Now that the elegoo canvas is out, I wonder if it’s possible to get it working with the U1.
Elegoo canvas would be the cheapest and smallest MMU available if you can run it.
I’m tempted to try, I’m not sure how to I would go about doing so though.
I was just thinking about Elegoo canvas too. It’s about 55 USD and theoretically should be possible to add to UMMU, either via reverse engineering the protocol, or via re-flashing the MCU with an opensource firmware, or replacing the circuit board.
Yep, Snapmaker is great but traditionally their pricing has tended to be on the high side.. which is why for instance I never could justify buying even their 20W laser for the 2.0, but did buy the 200W CNC upgrade.
Where it comes to pricing there are 2 approaches - basic price x many sales or high price x few sales. In cases where the user base is enormous the first strategy should be the optimal, as it gets more out there, and eventually serve to attract more users, while keeping the users happy.
Just look at Prusa for instance. I have their Mk3S, but when it came to upgrading it to the basic Mk3.5, they were asking like €300 - which is insane since you can buy a Bambu mini for probably less and definiely a complete centauri carbon for less! And since the new MK4 is also expensive, the end result is that many MK3 owners left the ecosystem, as evidenced by so many Mk3s on sale on ebay etc for peanuts. I call this close-minded thinking and a symbol of Josef Prusa’s pride ot maybe arrogance, but hey maybe that is just me.
Sorry about venting in this post. Sidecar I love your work but just hope Snapmaker does not bleed us dry on it. Rant over.
I like your project. But if Snapmaker takes it on, I am wary of pricing they will impose.
There is actually much more to say on this. Traditionally with, for instance, the snapmaker 2.0, we users have been financing products that were released before being fine tuned, and this was NOT reflected in low pricing. Heck they still have not sorted out the software on the 2.0 and its been years. But to be fair they have not abandoned it either (so far at least).
I also very much suspect that they are likely working on a U2 somewhere and this is (obviously) going to have more than 4 toolheads. Having had some dealings with Snapmaker (I was selected to be interviewed by them on topics including my views on Bambu lab some years back), my suspicion is it will have 8 toolheads, potentially 4 at front and 4 at back. Since Snapmaker hoover up ideas and are open to suggestions etc, and they do also actively monitor forums, I would expect the U2 to have sealed filament compartments with built in dehydration, and possibly some sort of quick swap mechanism for filaments. Anything short of that would not be a game changer today in my view. After all there is not much else one can add except more speed and I think we are reaching the limit in that regard. Maybe more AI might be in there, but that is a given really.
There is of course no timeline or announcement of any U2, and its early days yet.
Either way, your unit will always be a great way to upgrade the U1 and that might be enough for many of us.
Hi @Sidecar , Snapmaker just anounced The Snapmaker U1 Innovation Fund — a $150,000 funding program for developers, technical contributors, makers, and innovators building technologies, tools, and ideas that help move U1—and 3D printing as a whole—forward.
I think your UMMU would qualify for this fund. This way you can offload at least some of the time and materials you had to invest in this project, and possibly move it forward faster.
hello. When are you going to make this device for the masses? are you going to set up a kickstarter page to help boost your project and get it rolling? it’s been awhile since you showed us how it works but isn’t it time to make it available? I completely understand the mechanics of creating and building things, i do. I just don’t see anything available from you out there yet.
Still not positive, the branch into two directions (UMMU and Sidecar) added a big delay in Sidecar stuff, but the main reason is that I own three other (completely unrelated) businesses that have to take priority over this project, unfortunately. The initial design/prototyping/posting was at a time where all three businesses were oddly slow, but even then, I was spending nights/weekends working past the “9-5” work on this project, the past two months I’ve been swamped with “normal” work with much less time to pick away at the final issues/features to be able to move forward.
oh i see. you know the success of Iphones and amazon, and Alibaba, etc? you can’t do it all by yourself. it sounds like you need to delegate. Find someone smart enough to help you and make that person to sign a nondisclosure agreement if needed. Make things clear at the beginning so there’s no misunderstandings at all. If you do that, then you will concentrate what matters the most.
If you try doing everything by you alone then you will be disappointed. Delegate, delegate, and branch your work. I am sure you are surrounded by inventors, if not find yourself one you can trust, but don’t trust too much. write a contract and make it clear as to what this person or persons can do with your stuff. Now, what about paying them? Just let them know up front and write it down. you can pay them when things are rolling which will be hard but i know there’s people out there who are willing to work then get paid later.
you will find them. i know. meanwhile, there’s already too many people who are willing to back you up so start a Kickstarter campaign and raise money, you got the power, use it!
We know (or should know, if you read before posting) Sidecar is already in close contact with Snapmaker, and has exhibited on their show stand, so I really can’t imagine this has not been considered.
In general, it is not for us to apply pressure. Support, yes. Anything else could be counter-productive. Sidecar should not have to explain himself of his circumstances. This frenzy is why independent developers can be reluctant to share. Be patient!
We’ll see what happens. I pre-ordered it.
The main issue with the Canvas is that it has no respooling capability. It’s designed around the same short-retract style as AMS Lite, Kobra X-style systems, etc., where all four PTFE paths run basically right up to the toolhead. In that setup, the outgoing filament only has to retract around 50 mm, so a respooler is not really needed.
The U1 is different… It has to retract at least ~700 mm if you do not have an active hub, and closer to ~1100 mm with the current sidecar-style setup. Without some kind of respooling or filament management, that entire length of filament would just get pushed out and spaghetti around the machine every tool change.
There are ways around that, like pretensioned spool holders like some open-source MMUs use, but at that point you are adding cost and complexity back in, which kind of defeats the whole reason the Canvas is appealing in the first place.
For my use case. I’m building a filament dryer box that will have rollers inside it that it would be printing from.
That’s good insight though.
I’ll try it out since I pre-ordered it anyways. I’ll see how it goes.
How can I pre-order?
So where can we buy the filament connectors and accessories for this sidecar that we will be using with 16 colors of filament?
I am not sure what you mean
Id love one of these, just to add 4 more colors
Three more colours. You’re taking one lane out to add four lanes, so that’s three overall.
Just to draw attention to this: U1 filament cutter or tip shaping for MultiAce swaps , with the possible application to Sidecar.
The “fatal flaw” as they phrased the question, is that putting a cutter on top of the toolhead would leave you with over 100mm of filament to purge each color swap, that takes a ton of time and creates a ton of waste. Optimizing tip tuning is always beneficial though.
It need not be quite as much, the extruder could be used to back up at least some of that before being cut, but I figure the waste is better than a filament blob jamming in the tubes.