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Voron Guides

Energy Usage Monitoring & Tracking

Introduction

Section titled “Introduction”

Moonraker’s extended data collection capabilities enable seamless integration with additional sensor sources, including power meters. This feature allows for the tracking of energy consumption data within Moonraker’s job history component. Leveraging energy monitors like the Shelly 1PM series, you can gain insights into the energy usage per print job. This guide provides a step-by-step walkthrough for setting up a MQTT server to facilitate data exchange between Shelly and Moonraker, as well as configuring Moonraker to poll and store energy consumption data. Additionally, this guide covers the configuration of Mainsail and Moonraker sensors to track energy usage in the job history.

Prerequisites

Section titled “Prerequisites”
  • A power meter or sensor capable of publishing measurements to an MQTT server is required. Compatible devices include the Shelly PM series (e.g., Shelly 1PM Pro or Shelly 1PM Mini) and Tasmota-based devices. Please note that device installation is not covered in this guide.
  • The power meter must be configured to operate on the same network as the Raspberry Pi that controls your printer to allow communication and data exchange.
  • A recent version of Mainsail installation (minimum version 2.12.0) is also required.

MQTT Server

Section titled “MQTT Server”

MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight, machine-to-machine communication protocol that enables Internet of Things (IoT) components to exchange messages. In this application, the Powermeter utilizes MQTT to periodically publish measurement data, while Moonraker subscribes to these messages to receive the data. To facilitate this communication, we will install an MQTT Server on the Raspberry Pi controlling the 3D printer.

Installation

Section titled “Installation”

Please execute the following commands via SSH to complete the installation.

  1. Install the necessary software components by running the following command

    Installing the Mosquitto server
    sudo apt install -y mosquitto mosquitto-clients

  2. Configure the Mosquitto MQTT server to automatically start on system boot

    Starting Mosquitto on printer startup
    sudo systemctl enable mosquitto.service

Configuration

Section titled “Configuration”

To enable the MQTT server to receive messages from the power meter over the network, it is essential to configure the server to listen on a designated network port. The subsequent steps will guide you through the setup process for an unauthenticated (anonymous) connection, ensuring seamless communication between the power meter and the MQTT server.

  1. Execute the following command to access and modify the configuration file

    Editing the configuration file
    sudo nano /etc/mosquitto/mosquitto.conf

  2. Append the following configuration settings to the end of the file

    mosquitto.conf
    listener 1883
    allow_anonymous true

  3. Exit the editor and save the file by pressing CTRL-X, then confirm with Y and Enter

  4. Apply the new configuration by restarting Mosquitto

    Restarting the Mosquitto service
    sudo systemctl restart mosquitto

Power Meter

Section titled “Power Meter”

Next, configure the power meter to publish measurements at regular intervals to the MQTT server, enabling data exchange and tracking.

Configuration

Section titled “Configuration”

  1. Identify the IP address of your Raspberry Pi by executing the following command:

    Determining the primary IP address
    hostname -I

    The resulting output should resemble the following:

    Output
    py@voron: $ hostname -I
    198.51.100.60 198.51.100.61 2600:1700:5430:87af::1106 2001:0db8:5dc9:b0ba:f8a8:7e3c:45e2:faab 2001:0db8:5dc9:b0ba:f8a8:7e3c:45e2:faac

    Take note of the primary IP address, 198.51.100.60, displayed in the first column of the output. This information is essential for the next steps, so please document it for later use.

  2. Open a web browser and enter the IP address of your Shelly device to access its web-based interface and configure settings.

  3. Navigate to Settings > MQTT in the Connectivity section.

  4. Configure the following settings:

    • Enable: Checked
    • Connection type: No SSL
    • MQTT Prefix: my-printer
    • MQTT Control: Enabled
    • Generic status update over MQTT: Enabled
    • Server: IP address of your Raspberry Pi (determined in step 1), followed by :1883, for example 198.51.100.60:1883
    • Client ID: my-printer
    • Username and Password: Leave blank

    Shelly MQTT Settings

  5. Click Save Settings to apply the changes. A restart of the Shelly might be required.

Moonraker

Section titled “Moonraker”

Configure Moonraker to integrate additional sensor sources, enabling real-time data tracking in Mainsail and historical data analysis in the job history.

