Cubietruck, ESP8266 and a CTC 3D Printer

Lately I've been messing about with my new CTC 3D printer, but soon figured out that the whole 3D printing set up could do with some upgrades.

Before moving on to what is currently running in the office, I thought I'd break the subjects down a bit:

- Setting up LEDs and case fans on the printer chassis
- Figuring out a way to control them remotely

Since I'm already using a Cubietruck, I thought about using the GPIOs to control these external components. Still, that solution wouldn't be that different from what you can do with a Cubieboard, Cubietruck, Raspberry Pi and similar embedded boards, ranging from 40USD upwards.

So then I found out about the ESP8266-01 wifi module:

This tiny wifi module costs about 2USD (!!!) and while a lot of people consider it mainly as a cheap wifi upgrade for their arduino boards, it can do quite a bit on its own...!

I bought a few of these on Ebay recently, just curious about what I could actually do with them, so in the end, this little guy alone ended up controlling the LEDs and case fans on my 3D printer chassis.

But first off, an important disclaimer:

The electronics on this project was mostly picked up from tips and teachings from a couple of friends, more knowledgeable on the subject.

I'll be posting the several steps in this project on the blog, as soon as I'm able to clean up all the mess around the office...!