If you run more than one 3D printer, you already know the little dance: open a phone app, refresh the web page, squint at a progress bar, repeat. A neat open-source project fixes that by turning an inexpensive touchscreen into a dedicated dashboard that watches all your machines at once, no laptop required.
Most modern printers, including nearly every Prusa still supported today, can connect to your home network for remote monitoring. That connection is what makes a shared status screen possible. Instead of checking each printer individually, you get one glanceable panel showing what is printing, how far along it is, and whether anything needs your attention. Because the printer is doing the reporting, the picture stays accurate whether the machine is across the room or in the garage.
The clever part is the hardware. The project runs custom firmware on small touchscreens like the BigTreeTech K-Touch and the Panda Touch. These panels were originally built for Klipper machines, but the new firmware also lets them talk to Prusa printers, either directly over your local network or through the Prusa Connect cloud. It even keeps working with Klipper and some cloud-connected Bambu Lab printers, so a mixed workshop can share a single display. Under the hood these screens use the popular ESP32 chip, which is why they are cheap and easy to reflash.
Getting started is friendlier than it sounds. The project is fully open source, and ready-to-flash images are published so you do not have to compile anything yourself. You pick your screen, flash the provided binary using one of the documented methods, point it at your printer's network address or cloud account, and the interface mimics the look of the official apps. If your printers live on the Prusa Connect cloud, you can even keep an eye on them while you are away from home, which is handy during those long overnight prints. Because it is ESP32-based, the same little display could later be repurposed for other home projects too.
Try it on your printer: a spare ESP32 touchscreen and ten minutes of setup can replace a dozen daily app checks. If you are building out a maker corner and want quality filament and printer accessories to keep those machines humming, browse the gear at Flarelab and give your new dashboard something worth watching.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a computer running all the time to use this?
No. The firmware runs on the ESP32 touchscreen itself, so it talks to your printers directly over the network or through the cloud without a laptop or Raspberry Pi acting as a middleman.
Which touchscreens are supported?
The project targets the BigTreeTech K-Touch and the Panda Touch, both of which are built around the ESP32 chip. Ready-to-flash images are provided for both.
Will it work with my Prusa, Klipper, or Bambu Lab printer?
Yes to all three. It connects to Prusa printers locally or via Prusa Connect, keeps native Klipper support, and can monitor some cloud-connected Bambu Lab machines, though the Bambu setup is a little more involved.
Is it hard to install if I am a beginner?
Not really. Because pre-built binaries are published, you flash the image with a documented tool and point the screen at your printer. No coding or compiling is required.
Originally published at flarelab.com.
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