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Prometheus System coming to Kickstarter to give dual color extrusion with single hotend

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by danzca6, Aug 30, 2016.

  1. daniel871

    daniel871 Well-Known Member

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    Aren't the primary Marlin devs still struggling with automating the Mesh Bed Leveling routine? I would think that Josef's code looking totally different would be expected if it's something he developed on his own specifically for use with his printer design.
     
  2. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    According to Edward, MESH was not meant to be automated. Roxy-3D is driving an effort to automate MESH and develop unified code for MESH and ABL (still separate things) between Cartesian and Delta printers, so that configuration and usage are exactly the same. That is UBL.

    MESH was intended to be a set and forget type of leveling system, automating it was not a primary goal for a feature you use only one time. That is how I use it. Even if I f'up the lead screw alignment I just take my digital gauge and relevel left to right and don't even bother redoing the MESH. Automating is not 100% necessary.

    Josef is using an Official release of Marlin, 1.0.2-1 was an official release, but it was just a few patches to 1.0.0 and nothing new added. Josef has not contributed to the main Marlin GITHUB. I am fine with that, if you want to go proprietary that is okay by me, but if you are going to publish your own source at the very least comment it. It would be a very tedious task to take Josef's code and figure out what it does and how to move it to another version of Marlin, at least in my opinion.
     
  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Ditto. Contribute back already.

    Happens when hardware-centric folks get involved in the software :)
     
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  4. daniel871

    daniel871 Well-Known Member

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    I suspect that he doesn't put copious comments in the firmware because, unlike certain other community forums, Josef Prusa does a running commentary/update on everything on the community forums for his printer design whenever he changes or updates something.
     
  5. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    Geof likes this.
  6. RP Iron Man

    RP Iron Man Member

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    I posted this update in Geof's thread but I thought I should also post it here just to keep this thread up to date :)

    -

    It’s been a while since the last update. We have been working hard over the past few months since fulfilling the remaining Kickstarter rewards in March and we have some exciting news!

    We are proud to announce the release of the Prometheus System (E3D V6 Upgrade)!

    You can view the promo video below:



    This upgrade kit allows E3D V6 Hot End users to create multi-color and multi-material objects. The Prometheus System solution simplifies the multi-extrusion process and expands the capabilities of 3D printers using the E3D V6.

    [​IMG]

    The original Prometheus System was specifically designed to work with our Prometheus V2 Hot End. However, with the success of the Kickstarter campaign and hundreds of active users around the world, many people have requested system compatibility with the E3D V6 Hot End.

    To enable reliable multi-filament 3D printing using the Prometheus System with the E3D V6, we had to develop the "Prometheus Heat Break". This is a precision machined and polished component that replaces the standard E3D V6 heat break to facilitate reliable filament switching with the Prometheus System.

    [​IMG]

    The Prometheus System (E3D V6 Upgrade) solves all of the issues associated with conventional methods of dual extrusion. We believe that this new product will be a popular upgrade for E3D V6 users who want to print multi-color and multi-material objects.

    The Prometheus System (E3D V6 upgrade) is available for order and ships immediately. The upgrade kit can be purchased by following the link below:

    https://www.distechautomation.com/products/prometheus-system-e3d-v6-upgrade

    In addition to the release of the E3D V6 Upgrade kit, we wanted to provide a quick update on Simplify3D software compatibility with the Prometheus System. This is something that many people have been asking about, and unfortunately, it has been delayed for a long time due to ongoing bugs in the Simplify3D software.

    However, one of our Kickstarter backers named Pekka, (aka. “spegelius” on our forum) recently began working on a post-processing script called “FilaSwitch” to allow Simplify3D to work with the Prometheus System. We are supporting his efforts and he has made a lot of progress! You can view his development thread on our forum by clicking on the link below. Feel free to post in that thread to offer him encouragement or suggestions for his script.

    http://distechforum.com/showthread.php?tid=127

    We will be sure to post an update as soon as the S3D post-processing script is ready for beta-testing :) It’s almost ready!

    Stay tuned!
     
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  7. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    This is a great option for those that already own the E3D V6. So glad to hear you are still making progress with refining this product. Multi-material is big in 2017. Great work!
     
  8. Aflickted

    Aflickted Member

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    I need this in my life ( and on my printers)


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  9. RP Iron Man

    RP Iron Man Member

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    After a few weeks of beta testing, the Prometheus System is now officially compatible with Simplify3D!