MQTT Configuration

Section titled “MQTT Configuration”

  1. Execute the following command to access and modify the configuration file

    Editing the Moonraker configuration file
    sudo nano ~/printer_data/config/moonraker.conf

  2. Append the following configuration settings to the file to configure Moonraker to receive messages from the MQTT server

    moonraker.conf
    [mqtt]
    address: 127.0.0.1
    enable_moonraker_api: False

Sensor Configuration

Section titled “Sensor Configuration”

  1. Append the following configuration block to establish a sensor that subscribes to MQTT messages from the Shelly 1PM

    moonraker.conf
    [sensor powermeter]
    type: mqtt
    name: Shelly 1PM
    parameter_power:
      units=W
    parameter_voltage:
      units=V
    parameter_current:
      units=A
    parameter_energy:
      units=kWh
    state_topic: my-printer/status/switch:0
    state_response_template:
      {% set notification = payload|fromjson %}
      {set_result("power", notification["apower"]|float)}
      {set_result("voltage", notification["voltage"]|float)}
      {set_result("current", notification["current"]|float)}
      {set_result("energy", notification["aenergy"]["total"]|float / 1000)}

    This configuration enables the extraction of key data points from Shelly 1PM status updates, including:

    • Current mains voltage
    • Current power draw
    • Current power usage
    • Total energy consumption (in kilowatt-hours)

  2. Apply the new configuration by restarting Moonraker

    Restarting the Mooraker service
    sudo systemctl restart moonraker

  3. Confirm Data Exchange

    To ensure the successful publication of measurements from the power meter and Moonraker’s ability to process them, navigate to the Mainsail Web UI for your printer.

    If the integration is functioning correctly, you should observe four new measurements from your sensor in the ‘Miscellaneous Card’ on the dashboard, as depicted in the screenshot below:

    Mainsail Sensor Data Display

    This verification step confirms the accurate exchange of data between the power meter and Moonraker, enabling real-time monitoring and analysis of energy consumption.

Historical Data

Section titled “Historical Data”

Moonraker allows tracking auxillary sensor data in the job history. To facilitate persisting this data additional history fields need to be configured for the sensor.

  1. Execute the following command to access and modify the Moonraker configuration file

    Editing the Moonraker configuration file
    sudo nano ~/printer_data/config/moonraker.conf

  2. Enhance sensor definition with history fields

    Append the following configuration lines to the previously defined sensor:

    moonraker.conf
    history_field_energy_consumption:
      parameter=energy
      desc=Energy consumption
      strategy=delta
      units=kWh
      init_tracker=true
      precision=6
      exclude_paused=false
      report_total=true
      report_maximum=true
    history_field_average_power:
      parameter=power
      desc=Average power draw
      strategy=average
      units=W
      report_total=false
      report_maximum=true
    history_field_max_power:
      parameter=power
      desc=Maximum power draw
      strategy=maximum
      units=W
      init_tracker=true
      report_total=false
      report_maximum=false
    history_field_average_current:
      parameter=current
      desc=Average current draw
      strategy=average
      units=A
      report_total=false
      report_maximum=true
    history_field_max_current:
      parameter=current
      desc=Maximum current draw
      strategy=maximum
      units=A
      init_tracker=true
      report_total=false
      report_maximum=false

    This modification adds fields for current draw, power usage, and energy consumption, which will be recorded in the job history upon completion of a print job.

  3. Apply the new configuration by restarting Moonraker

    Restarting the Mooraker service
    sudo systemctl restart moonraker

  4. Verify data tracking in Mainsail

    To confirm the successful integration of power meter measurements and Moonraker’s job history, access the Mainsail Web UI for your printer. If the configuration has been completed correctly, you should see additional columns in the Job History section, as depicted in the screenshot below:

    Mainsail Job History Display

Further Reading

Section titled “Further Reading”