Ideas for continuous production printing
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Ideas for continuous production printing:
I have decided to convert my I3 knockoff design production machines, which are largely inspired by the MP3DP and then heavily modified, over to DUET electronics so that all the management becomes concise. A couple of concerns before I get into the main topic are setting up a single Raspi 3 for multi camera monitoring. All 4 of my part production machines are in a cabinet made on the MPCNC, therefore, I would like camera monitoring for each machine and the ability for EMERGENCY STOP remotely from my phone (while at work), as well as print complete notifications.
Also no displays on these machines like my COREXY, so running multiple DWC? (5 maybe 6 machines would be on the network)Now onto the the brainstorming…
I will be running a 2.4A 96oz NEMA 17 leadscrew driven linear actuator that operates a swing arm to clear the bed. (may possibly gear the NEMA through belt drive for torque if necessary)
*Setting the stepper to an output on DUET
*Having the actuator activate "X" amount of time after a print is finished or once bed cools down to room temperature for say >3 minutes
*Having the arm swing multiple times to ensure the plate is cleared (possibly a part collection tray at edge of machine with an infrared sensor to ensure part has come off bed before continuing) Maybe rather than have it swing in one motion, have the arm "jerk" forward and back incrementally.
*Starting another identical print?
*Filament runout sensor to stop/pause the machine once it is out of filament. Possibly have it set to a timer so that if the runout sensor isn't reset within maybe 10 minutes the heaters and motors will shut down.*Since this will undoubtedly scew the bed somewhat, ensure the IR probe re-does MESH COMPENSATION before every print
Thoughts? Implementations? Concerns? Suggestions?
I want to implement a system of this sort since one of my customer's parts is an assembly made of 3 separate pieces. The two smaller parts only take about an hour to print while the large main piece takes about 5 hours. Typically I dedicate two machines to running the largest part and the other two will each run a single part until they meet the requested quota (then they start on the large part). I am figuring if I could implement a continuous system it would increase production, especially when I am away at the day job 60 hours a week.
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It sounds doable if you can get the mechanics of print removal working reliably. You can configure the arm as another axis. The emergency stop can be implemented by the RPi feeding a signal to a spare endstop input.
However, I advise against leaving any 3D printer unattended for more than a minute or so without a remote power cutoff mechanism and fire extinguishing system.
