3DQue announced a new 3D printer automation product, the AutoFarm3D Door Opener.
A door opener? Why would you need that? This is, in fact, a reaction to the shift away from open gantry 3D printers to the increasingly used enclosed system design, popularized by Bambu Lab.
Bambu Lab introduced the X1C a couple of years ago, and the device’s high quality, high speeds, and low price attracted countless buyers. Their success was so great that all of the major desktop 3D printer manufacturers have shifted towards this style of desktop 3D printer.
3DQue has produced automation solutions for desktop 3D printers, enabling the easy creation of efficient print farms. A key element in their system is a unique print plate that provides for a reliable release when temperatures fall. The company’s initial configuration involved tipping Ender-3 3D printers so that completed prints would slide off for collection. Later versions use the printhead to push parts off a normally oriented 3D printer.
That does not work if the 3D printer design is enclosed. The door gets in the way.
For a large print farm, this is a problem, since the operator would have to run around the devices, opening doors to allow auto ejection.
Hence, we have the AutoFarm3D Door Opener: it is a small gadget that attaches to the door of your Bambu Lab X1C/E/P1S/P1P device, and it can swing the door open for part removal.
Once the door is open, 3DQue’s AutoFarm3D software then can trigger the printhead to push parts off the plate and out through the open door. Normally, parts will land in a bucket under the printer, collected later by the operator.
All of this process is now entirely automated within 3DQue’s AutoFarm3D software, which can manage large print farms. The system can dispatch jobs, collect statistics, and much more.
3DQue believes this is the “first-ever door opener for Bambu Lab’s enclosed printers”, and I believe that is correct. There are plenty of other add-ons for these devices, but none of them, as far as I know, is a door opener. In fact, the door opener is probably a lot more functional than most of the common add-ons.
If you’re considering setting up an automated 3D print farm using Bambu Lab equipment, you definitely should take a hard look at 3DQue’s AutoFarm3D and especially the new door opener.
Via 3DQue