    "FilaSwitch": Simplify3D G-Code Post-Processor

    We would like to give special thanks to our Kickstarter backer named Pekka (aka. “spegelius” on our forum) for developing the "FilaSwitch" post-processor! (https://github.com/spegelius/filaswitch) Pekka has worked very hard on this script and he deserves full credit. You can follow his FilaSwitch development thread here on our forum:

    http://distechforum.com/showthread.php?tid=127

    FilaSwitch is a Python script that processes the S3D G-code output and adds a smart purge tower to enable compatibility with the Prometheus System. This smart purge tower has some very neat features to optimize the filament switching process.

    As seen in the preview below, FilaSwitch eliminates unnecessary filament switches on single color layers by printing a support structure on the tower. This saves a lot of time and filament.

    [​IMG]

    FilaSwitch also generates a perimeter around the tower to keep the purge lines clean and contained and stops printing the purge tower when there are no more filament switches required for the print.

    By incorporating the above features with the wipe setting and carefully controlled purging, FilaSwitch is truly a work of art. This is a Benchy boat that we printed using S3D and FilaSwitch:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Once again, a huge thank you to Pekka, our Kickstarter backer, for developing FilaSwitch. Based on our testing, we think that there are no more bugs remaining in the script. However, if you do happen to find a bug, please post it in the GitHub issue tracker:

    https://github.com/spegelius/filaswitch/issues

    You can find instructions for using S3D and FilaSwitch in our User Guide:

    https://www.distechautomation.com/pages/pro-sys-guide

    Happy printing!
     
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  10. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    That is smart! However, my eyes might be playing tricks on me because the image you show of the boat looks to still be purging blue on the tower for the top of the stack. Since there wouldn't be another switch, I would expect the tower to stop with the tan color.

    Also, is anyone testing this utility against the new version of S3D being released? I see rumblings about folks on youtube beta testing it. Haven't heard the release date for it yet.
     
  11. RP Iron Man

    RP Iron Man Member

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    @danzca6

    It's hard to tell, but for the last solid blue layer, there is actually no filament switch. This feature is more apparent with models with a solid color for the last several layers. Keep in mind that the dual color Benchy model has both blue and brown colors right up to the last few layers.

    Not sure about the new S3D release... hopefully they don't introduce more bugs. S3D has enough of those as is :D We had a taste of that during the beta testing process.
     
  12. daniel871

    daniel871 Well-Known Member

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    Is there any significant difference between this and the coding developed by Prusa Printers for their color change priming pillar (finished some months ago with very similar looking results), or is it a case of parallel development?
     
  13. RP Iron Man

    RP Iron Man Member

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    @daniel871

    I am not sure of the exact features of Prusa's solution, but yes, it would be a case of parallel development. Pekka, our Kickstarter backer, developed this code from scratch by himself.
     
  14. danzca6

    danzca6 Well-Known Member

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    Ah this make a lot of sense then. I was almost wondering if the model had some odd color mix defined up the top. Well done. I really like the work you and the community have put into this solution.

    BTW, the new S3D version will have a way of doing supports with two materials. Water soluble filament is growing in popularity. They have it so you can have PLA as a support up to X number of layers before the bottom of the supported area of the part. It will then use PVA for that gap. Less wasted PVA material and a possible cost savings. The temps for PLA and PVA are close enough that it might be something the Prometheus dual material system can benefit from as well.

    Thank you for keeping us informed of your progress.
     
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  15. RP Iron Man

    RP Iron Man Member

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    @danzca6

    Yeah, those new S3D support material features are very interesting. We have already had great results printing PLA with PVA soluble supports, so this is totally doable with the Prometheus System.
     
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  16. Kilrah

    Kilrah Well-Known Member

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    How about triple?
    A single extruder for PVA supports (don't need all that much precision there so alingment issues aren't too bad) and a Prometheus for 2 colors?
     
  17. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Why not just do 3 through one nozzle ;) 2 hotend one carriage is so 2014
     
  18. RP Iron Man

    RP Iron Man Member

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    Just a heads up:

    We are offering a 15% discount on all orders during this Black Friday weekend!

    If you have been waiting to purchase a Prometheus System or Prometheus V2 for your printer, now is your chance. Use the discount code BF2017 at checkout to receive 15% off your order: https://www.distechautomation.com/

    Sale ends Monday, November 27!

    Check out our Prometheus System - Product Feature video below:



    Happy printing!
     
  19. RP Iron Man

    RP Iron Man Member

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    We are having a Christmas Sale at DisTech!

    We are offering a 15% discount on all orders placed through our online store! Sale ends Wednesday, December 20.

    Our Christmas Sale is the perfect time to buy a Prometheus System or Prometheus V2 for your printer in time for the new year!

    Head over to our website and use the discount code XMAS2017 at checkout to receive 15% off your order:

    Merry Christmas and happy printing!
     
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