Precision Piezo Z-Sense Mount for Prusa/Anet v2

This is V2 of The Universal Piezo Z-Sensing Extruder Mount

The original wasn't getting reliable flex out of the disk when mounted on a printer and used under normal conditions. This redesign hopefully will address that issue.

Here's the Tinkercad for this project. Feel free to remix and let me know if you make a better system!

For reference, here's a video of the original mount on the test rig

And here's the recessed mount in action

and here's a gif of the mount in 3D

This Thing is a replacement X-Carriage extruder mount that incorporates the Precision Piezo sensor. It allows the printer to get pinpoint accurate Z-Axis offsets without any compromise.

Included in this thing are mounts for the original Precision Piezo, and two different mounting styles for my own PCB design that comes with several print head enhancements, which include:

• Flat Flexible cable for transporting all signal and voltage for the cleanest possible cable chain.
• Onboard voltage regulators allowing use of either 5v or 12v DC fans regardless of Vcc (PWM control still works)
• LED's on all controlled traces for visual feedback

So what's it do?
this is a replacement for all z-probes, endstops, and other methods for detecting z-min. In simple terms, we're sandwiching a ceramic disk in between the extruder mount, that, when the nozzle touches the bed, sends a z-trig signal.

How does it work?
When a Piezoelectric disk is compressed, or flexed, it sends out a ripple of voltage. When the nozzle touches the bed, the entire extruder is imperceptibly pushed upward, causing torsion on the X-Carriage. Since we mount the Piezo disk in between the extruder and the X-Carriage, the disk flexes into the small cavity left behind it when the nozzle touches the bed. This in turn causes a voltage ripple, which is sent through an array of voltage comparators in the Precision Piezo circuit, which in turn then send the z-trigger signal wen the voltage ripple hits a certain threshold.

How is this better than z-probes like inductive sensors, or the BLTouch?
All of these methods, endstops, and z-probes, operate under referential circumstances. They are unfortunately prone to issues when things like the mounts are not secure, or your extruder's nozzle is changed, or any number of other factors. The Piezo Z-Sensor, on the other hand, has several advantages that eliminate most of the headaches of these other methods:

• Uses the nozzle itself to sense, therefore there's no X/Y offsets
• If swapping nozzles, or using a modular print head, the z-sensor is uneffected, as it works from within the mount. No need to re-adjust z-offsets
• Extremely high accuracy and repeatability. the original developer claims 0.01mm accuracy
• No deadzones when probing the bed - probe anywhere you can print
• Works on ANY print surface

Where can I get one of these sensors!?
The original developer has an online shop where several different versions can be purchased. My own version is currently in validation testing, but if there's enough interest I could put a large batch together. Currently I'm doing them by hand so if you'd like one, just shoot me a message and we'll work something out.

A big thank you to all the people who helped develop the Piezo Z-Sensor in the first place, Nial Brekke, Mike Simpson, Idris Nowell, and DjDemonD for bringing this project over to Thingiverse!