Orbiter 2 Smart Sensor

A brand-new sensor design, much improved compared to the previous sensor version.

Features

- Filament auto-load

- Filament tangle detection

- Filament runout sensing

- Filament un-load action button

Key Improvements

The first big change is the filament tangle detection functionality. Tangled filament is one of the most common causes of print failures. When the filament is tangled on the spool, the force required to pull the filament into the extruder increases, this triggers the detection sensor and consequently runs a Klipper macro to pause the printing and inform the user about the issue. The detection is activated when the pulling force is increased over two kilograms of force for more than one second. The wear of PTFE tube can also trigger tangle detection due to the high friction force.

The second big change is signal filtering and plausibility checking by the onboard microcontroller.To improve this, this sensor is equipped with a small, eight-bit microcontroller just for that job, plus it controls the RGB input light based on the sensor state in a much nicer way than is possible with Klipper macros.

Last but not least, a push-fit collet clip for better PTFE tube locking with an RGB illuminated ring around, which indicates the filament sensor / extruder status:

RED - No filament detected

GREEN - filament present

BLUE Blinking - filament unload

YELLOW Blinking - filament tangle

Documentation

You can find below the documentation for the Orbiter 2 Smart Sensor:

Orbiter Projects Orbiter 2 Smart Sensor GitHub Rat Rig Docs