Hopefully it is ok to ask this here..
Many makers own the budget K40 chinese laser cutter.etching machine.
I reckon that the Octoprint system using the OctoPi program on a Raspberry is a brilliant product, especially when set up to work across my home network.
I own a Creality Ender 3 Pro, and before owning it I couldn't understand why anyone would need a 3D printer... now I would be lost without it. The 3D printer and Octoprint/Octopi setup has become a permanent bit of gear in my hobby/workshop.
I also own a K40 Laser etcher/cutter. These are very popular with hobbyists. Although, I can fiddle around and get a program up and running using a Raspberry Pi, it is nowhere near as good as the OctoPi setup on my 3D printer.
The Raspberry Pi is great to use as a dedicated computer on machines like the 3D printers, and I really wish that a similar system could be set up easily on a K40 laser.
How many of you own one of these lasers? What do you think.. would an OctoPi/Octoprint setup on a Raspberry Pi for a K40 laser sound good to you?
What specific software have you tried with your K40 laser?
LightBurn is often associated with laser hardware but it isn't free. Here are some alternatives to LightBurn.
Here's a couple of links to Raspberry Pi software for a K40 laser, Run a K40 Laser Cutter from Your Raspberry Pi with K40 Whisperer – RasPi.TV and Improve Your K40 Laser Cutting Experience with a Raspberry Pi and K40 Whisperer - Hackster.io.
If neither of those options are acceptable to you, OctoPi and OctoPrint are designed to connect to 3D printers via a serial USB connection. The communication between OctoPrint and the printer is a Marlin based subset of gcode. How close the subset of gcode used by your K40 laser etcher/cutter is to Marlin will determine how successful you will be using OctoPrint to communicate with the K40.
It would be possible to write a plugin for communicating if you wanted to. Here's the one for GRBL:
Yes, I have setup those programs on Raspberry Pi OS and have used them. My post was regarding a Octoprint type setup to suit the K40 laser (dedicated to the K40, and able to work across the network).