Raspberry Pi 4B + MKS Robin Nano V3.1¶

Complete Installation, Firmware, Network, and Configuration Guide

This document describes the full setup of a Raspberry Pi–based Klipper system, including operating system installation, network configuration (IOT Wi-Fi, Eduroam, MacBook direct Ethernet), Klipper firmware for the MKS Robin Nano V3.1, and associated support files.

1. Installing Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit)¶

1.1 Hardware and software requirements¶

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (8 GB RAM)
microSD card, 32 GB or larger
SD card reader
5 V power supply capable of at least 3 A
Network access (Wi-Fi)
Host computer for flashing

1.2 Download Raspberry Pi imager¶

Official source:
https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/

Install Raspberry Pi Imager for your operating system.

1.3 Flash Raspberry Pi OS¶

Insert the microSD card into your computer
Open Raspberry Pi Imager
Select:
Operating System: Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit)
Storage: target microSD card
Open Advanced Options:
Enable SSH
Set username and password
Configure Wi-Fi (optional)
Set locale and timezone
Write the image
Safely eject the card

Source:
https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/getting-started.html

1.4 First boot and system update¶

Insert the SD card into the Raspberry Pi and power it on.

Connect via SSH:

ssh pi@automator.local
````

Update the system:

```bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo reboot

2. Network configuration¶

2.1 Network overview¶

The system uses three network connections:

IOT Wi-Fi — primary connection for normal operation
Eduroam (WPA2-Enterprise / 802.1X) — fallback Wi-Fi
mac-direct-auto — MacBook direct Ethernet connection via automator-direct-dhcp.service; the Pi acts as a DHCP server on eth0 when a MacBook is plugged in directly

The authoritative configuration and commands are documented here:

https://github.com/rotsl/Automator/blob/main/documentation/networkandprintsettings.md

This file should be followed exactly for the deployed network profiles.

2.2 IOT Wi-Fi (primary)¶

List available networks:

nmcli dev wifi list

Connect to the IOT network:

nmcli dev wifi connect "IOT" password "PASSWORD"

Verify:

nmcli device status

2.3 Eduroam (fallback)¶

Eduroam requires WPA2-Enterprise configuration using NetworkManager.

EAP method
Phase 2 authentication
Identity and anonymous identity
Certificate handling

Parameters are institution-specific and defined in:

https://github.com/rotsl/Automator/blob/main/documentation/networkandprintsettings.md

After configuration, verify connectivity:

ping -c 4 8.8.8.8
ping -c 4 google.com

3. Installing Klipper on the Raspberry Pi¶

3.1 Clone Klipper repository¶

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper.git

3.2 Install Klipper host services¶

./klipper/scripts/install-octopi.sh

This installs:

Klipper host service
Moonraker API
Mainsail or Fluidd web interface

Source: https://www.klipper3d.org/Installation.html

4. Building Klipper firmware for MKS Robin Nano V3.1¶

4.1 Board reference¶

Official documentation: https://github.com/makerbase-mks/MKS-Robin-Nano-V3.X

4.2 Firmware configuration¶

cd ~/klipper
make menuconfig

Required settings:

MCU Architecture: STM32
Processor Model: STM32F407
Bootloader offset: 32KiB
Clock Reference: 8 MHz crystal
Communication interface: USB (PA11/PA12)

Save and exit.

4.3 Compile firmware¶

make clean
make

Firmware output:

out/klipper.bin

4.4 Flash firmware¶

Rename:

klipper.bin --> robin_nano.bin

Copy to a FAT32-formatted SD card
Insert into the MKS Robin Nano
Power on the board
Wait approximately 10 seconds

Successful flashing renames the file to:

FIRMWARE.CUR

Source: https://github.com/makerbase-mks/MKS-Robin-Nano-V3.X

4.5 Pre-built firmware for this setup¶

The compiled firmware used in this Automator deployment is stored in the repository at:

config/firmware mks/firmware.bin

Copy this file to a FAT32 SD card, rename it to robin_nano.bin, and flash as described in §4.4. Building from source (§4.2–§4.3) is only necessary if the firmware configuration needs to change.

5. Connecting MKS Robin Nano to Raspberry Pi¶

Connect the board via USB.

Identify the serial device:

ls /dev/serial/by-id/

Example:

usb-Klipper_stm32f407xx_47003B001951343035323830-if00

6. Klipper configuration¶

6.1 Printer configuration¶

The printer configuration file is maintained here:

https://github.com/rotsl/Automator/blob/main/config/printer.cfg

Install to:

~/printer_data/config/printer.cfg

No modifications should be made without documenting changes.

7. Associated files¶

7.1 Documentation requirements (requirements.txt)¶

Used only for building documentation with MkDocs.

# Python virtualenv module requirements for mkdocs
jinja2==3.1.6
mkdocs==1.2.4
mkdocs-material==8.1.3
mkdocs-simple-hooks==0.1.3
mkdocs-exclude==1.0.2
mdx-truly-sane-lists==1.2
mdx-breakless-lists==1.0.1
py-gfm==1.0.2
markdown==3.3.7

7.2 Klipper markdown landing file¶

Introductory project documentation.

Welcome to the Klipper project!

https://www.klipper3d.org/

This file does not affect runtime behavior.

7.3 Moonraker configuration (change based on your setup)¶

[server]
host: 0.0.0.0
port: 7125
klippy_uds_address: /home/pi/printer_data/comms/klippy.sock

trusted_forwarded_ips:
    IP1
    IP2

[authorization]
trusted_clients:
    Trusted IPS's

cors_domains:
    http://192.168.50.2:8080
    http://automator.local:8080

[machine]
name: Rohan-Automator

Security note: 0.0.0.0/0 allows all IPv4 addresses and should only be used behind a firewall or trusted proxy.

Source: https://moonraker.readthedocs.io/

8. Restart and verification¶

Restart services:

sudo systemctl restart klipper
sudo systemctl restart moonraker

Verify Moonraker:

ss -tuln | grep 7125

Verify Klipper socket:

ls ~/printer_data/comms/klippy.sock

Open web interface:

http://automator.local

9. References¶

Raspberry Pi Documentation https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/

Klipper Documentation https://www.klipper3d.org/

MKS Robin Nano V3.X https://github.com/makerbase-mks/MKS-Robin-Nano-V3.X

Automator Network and Print Settings https://github.com/rotsl/Automator/blob/main/documentation/networkandprintsettings.md

Use and license context¶

This Raspberry Pi 4B + MKS Robin Nano V3.1 configuration is intended to be used as part of the Automator system for automated imaging and motion-controlled workflows.

Primary project repository:
https://github.com/rotsl/Automator

Operational workflows, controller software, and system architecture are documented in the Automator repository and should be consulted alongside this file.

Intended use¶

This setup is designed for research automation, laboratory imaging, and engineering development. It is not a certified laboratory instrument unless explicitly approved by the hosting institution.

Users are responsible for validating the system for their experimental context and for complying with applicable safety and regulatory requirements.

License notice¶

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

All third-party software is used in accordance with its respective license. Detailed information is provided in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.