design News