Snapmaker 2.0 improvements

Snapmaker 2.0 Product Feedback
1

Hello everybody,
I would like to start this thread to collect some ideas on how to improve the 2.0 version. I just received mine about a week ago and after some playing with the unit, I found areas for improvement.

1: I like the little screen that has some cool features and internal memory too. I noticed that the screen sometimes takes long time to pause or cancel the active job and when connected to a PC during active job, it basically shows that you’re connected and when you try to disconnect, it says that active job (print in my case) will also be cancelled if I disconnect from my PC. That is a bug, because the print is stored locally and doesn’t need the PC to proceed.

Additional screen features suggestion
I would like to see something like LG IQ has. A mobile app, where you can easily see the same thing as on the screen and operate the unit remotely. It would be nice to get a notification once the job is finished. The unit could also have an option to play a sound (maybe few tones to choose from :slight_smile: )

I will ignore the fact that the unit is pretty loud, which is ok with me, but you can’t really print in the same room where you watch TV for example.

Many members complain about the heated bed taking too long to warm up. The prints I do take many hours and those 5 minutes won’t really change much.
I would like to point out that the Luban software should warn users about not having support set before printing. I had to do a bit of research to figure out how to do this and it would be a good feature to avoid failed prints.

Cable management
The unit has such a great design, but I was surprised to have all those cables just hanging there or being pushed under the frame. This could be done better for sure. I would also add more visible markings on the main unit to distinguish the cable sockets easier. Maybe little LED lights with proper identification.

Luban Software

It is still buggy, but it works eventually. As mentioned above, it would be great to have this done similarly like LG IQ, where the units are linked via online account. That constant authentication request is bit annoying and technically you shouldn’t have to do it once you authorise the device. It would be good to have an option to create and manage a print queue from the PC or mobile phone for example. Have an option to save a history log of the prints and repeat them from the log file.

Another good feature would be to have folders in the file system of the unit and let’s say that I’ll start printing the first file in the folder with specific settings - quality and ratio etc. Then there would be an option to print all files with that exact setting and save it in the print queue. The queue would show the times of the prints and have option to move the jobs up or down. If I took it bit too far, I’d like to see the planned finish day and time of the print (given that I’d remove the print and set the bed for new job within reasonable window) This could be really handy to plan jobs more efficiently and have them finish when I’m up and not at 3am for example.

I will be adding more suggestions as I go and hopefully there will be some feedback and contributions from other members.

Cheers

Vashek

5 Likes
2

Recognize that the computer and the printer may not be in the same location. If I am connected via WIFI I still should be able to make adjustments from the pad without having to disconnect.
I should be able to pause a print and unload/load filament from the pad. I should be able to look at the current settings from the pad or luban.
I am not sure what the motivation was to require a touchscreen authorization to connect, but it is getting very old. maybe setup a machine password to connect if it is a security issue. I should be able to get the current status of a printer without having to connect to it.

3

Improvements on Tool changes - the heated bed ist assembled by 22screws to the base plate the laser diffuser by 14screws. Thats seems for me a bit too much just to make a little laser work from time to time. Why not use the magnetic attachment of the print bed to fixture the laser diffuser just on top ? no screws needed, as the laser should never touch the bed physically. Thats perhaps a different story for the CNC Mill. Has anyone tried that by stick the diffuser profiles to a spare print sheet ? Something what speaks against it and I overlook ?

4

Yes

The second one is my own design (still finalizing) but has been working really well so far.

5

Hello all, Thank you for setup this item. I have joined the user of A350 in last Dec.
My requests after network bug fixed are

  1. I want to use “fixed IP-Address” setting for A350 rather than “dynamic IP-Address (DHCP)”
  2. To show the A350’s IP-Address on the top page of the touchscreen display.
    It makes easier to find it in the network. Currently it’s on the deeper screen.
  3. To show the current number of layer and total number of layers on the top page of the touchscreen display.
6

BTW, at least I find you only need to authorize the first time the snapmaker is turned on. Disconnecting and reconnecting afterwards doesn’t require it until it’s been power cycled.

7

Important

  1. Don’t req screws to change toolhead. Especially with enclosure. Is a pain to get around the back. Some kind of cam’d release would be sweet.
  2. Sensors and automation to determine material thickness.
  3. Fast way to get to a position near the open side of enclosure and half-way down when I am changing toolheads. Maybe ability to save positions and retrieve on touchscreen, desktop…or app :).
  4. Minimally, be able to use wi-fi to get logs…but I would prefer to not have to deal with them, so a better alerting and actions to fix problems.
  5. Being able to get feedback on state of machine via wi-fi. Including error handling. Would have liked alerts like I get for my Shark robot vacuum. Hot end overheating, hot end is gummed up, material runout.
  6. A SM app - someone mentioned it above but would be great to watch and control from phone (iOS for me) - runout, overheating. Will be great when SM camera is released.
  7. Camera on all toolheads (or the via the new one being released soon) w- smarts to see issues - like for collisions, adhesion problems, webbing, other failures. The camera should look at model vs what is getting laser’d, CNC’d, 3DP’d and to determine if things are different by some amount, if so alert user.
  8. Luban to help keep record of settings for different materials and circumstances and have a networked way to Save and Load libraries of materials and the settings that others have found to give best results. Understand it is up to me to determine if my cardboard is same as someone else’s but pics of the materials can help with that. Minimally, letting me save for myself.
    Nice To Have
  9. Octo-print integration or ability to side-load abilities into the touchscreen.
  10. Ability to tie enclosure lighting to whether it is open.
1 Like
8

Thank you for your suggestions. I will forward these advices to our product manager.

