Search Results for 'EEPROM'

[Chris WhiteKeymaster]

Hi Guys,

Looks like it’s time to clear this up… @gid you’ve got it on the nail… The thickness of the material you use to calibrate makes absolutely no difference - the only important part is that the material can not be compressed. A piece of paper or a 5mm machined block of aluminium would produce the same result, but something like a thick business card is not ideal as it can be compressed by the Z spring, upsetting the calibration. You are right in that Robox is measuring the distance between the actual home (bed surface) and the point at which the Z stop activates, as this can vary depending on assembly/elasticity in the machine, and should therefore only need to be done once for each head, as it is stored on the head EEPROM (that is unless you drop it or something, which may affect the actual shape of the nozzles etc.).

In the first step of the calibration you will see Robox switching nozzles and homing on the bed - it is doing it a number of times to check the reported values are within a specified error range, and then taking an average of those values. Once it has worked out the difference in height between nozzles, the only thing to do is tell it what the difference is between the point where the switch is activated, and where the nozzle actually contacts the bed. You MUST remove the PEI bed at this stage, as any ‘bounce’ in the sheet will make these calculations meaningless. We realise the questions are slightly subjective at the moment in terms of choosing ‘just right’ - you are looking for the point where the paper/piece of metal can slide freely beneath the nozzle without disturbing the head. The accuracy of this is not significant, as each click of the button only moves the head 0.05mm, which should be plenty of resolution for producing a good first layer. We are working on improving this sequence, along with X/Y calibration and nozzle open in future releases of AutoMaker along with the UI.

A number of people of noticed/complained that the UI described/pictured in the manual is not the same as the current release of AutoMaker. As a small team it’s very difficult to keep everything current - design vs. production is almost impossible to bring in line. I have been working on the new UI design for several months, and we’re currently in the process of updating the software to make use of the new graphics - however as I’m sure many of you know, creating a UI style and example screens is only a short way along the path to finished software - a lot of coding is required to get the interface to function as intended. I have also been creating the user manual at the same time - so rather than having to basically rewrite the manual, we made the decision to use the new interface, as we have minimum orders for printing manuals/qsg etc. and therefore we would be left with a lot of out of date material. The new software UI will be released soon, and then all the documentation should be brought into line - sorry we can’t do better…

If you are not getting a good first layer, the most likely cause is ‘bounce’ in your PEI sheet - try turning it over. The latest versions of the bed have a different retaining system for keeping the sheet flat, and we’re thinking of a firmware update which would record more information about the topography of the bed and store it for future prints. It would therefore probe the bed in many more locations to get a more accurate representation of the surface, and the firmware would then take this into account when printing the first layer. This difference in bed height would then be ‘washed out’ over the next n layers so it is not obvious in the final part.

As the firmware and software are fully automatic updating, all of you will receive these improvements over time as they are developed, leading to improvements in speed, print quality, ease of use and functionality - please bear with us, more staff are coming!

Chris

[T. BurnsParticipant]

Hi Chris,

thanks for that info. A hermetically sealed enclosure for the second reel including function für reading the Eeprom would really be great!
Keep going on that way!

Thanks!

 

[Chris WhiteKeymaster]

@mr-burns The design of the second reel holder is still in concept stage at the moment, but it will be able to read the EEPROM from both reels - we have an addressing pin to allow this. An idea at the moment is to produce a hermetically sealed enclosure (good for very hygroscopic materials such as PVOH) which fits into the reel dock and contains a reel. This will have a second hub feature on the outer surface which allows for another reel to be mounted (to the enclosure essentially) and it will pass the required EEPROM connections through the enclosure. As I say, just a concept at the moment…

@mikeg The retraction you’ve noticed isn’t actually used by Robox at the moment (I don’t think - not quite my area), it is simply used to trigger the needle valve motion through a post-processor for the GCode - this allows us to use and switch to any available slicer as the backend for AutoMaker, and then just pass it through the post processor for valve control.

Glad you like the manual - there’s lots more still to come, but due to the development status of the software it’s still constantly changing - many parameters that are available now won’t be required in future versions, and likewise we’ll be adding new features as they become available. This is the reason we have decided not to include a printed manual, it will be available on the included USB drive and for download from our website. In the box you will get a safety information guide, warranty registration card and Quick Start Guide which should remain fairly fixed throughout the lifetime of the product.

