<p>I'd like to buy a 3D printer and use it as a &quot;platform&quot; for an <strong>external</strong> optical sensor. The idea is to mount an optical sensor on the Z-axis and to put a workpiece on the X-Y table.  Now, I'd like to move the sensor across the workpiece and trigger the measurement of the optical sensor. Hence, the 3D printer is not actually printing, but only used as a motion and trigger device for the optical sensors.</p>
<p>I have never used a 3D printer, but I'm afraid that I'll run into several problems:</p>
<ol>
<li>The standard G-code of &quot;wait one second&quot; is <code>G04 X1</code> on many CNC machines. Does this code exist on 3D printers as well?</li>
<li>Is it possible to extract a trigger signal (e.g. 5 V) from the 3D printer? Are printers available which provide a G-code for an external trigger? Could anybody suggest a model? I'm happy to pay some extra dollars if I don't have to solder by myself. Of course, a second option would be to use the voltage, which is used to heat the filament.</li>
</ol>

[{'answer_id': 15973, 'author': 'Perry Webb', 'author_id': 15075, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/15075', 'pm_score': 3, 'selected': True, 'text': "<p>A flexible material, such as PETG or ABS, is probably the best.  PLA is brittle, especially after absorbing moisture, and probably would crack under continued use.</p>\n<p>Nylon is good, but not easy to use.  With PETG in an enclosure, I end up running fans to avoid heat creep; so PETG may actually do better without an enclosure.</p>\n<p>If you're printing to flex your print, keep in mind the the x and y axes are stronger than the z-axis, which depends on how well the layers stick together.   PETG tends to stick to the print surface too well; so I use an Elmer's glue stick for it to pull up the glue layer instead of damaging my print surface.</p>\n"}, {'answer_id': 15978, 'author': 'Hacky', 'author_id': 4708, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/4708', 'pm_score': 1, 'selected': False, 'text': "<p>PETG, ABS and NYLON would work great for press-fit or snap-fit connections. If you really can't build a (cardboard) enclosure I would go for PETG as it has good repeatable mechanical properties and does not require an enclosure.</p>\n"}, {'answer_id': 15981, 'author': 'FarO', 'author_id': 2338, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/2338', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p><a href="http://thrinter.com/creep-abs-pla-petg-alloy-910/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">PLA and nylon deform over time</a> under stress (&quot;creep&quot;), therefore they will get loose(r) and will snap less effectively together.</p>\n<p>See what happens to clips after one day of stretching (respectively nylon, PLA, PETg, ABS):</p>\n<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/0Le7j.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/0Le7j.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>\n<p>And if you leave them unstretched, after a while:</p>\n<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/BxJTM.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/BxJTM.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>\n<p>PLA permanently deforms a lot. PETG is better than PLA, but ABS or ASA are the best choice for the purpose.</p>\n<p>A material simply &quot;flexible&quot; is not necessarily the best choice.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 15986, 'author': 'Caleb', 'author_id': 1690, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/1690', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': "<p>If you're aiming for a Lego-like snap fit, look at Lego parts to see how they work. Using the right material is important, but using it the right way is at least as important. Lego bricks are made so that the walls and tubes can deform very slightly as the studs of another brick are pushed into the brick.</p>\n<p>The walls of the octagonal holes in your part appear to be solid. Perhaps they're not really, and underneath the surface layer there's a lesser amount of infill, but infill can provide a lot of strength, and that solid surface will prevent deformation at the entrance of the hole.</p>\n<p>Try removing the solid bottom layers and reducing or eliminating the infill in the part so that the walls of your holes can flex more.</p>\n"}]
['https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/15974', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/27560/']