Filament Tracker Live Spool
Introducing FilamentTracker Live Spool
A Raspberry Pi-powered spool scale, NFC/RFID station, touchscreen dashboard, and hardware companion for the FilamentTracker Android app.
FilamentTracker Live Spool turns a Raspberry Pi into a dedicated workstation for weighing filament spools, reading NFC and RFID tags, displaying live spool information, and communicating with the FilamentTracker Android app over a local network.
It is designed as an addition to FilamentTracker—not a replacement for it. The FilamentTracker Android application remains the primary inventory system where spool details, materials, colors, locations, remaining filament, notes, and history are managed.
Live Spool acts as the physical hardware station that connects the digital inventory to the actual spool sitting on the scale.
What Live Spool Can Do
- Display the live weight of a filament spool.
- Read FilamentTracker NFC tags.
- Read supported Bambu Lab RFID tags.
- Write and verify compatible NFC spool tags.
- Logically erase compatible writable NFC tags.
- Receive temporary NFC write sessions initiated from the Android app.
- Combine live scale readings and NFC tag data into one current-spool view.
- Provide a touchscreen dashboard designed for a dedicated 7-inch display.
- Provide calibration, diagnostics, settings, and hardware-status screens.
- Communicate with FilamentTracker Android and FilamentTracker Server through a local REST API.
Designed to Work with FilamentTracker
The main purpose of Live Spool is to make managing filament easier inside the FilamentTracker ecosystem.
A spool can be placed on the scale and identified using its attached NFC tag. Live Spool can then display information such as the brand, material, color, tag identification, and current measured weight.
The FilamentTracker Android app can also send spool information to Live Spool and start a temporary NFC writing session. The user simply presents a compatible tag to the reader, and Live Spool writes the spool data, verifies the tag, and returns to the main dashboard.
This creates a simple physical workflow for assigning and identifying filament spools without moving the inventory itself away from the Android app.
Touchscreen Dashboard
Live Spool includes an appliance-style touchscreen interface designed around a 7-inch, 1024 × 600 display.
The dashboard presents the current spool weight, detected tag information, filament details, scale status, NFC status, and other useful information without requiring a keyboard or mouse.
Technician and Settings Interface
A hidden technician menu provides access to diagnostics, scale calibration, NFC tools, display settings, network information, system controls, and project information.
The interface is designed to feel like a dedicated appliance rather than a standard Raspberry Pi desktop.
Hardware
The current tested Live Spool appliance uses:
- Raspberry Pi 5
- 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS
- ELECROW 7-inch 1024 × 600 touchscreen
- PN532 NFC reader operating in I²C mode
- NAU7802 load-cell analog-to-digital converter
- 5 kg four-wire load cell
Software support is also included for the HX711 load-cell interface, along with mock hardware for development and testing on Linux systems.
NFC and RFID Support
Live Spool uses a PN532 reader to communicate with compatible NFC tags. FilamentTracker tags can contain information such as:
- Spool identification
- Filament identification
- Brand
- Material
- Color name
- Color value
- Initial filament weight
- Last recorded remaining weight
- Last update time
Live Spool can compare the last weight saved to the tag with the current scale measurement, making it possible to identify when the physical spool weight has changed.
Supported Bambu Lab RFID tags can also be read for spool identification. Bambu RFID functionality is currently read-only and depends on successful tag authentication.
Accurate Spool Weighing
The built-in calibration wizard walks the user through removing all weight, taring the scale, placing an accurately known calibration weight, entering its mass, and verifying the result.
Calibration information is stored separately from the application so it can be preserved when the software is updated.
Scale accuracy ultimately depends on the quality of the load cell, mechanical construction, mounting, wiring, and calibration.
Inside the Appliance
The PN532 NFC reader and NAU7802 scale interface share the Raspberry Pi’s I²C bus. This allows the system to read the physical spool weight and the attached tag through a compact hardware installation.
Local Network Integration
Live Spool provides a local REST API that allows FilamentTracker Android and FilamentTracker Server to retrieve:
- System and hardware status
- Current scale weight
- NFC reader and tag status
- Combined current-spool information
- Scale calibration status
The API also supports temporary NFC write sessions, compatible tag erase operations, and scale-calibration controls.
Current Development Status
Live Spool is an actively developed addition to the FilamentTracker project. The Raspberry Pi 5 is currently the primary tested platform.
Future development plans include:
- Additional Raspberry Pi and display validation
- Improved guided hardware setup
- Expanded Android and FilamentTracker Server integration testing
- Published enclosure and build plans
- Additional appliance photographs and documentation
- Improved upgrade and rollback support
- Packaged software releases
A Physical Companion for Digital Filament Management
FilamentTracker Live Spool brings physical spool identification and measurement directly into the FilamentTracker workflow.
Instead of manually identifying a spool, estimating its remaining weight, or maintaining another separate inventory, the user can place the spool on the station, scan its tag, and work with the same information already managed by FilamentTracker.
The goal is to create a practical, dedicated tool for makers who want better visibility into their filament inventory while keeping FilamentTracker Android at the center of the system.
Project Information
Project: FilamentTracker Live Spool
Companion application: FilamentTracker Android
Primary platform: Raspberry Pi 5
License: MIT
FilamentTracker Live Spool is an independent interoperability project. FilamentTracker and Bambu Lab names belong to their respective owners.