Does the RFID in the spools just set material and colour or also things like speed, retraction etc?
*If* other, optimal settings are conveyed via RFID, won’t that be an issue when printing out of the dryboxes?
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I don’t have my printer yet, but have some experience with an RFID equipped printer. The identifiers are sent from the printer to the slicer, which then configures temperatures, speeds, etc. I’m pretty confident that using external dryboxes will defeat the RFID features.
I’d given that some thought and figured that I might spoof the reader by placing a second spool on the holder providing the necessary data to the reader, but feed the printer from the box. That might not work if one empties the spool and the system tracks remaining filament levels.
It would be a great addition to the system to open the RFID architecture for mods.
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The dryboxes WILL defeat the RFID readers. This has been verified by Snapmaker.
And yes it would be nice if Snapmaker would allow us to use our own tags in addition to their own, proprietary tags. This is still being evaluated by Snapmaker.
In either case my question remains: Can we enjoy the benefits of tagged filament when the spools are not mounted on the sides of the printer?
Is there a way to e.g. let the printer read the tags and “remember” the settings even when the filament is placed in a dryer while printing?
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I have no experience with RFID, and please correct my misunderstandings if I’m wrong, but it seems odd to me if it could be used for anything other than identifying the filament so that (a) the printer knows which colour is loaded on what port and can assign the AMS feed / toolhead, and (b) verify that the appropriate filament type is loaded for the print file and give a warning if not.
The slicer has to know what filament characteristics it is slicing for, and the gcode to drive the printer is produced on that basis. The gcode can’t be changed dynamically based on the presented filament type, post-slicing (or can it??). The only way the RFID could automatically adapt the print to the filament is if the printer sent the filament type back to the slicer, for re-slicing.
My opinion of RFID (not having experienced it) is a minor convenience only, perhaps handy for not having to manually declare what filament is loaded in which toolhead.
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IDK about other printers, but I have A1, whatever color and material you select on printer syncs with the slicer instantly, and I assume this is how it will be with U1 too.
RFID informs the printer about the brand, material, and color of the filament. The connected slicer receives this information, it updates the filament in device section. This information is then synchronized with the filament section in the prepare tab(Loaded filament shows up on top of the filament profile selection dropdown)
This is an incredible quality-of-life feature. If SM decides to open this up, we can assign custom filament profiles to our own RFIDs. When you load those filaments, they will appear directly in Slicer. Or better, if all companies decide to adopt the same standard, you can load any filament, and your slicer will automatically update to show which filament is loaded.
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Oh OK, so it gets fed back to the slicer as an input pre-slicing rather than post-slicing. That sounds great for “connected” printers, but I tend to run off-line.
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For what it’s worth, in LAN mode, you really are offline with the U1 (besides your local network). At least as of right now, it can’t even check for firmware updates unless you enable cloud. But all the same functionality works between Orca, the app, and the printer if they’re on the same network. Including seeing loaded spools.
Proposed open RFID tag standards include almost everything about the filament including drying time and temp, no online lookup required.
(Unless you meant you really use a memory stick to transfer.)
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Unless you meant you really use a memory stick to transfer.
Yes, because until now I had to either use a memory stick (MicroSD card) to transfer the gcode print file to the printer, or run the whole print by USB (no means to transfer the file by wire and then print it). The last thing anyone needs is a PC crash or for the comms to break 99% of the way through a many-hour print, so SD card it is!
If the U1 can buffer the print file and print from local storage, without relying on a continuous connection to the PC (or whatever), that will change things a bit.
Nonetheless, old habits die hard. I expect I will still specify filament types manually, and I’m certainly not going out of my way to buy RFID filament!
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No, It does not stream your print from PC, it transfers files to local storsge and it prints through that.
Nonetheless, old habits die hard.
Modern printers are incredibly convenient. You’ll completely forget about the hassle of transferring code to a ssd card and printing it through that. It’s as simple as slicing the paper and then clicking the print button, and it starts printing right away.
For now, everything other than snapspeed PLA isn’t recognizable. We get four rolls of that with our printer, so you can try using that. If U1 is anything like my A1, it automatically selects the filament based on the RFID. Also, you can’t edit anything in the device tab menu. Of course, in the slicer, you can select any filament profile and slice with it. However, while selecting the filament profile, all loaded profiles appear on top. It’s convenient, Also you don’t have to manually select which filament you loaded to which toolhead because it knows that already.
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I have a K2 with the CMS, I found an android app that will read & write MIFARE tags. They don’t have all the information like the Creality tags, send the type as Generic PLA etc and the color you chose when writing. In the slicer I change to the profile for the filament if I have one. It’s convenient not having to remember which color is in what slot. My X1c doesn’t read these tags so it’s manual setup on it.
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One day, if the printer is linked to RFID, we can imagine knowing exactly how much filament has been used in your printer. So the system could tell you if you have enough wire left for a print you want to start, or if there is a risk. I think this could be very helpful when you don’t buy several spools of the same colour and brand.
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When you send a print over LAN or cloud, they’re only connected long enough to transfer the gcode and start commands. It doesn’t actually run the print from the computer.
Once the print starts, it’s totally autonomous again except for if you want to remotely check on it.
This is true of most modern printers, except perhaps if using octoprint to execute gcode from a connected computer to a printer mcu. But that’s pretty old school at this point.
Anyway. The only reason to use a memory stick with the U1 is if you really have no way to connect it to your local network.
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I think it’s just “anything that isn’t Snapmaker filament?” They have more than high speed PLA.
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I might be mistaken, but i remember reading for now its just in Snapspeed one.
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Bambu’s AMS does it already.
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Oy! I have a raspberry pi with octoprint controlling my old school printer and I’ll have you know you can install plugins in octoprint to your heart’s content! It can do all sorts of fancy things. 
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I think that al filament makers should standardize their RFID tags so that all machines could read them.
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Prusa are pushing something called “OpenPrintTag”
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I don’t know the technology in detail. Is there a chance that the U1 RFID could one day be made compatible with the Prusa initiative through a software update, if Snapmaker allows it?
I saw where Prusa was backing OpenTag, appears that the tool doesn’t need to spin like current implementations. However looking at the tags being used in OpenTag doesn’t look like it would work on all spools. I can see the RFID for filament heading towards several standards like early days of video tapes. I understand that Snapmaker isn’t opposed to using a standard RFID tags which way they go is still up in the air.
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