This week’s selection is SpoolSense by MakerWorld contributor Peter Lancz.
The problem being solved with this 3D model (or really a set of 3D models) is stray filament spools. Every desktop 3D printer operator has a mountain of spools that are very likely poorly organized. Where exactly is that PETG spool? Which color is the PLA in that box? You have certainly asked these questions, and Spoolsense is there to solve the problem.
The concept all revolves around a swatch. But it’s not your typical swatch, which is a sample chunk of a material. No, here we have a “smart swatch”. There isn’t a processor in the smart swatch, but it does carry a lot of information.
The swatch is printed in the specific material to be tracked. It contains the brand, material, purchase date and color code. It also has a slider that can be used to indicate the amount of remaining material on the spool.
The swatch is also printed in a way that shows the print quality for top, bottom and vertical faces. There is lettering positioned so that accuracy and precision are visually evident.
What do you do with the swatches? You can hold them all in a large display box that can hold up to 30 of them at a time. Then when you’ve loaded them into your AMS (or similar filament swapping accessory), you can display the matching swatch for each mounted spool. That way you can see at a glance which material is ready to go, and the qualities they offer.
This is a pretty interesting and simple system. If you have a lot of stray filament spools lying around (and you very likely do), then you might consider SpoolSense as a method to help organize your materials.
Via MakerWorld
