Not that it needs it,

But I just replaced my optical mouse with a Logitech 325c (a great little mouse). I got it for $9. I'm sure most of us have an old mouse we don't use.

If you follow Josef Prusa, he uses an optical "mouse" sensor in the new MK3 printer to sense the filament.

Since this little pieces is so small and cheap, I was wondering if there would be any benefit, of reading the X,Y movement and position like a PID.

You tell it to move 20mm right and the sensor provides feedback if it actually moved that far?

I'm not a coder, so I don't have a clue how this could be implemented, but I thought I'd through it out there a something for the future.

Max

Perhaps not to map the full print job, but what if you send the pen from a to b. And that is 7mm down by 3mm right, and the optical sensor says you traveled 6.9mm down by 3.1mm right.

You could adjust the position. Or certainly you could calibrate a plotter. Have it draw a square or circle a specific dimension 100mm x 100mm. and the result of the optical sensor can calculate the offset needed.

Again, if you can wire in a $4 sensor.

Just a thought.

Max