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Review standard: /review-standard. Calipers are the instrument that makes AI CAD honest. Versions & hardware ItemNotes InstrumentDigital calipers, 0.01 mm resolution class (±0.02 mm typical chea…

Review standard: see /review-standard. This page states a measurement protocol you should re-run on your Pi — do not invent latency numbers without a stopwatch/log. Versions & hardware under test ItemValue …

Citation value comes from a reproducible protocol: same STL, same spool, three slicers, calipers after cool-down. Citation magnet pack: orca-slicer-comparison-magnet.zip — OpenSCAD test bracket, RESULTS.md, prof…

Citation magnet pack: platformio-vs-arduino-magnet.zip — same blink sketch, both toolchains, RESULTS.md for versions and timings. Review standard. Arduino IDE wins the first hour. PlatformIO wins the project that outli…

A decision tree for real projects: power, realtime needs, networking, cost, and how many times you’ll reflash at midnight.

Why this site is pivoting to AI tools, 3D printing, Raspberry Pi, and ESP32 — and how the old archive stays useful.

Offline assist is for privacy and lab continuity — not for matching cloud frontier models on a $35 board. Stack map: see also the directory pages for local/offline AI and Ollama. What “works” vs what “wow” is …

ESP32 as motion brain is only safe after mechanical baseline and E-stop path exist. Diagram ≠ commission. Review standard: /review-standard. This build is documented as a protocol + BOM. Real cut photos and dial…

How to use photos + slicer settings with an LLM without accepting “just increase temperature” as a religion.

Pi runs the broker; ESP32 nodes publish sensors and subscribe to commands. LAN only for v1. Companion to the paid ESP32 + Pi Project Bundle and free Pi weekend PDF. Goal: one broker, one publishing node, one com…

AI accelerates drafting. Calipers and a named slicer profile decide whether the part fits. Tool stacks: CAD AI stack · Maker Prompt Pack · calipers. Workflow stages StageHuman jobAI job 1. MeasureCali…

Sensors publish; actuators subscribe. Keep v1 on low-voltage practice loads. Pairs with the Pi + ESP32 MQTT architecture and free ESP32 kit PDF. Scope & non-goals In scope: BME280/DHT class sensors, opto…

Where ChatGPT/Claude/local models shine for CAD scripts and firmware — and where they invent fasteners that don’t exist.

Pi is the host: Klipper host + UI or OctoPrint. MCUs still run real-time stepper work — wire and power accordingly. Pair with OrcaSlicer review and the print farm AI stack (AI for notes only — never auto-flash u…

USB data cable → DevKit → breadboard LED + resistor. If the LED never blinks, suspect the cable before the code. This is the long-form companion to the free ESP32 Starter Kit PDF. Goal: a first board that enumer…

Partition schemes, rollback, and staged fleet updates for a handful of boards.

Version prompts for CAD, firmware, and troubleshooting without losing the good ones.

Cost, power, and camera/GPIO tradeoffs for maker deployments.

Temperature, toughness, and when PLA is still the right call.

When PlatformIO pays off: envs, libraries, and CI-friendly firmware.