Another point to mention is that we’re in discussion with 2 or 3 resellers in AU that will be buying stock of SmartReels, so they’ll be available locally with a much lower shipping cost - the prices you see now are for shipping straight from the factory.

We may consider making a ‘direct-extrusion’ head (pull rather than push) at some point in the future, but right now we have to concentrate on current functionality, and the upcoming dual material head. Our extruder should be able to cope with flexible filament with some minor modification to the feedpath, but it would be at very slow print speeds, and so far is completely untested.

@scribbleswd We will be putting up the software for download soon, we just have enough testing platforms in the beta group at the moment, allowing us to iron out some of the various issues such as character sets and language, install platform, hardware specs etc. If we release to everyone at this stage, I think we will be inundated with feedback and support requests, which are difficult to respond to with the size of our team. That’s what the beta group are for… Look out for an update soon which should address shipping dates.

Hope that covers a few things…

[T. BurnsParticipant]

Hi,

I am also interested on the second reel. Since it will be mounted externally somehow what about the Eeprom to let Robox detect what filament is used on the 2nd reel?
Or does the Eeprom-feature work only for the internal reel? If yes that would be suboptimal.
For me the Eeprom which lets Robox know what filament is used is one of the key features of the Robox, so hopefully there will be a solution also for the 2nd reel?

 

• This reply was modified 5 months ago by  T. Burns.

[BHudsonParticipant]

The second reel will be mounted externally, either on a mounting arm or on a free-standing reel holder. There is still come question on how that will end up, I am relaying what Pete said when I asked about that some time ago. There was also some mention of something you could print on the Robox to mount the second reel. Everything is conjecture at this point.
When I am not using a Robox reel, I just have mine on a turntable sitting next to my Robox. It works quite well and a second turntable will be easy to add and will also work with the Robox reel installed.
With a little effort and some ingenuity, and some free time, I hope to design a housing that will allow multiple reels to be readily available and will have built-in EEPROMS that will be selected when the reels are loaded into the extruders.

[Michael GordonParticipant]

Thanks. I’m in Sydney and much though I’d like to see a Robox in action a trip to Adelaide is not on.

[PeteKeymaster]

We have a very active beta backer in Australia who is touring with his Robox. I’m sure you will be able to get the reels locally. There will certainly be local suppliers all around the world, we will publish the sites and contact details as contracts are signed and stock is allocated. There will be a section on our website to help you find the nearest stock.

You might still catch his tour

http://www.cel-robox.com/robox-australia/

[Michael GordonParticipant]

Thank you very much for letting me know that the EEPROM is not essential, not only in theory, but in ‘real life’. Very comforting.

[BHudsonParticipant]

The EEPROM is not essential. You can run any reel you want with the Robox, it just won’t automatically load the material profile and you have to make sure that you get all the parameters set in your material profiles. I have been running multiple materials in my Beta unit without the reel installed and once I got the profiles set up properly it runs just fine.

The EEPROM will come in handy when you have several materials you switch between in normal use - instead of having to set your profile every time, as soon as you load the reel it is automatically loaded for you. In production and in time, there won’t be a need to load material profiles at all if you can get your material from Robox on a pre-programmed reel.

I’ve just checked the cost for shipping 2 reels of Robox 1.75mm ABS to Australia. It’s 49.90 pounds - slightly more expensive than the 2 reels of material.
The relative cost of shipping an empty reel is worse - the shipping cost about 25% more than the cost of the empty reel.

I have some reels. 200mm O/D, 52mm (2″) bore, and 45mm between the flanges. Will these fit?

Will the Robox work without an EEPROM?

Can an EEPROM be fixed to the reel(s) that I have?

I’d like to start using the machine with the Robox material but it’s so expensive to buy and get it here. Twice as expensive as buying locally….

Mike.

[RobParticipant]

Im having some real issue with overhangs at the moment, like the radii on your print above @Restart. Think the materials running too hot, or cooling fan perhaps need bumping up to solidify filament quicker after its extruded. I presume you ran the eeprom update, needle valve and nozzle height calibrations?

• This reply was modified 6 months, 3 weeks ago by  Rob.

[Anonymous]

My filaflex reels are completely different… a lot, lot smaller in the centre, but it’s a good idea.

I’d like some blank reels to be made available for sale from Robox too though.

The reels I’ve got from Robox look like the hub with EEPROM is removable - can anyone verify that? I don’t want to open the sealed packages as we all know how humidity sensitive it is…