I’m new to the 3D printing world and this is my first post here. I’ve searched the forum but couldn’t find anything close to what I’m trying to do.
I currently have an A1 Combo. As far as I understand, the printer has 2 Bambu Bus ports — one is already occupied by the AMS.
I recently added an LED strip using the second port, and soon I’ll receive a CyberBrick Time-lapse Kit.
My goal is to improve my timelapses using an external camera (I’m still deciding which one — recommendations for affordable options are welcome). The issue is that the room where my printer is located can’t stay with the lights on all the time, so I plan to use the LED strip as the main light source during prints.
That means I would need to connect:
AMS Lite
LED strip
CyberBrick Time-lapse Kit
However, the printer only has 2 Bambu Bus ports.
What would be the best way to handle this?
Is there any supported way to split or expand the Bambu Bus, or is this simply not possible?
The genetic LED strip for the A1 that I have seen pull a relatively small current at 24 VDC. They can be run off any reasonable 24 V supply. If you think you’re going to print TPU, get one that can also run a Mellow filament buffer as a TPU Tamer
The Nexigo N60 webcam is pretty reasonable for under $30
About the LED: yes, it seems to draw very little power, which is great. However, if I were to power it from an external supply, I would need some kind of Bambu Bus → standard connector adapter (like USB or DC barrel), and I haven’t been able to find anything like that.
All I can find are the opposite cables (USB-A female to Bambu Bus male), which doesn’t really help in this case.
So unless I’m missing something, there doesn’t seem to be an easy off-the-shelf way to power Bambu Bus accessories externally, right?
Regarding the camera, the Nexigo N60 does look like a solid option for the price.
My concern is how I would actually use a webcam (Nexigo or even a Logitech C920 that I already own) with the CyberBrick Time-lapse Kit. As far as I understand, webcams require a host device (like a PC or Raspberry Pi) to function.
The idea behind the CyberBrick kit is to trigger the camera once per layer to capture consistent timelapse frames. I don’t quite see how that would work with a standard USB webcam.
Is there a known way to integrate a webcam into this kind of setup?
Or would I need to use something like an action camera or DSLR that supports external trigger input?
If anyone has a working setup or suggestions, I’d really appreciate it.
The “Bambu bus” connectors are standard Molex. Double check, but I believe it is Micro-Fit 3.0. The wiring is not the same as some off-the-shelf cables with that plug on it. See Replace the AMS Connector Board | Bambu Lab Wiki for some hints as to where you should confirm the 24 V to be present.
You can also wire a more suitable power connector to the LED strip, such as a typical barrel receptacle. This would be my suggestion.
USB is 5 V, so any “USB to …” cable would need a “boost converter” internally. You’re probably better off just buying a 24 V wall wart.
On cameras, most reputable webcams have an API that allows capture of a single frame. One thing to be aware of is that making a classic timelapse with the A1 involves parking the toolhead and putting the bed at a specific position. This makes things very slow and can adversely impact print quality. For monitoring, which is arguably a lot more important than yet another 3D printer timelapse on YouTube, pick your favorite tool that runs on your OS
I had searched for something like this before but couldn’t find anything. After using the exact name from that listing, I managed to find a single seller on a marketplace that ships to Brazil.
I’ve just placed the order and it should arrive in the next few days. Once I have everything set up and tested, I’ll come back here to share the results.
Thanks a lot for the insight — I’m hopeful this will solve the problem!
Thanks for the detailed explanation, that helps a lot.
I actually just ordered the hub that @Arnd mentioned, and I’m hoping that will solve the connectivity issue. My main concern now is power — do you think connecting multiple accessories through the hub could overload the printer’s Bambu Bus port, especially considering everything runs on 24V?
Regarding the LED, I understand your suggestion about using an external 24V power supply. In my case, that would require modifying the LED strip wiring, which I’d prefer to avoid for now.
About the camera: I currently already use an IP camera for monitoring my printer, so that part is covered. What I’m really aiming for now is to create clean, well-synced timelapses (layer-by-layer style).
Given that, would you still recommend avoiding the trigger-based approach? Or is there a reliable way to achieve good results without impacting print quality too much?
Think about a bed slinger and where the bed is going to be at the end of each layer. Unless you are building something where each layer ends at the same Y point, each image would from a different point, relative to the object. This means that for a conventional timelapse, the bed needs to be at the same Y point and the toolhead is moved to the side. The camera shutter is triggered. After some time the toolhead then moves to the start of the next layer.
Here’s an example with just the part I happened to have in the slicer and enabling showing Travel (blue lines).
Maybe you’re comfortable with that and the quality you are trying to get from your prints. For me, that is a ton of wasted moves, time, and the potential to drop filament where it shouldn’t be, have the layers cool more than I want before the next one gets laid down, and have the extruder do unwanted things due to the delay between layers.
