Helio Additive has now integrated with OrcaSlicer.
If you’re not familiar with Helio Additive and their advanced Dragon simulation system, you should be. The system is able to perform automated tuning of a 3D print job before you start it, often resulting in near-perfect 3D prints.
How does it work? It’s pretty sophisticated: they divide a 3D print job into voxels, and then simulate the heat and mechanical forces between voxels as the print job proceeds. For example, a specific voxel might gain or lose heat from neighbouring voxels, and that can affect the quality of the print. From this simulation, they then can adjust the relevant print parameters to ensure job success.
Their system has been available by subscription for some time now, but as a separate tool: you would export G-code from your slicer, and upload it to their service for analysis. However, last year they announced an integration with Bambu Lab’s Bambu Studio.
This allowed Bambu Studio users to far more easily use their system — or not by ignoring the Helio button.
Anyone using Bambu Studio that requires very high-quality parts would obviously be interested in this service — it just makes the prints better.
Now we’ve learned that Helio Additive has extended the integration into OrcaSlicer, a Bambu Studio open-source fork.
It’s available via GitHub, where it can be set up as a plugin for OrcaSlicer.
Does this mean that you can use Helio with any 3D printer via OrcaSlicer? Not exactly.
It turns out that Helio Additive’s method is tightly tuned to the physical characteristics of specific 3D printers. That’s because each has different thermal properties, along with the materials. Helio Additive has long supported the Bambu Lab line of equipment, but I now see that they have also added the Snapmaker U1 to their list.
There’s one omission: the Bambu Lab H2C. While the H2C is supported by Helio, apparently it is not yet supported by OrcaSlicer. Helio Additive says they will integrate it as soon as OrcaSlicer provides support.
Another interesting change for Helio Additive is the ability to handle multiple material prints. They explain:
“Previously, simulation was limited to monochrome, single-object, single-plate files. That restriction is lifted. Multi-colour prints using the same material type are fully supported, with multi-material optimisation now also available.”
I’ve used Helio Additive and it does indeed work. However, you should know that it does require a subscription to operate. Personal plans start at US$10 per month, and commercial plans allowing business use start at US$29 per month.
For those folks producing many high-quality prints per month, that’s a pretty good deal.
Via GitHub and Helio Additive
