Wireless Networked Thermal Printer w/ Rasp-Pi Zero

What it says on the tin.

jareklupinski

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Description

After seeing the Networked Thermal Printer tutorial posted by Adafruit: https://learn.adafruit.com/networked-thermal-printer-using-cups-and-raspberry-pi
I realized that I may have found an excellent use for my Raspberry Pi Zero. I purchased the Mini Thermal Printer and followed the tutorial to set up the Raspberry Pi side with no problems. Then I cut a small section of the case out to make room for the micro-usb slot through which to connect the USB->Wifi dongle using a tiny adapter from Adafruit. Some electrical tape was placed over the printer circuitry to protect from accidental shorts and some double-stick tape on top of that was used to mount the Pi. I then drilled a 15/32" hole in an appropriate place on the box. It took a bit of wiggling and careful wire routing to make the printer case snap back shut, but it came together well in the end.

Details

My favorite use for this printer is verifying Eagle Library footprints with the actual part,. The thermal printer has a high enough resolution to verify even 0.5mm QFN footprints with the right layer settings turned on. It's also handy for small notes and reminders I tuck in with incomplete projects when I'm storing them away for later.

I have additionally soldered the DTR line to GPIO18 on the RasPi in hopes that this will be supported in the future for faster and less glitchy prints.

Components

1 × Mini Thermal Receipt Printer Starter Pack https://www.adafruit.com/products/600
1 × Tiny OTG Adapter - USB Micro to USB https://www.adafruit.com/products/2910
1 × Raspberry Pi Zero https://www.adafruit.com/products/2885
1 × Panel Mount 2.1mm DC barrel jack https://www.adafruit.com/products/610
1 × Mini USB WiFi Module - RTL8188eu - 802.11b/g/n https://www.adafruit.com/products/2810

Build Instructions

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1

Step 1

Purchase the items in the component list above, then follow the directions here to setup the Pi: https://learn.adafruit.com/networked-thermal-printer-using-cups-and-raspberry-pi

Hold the Assembled Pi against the case and cut out a small slot in the side to make room for the USB->Wifi dongle to poke through, as shown in the pictures. Then drill a hole to match the input jack anywhere there is room in the box, and route the power wires back to your board.

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