Pi Zero Case with Swivel Camera mount

thingiverse

After setting up Octoprint on one of my 3D printers, I wanted to mount a camera to view print progress remotely. I played around with some of the Pi camera modules but found the lack of a hand operated focus annoying. After purchasing some with large adjustable lenses, I found there wasn't really much in terms of mounts on Thingiverse. So I decided to build my own that not only allowed me to mount such a camera, but also swivel it and also to mount it to the door of the 3D printer, so I could have a better front-on view and avoid the heat of the enclosed 3D printer. I always had them in the corner and found it gave quite a bad view of the print. Now that the Pi Zero W is supported by Octoprint, I could mount it all in a small lightweight package on the plexiglass door with minimal amounts of wiring. What I've also done is powered it via the GPIO pins, as well as linking up a relay so I can switch the 3D printer on and off remotely. The usb cable is just for the printer interface. There is a gap left for the GPIO pins to be neatly tucked inside. Due to the direction of the camera cable, I had to mount the Pi Zero 'backwards', so the camera cable doesn't experience any twisting. If your looking for the same camera, they are sold as 'night-vision' Pi cameras, but mine didn't include the infrared LEDs. I also needed a camera cable adapter, as the Pi Zero uses a smaller port. This design utilizes push-in nuts. I do this on most of my mechanical designs, so you'll need a relatively well calibrated printer and I'd recommend printing in ABS due to its slight flexibility. To insert the nuts, I use a slightly larger screw and tighten it enough that it gets 'pulled' into the socket permanently. You will need: 1 x Raspberry Pi Zero (I used v1.3 Pi Zero W) 1 x Pi Module camera (I designed this for the night vision version, but others may work) 1 x Camera cable adapter (If your not using the Pi Camera V2) 8 x M3 Nuts 8 x Counter Sunk M3 Screws (Length needs to be around 15mm for 4, and 10mm for 4, but you can use longer ones, but not shorter). Attach the cable to the camera module THEN screw the camera parts together. When attaching the swivel mounts, do not over-tighten so you can still adjust it manually as per its purpose. The Pi can be mounted onto the back panel and placed straight on when finished. I used I_am_me's design for the Pi specific parts. The back panel is purely his design, and the 'lid' was remixed into the main part of the frame of this design (So it's kind of backwards to his original design). Enjoy!