Edwin

9

I’ve had the machine for a bit, primarily using it for CNC, so I can’t really comment on the laser or 3D printing configurations just yet. I’ve built a few other small to mid sized cnc routers since 2009 and my comments will be based on my experience with machines like this.

  1. rigidity. I am floored with how square the machine was with minimal tweaking, hats off to your manufacturing process. But I would like to see some improvements in how the CNC head mounts to the X axis actuator. I’ve tried to run standard feeds/speeds for some small brass parts and the head flexes so much that im running the tool path at about 20% of what the nominal speeds should be. There is obviously a limit to how rigid you can get this gantry design to be, but most of the rigidity issues seem to be when taking a cut along the y axis, the tool just tilts a bit. If there was a way to have an idler ride the back of the actuator assembly to prevent the tool from tilting, that may get a good amount of the flex out of the tool. Not much else can be done from what I see, but that may be enough to get cleaner parts.

  2. cable management. Everyone above (and elsewhere) are saying the same thing. I’m going to 3D print some cable clips I found on thingiverse for this, but with the amount of thought and care that went into the design I’m surprised this was overlooked.

  3. E-Stop as standard accessory. REALLY?! Don’t get me wrong, for what Im intending to do with this machine I am super happy with it, but for anyone (especially those with minimal experience with dangerous CNC equipment) to own a cnc router without an estop is damn near unheard of. everyone is bound to botch a tool path or get a tool offset wrong, an estop should be your saving grace. I wish I bought one with the machine, buying tomorrow, but nobody should have to. combined with the fact that when controlling the machine from a PC the gcode ops seem to be buffered in fairly large groups, when you hit pause or stop in the PC software it takes about a minute for the machine to actually stop moving. it’s just flat out dangerous for someone who might be new to making chips.

  4. Immediate Pause/Stop from PC software. Somewhat related to #3, but specifically for the pendant and the PC software when running from a PC, the machine should respond immediately (within one second) to a user pressing pause or stop. This should be available on the pendant when running a job from the PC as well. An option to tell the machine to finish an OP would be good too, but the default should be to immediately pick the tool up out of the stock and spin down. If you see the machine doing something unintended (bad tool path or something came loose) the user should be able to stop the machine.

  5. Contact probe for tool and work offsets as standard. The card trick has definitely beed good to me over the years, but contact probes are really easy to make and get you at least 0.001” accuracy. Im going to make one, but it should be standard these days. anyone who has done parts with more than two tools can tell you that having either a tool index with automated tool change, or at the minimum a touch off probe saves sooooooo much headache. why not build it into the frame?

some of these.may be asking too much, but for the sake of everyones safety at least modify the gcode operation buffering between the PC software and the controller firmware so “pause” or “stop” responds in a safe amount of time!

10

@LukeGary the E-Stop module still isn’t a true interrupt. It’s just another module sending an additional command to the controller telling it to do something, relies on code to work properly. Too many things can go wrong with code and I foresee issues eventually where it doesn’t function correctly and causes damage. The only true Emergency stop for this machine is pulling the plug.

11

I know a jog wheel is in the works (release date TBD), but it would be nice to be able to adjust the “rapid” travel speeds no matter what mode you are in.

When running boundary as well as having the machine go to home, having the tools travel speed at 100% can be dangerous and can potentially cause machine and tool breakage.

If you could slow down the travel speed on the fly, it would help to prevent accidents and if one was about to happen, it would give the operator more time to hit the e-stop.

12

Hello, another suggestion. Implement Marlin’s M81 “Power OFF” macro as optional (Luban + printer firmware) in order to have a controlled stop of the machine’s power when finished a unattended print job. Power Off | Marlin Firmware

As all the components of the printer are CAN interconected:
a/ Luban will have the option to include M81 al the end of the Gcode file.
b/ The printer firmware reads the M81 code and sends a timed CAN command to the power supply to go to a standby/OFF state. (No power consumption, ¿no fan?)…

Thank you

13

Power supply is not CAN connected. That would’ve been a great idea though. Just a power loss 2 wire signal is the only thing going to the controller, no communications
image

14

brent113:
Thank you for your answer. Thought those wires where a CAN data pair …

15

Yes a simple notification! It is connected to my WiFi so have it send a message via IFTTT :smiley:

16

I would love to see a maintanance menu in the touchscreen for X/Y/Z/E calibration as well as common functions like toolhead change, and adjustment of common parameters on the fly like extrusion multiplier etc. Strangely missing in this $2000 machine.

17

I have attached my diffuser profiles to a spare magnetic sheet and it works perfectly.
In order to make it reversible I have attached painters tape to both sides and then glued them using wood glue. Changing beds is now a 2 minute job.

18

Linear Module Rails with TMC2209 in Quiet Mode for Printing:

I’ve worked with these drivers on other printers before but somehow they are still loud as hell when going above 50mm/s.
I know that the TMC2209 have a high torque mode and a quiet mode which you can select via UART. If the TMCs UART are connected they should run in Quiet mode for the print setup or at least for F250/F350 models. Depending on the use of it

19

So, I am working a longer time with the SM2 and mostly with the laser modules.

Here is my list with improvement wishes, which makes the work with SM2 possible easier:

Touch screen improvements
General

  • Add a homing button on the start up screen
  • Add a enclousre light on/off button on the start up screen, if enclosre is connected.
  • Add a cancel button on each stop of any calibration steps
  • Add a copy function to move files between USB and screen storage
  • A function to disable all the nery warning and security messages! (fine, with the 40 W laser is there one more as with the 10 W laser …)
  • Add a cancel button on each step if you start a job and on the job screen itself. It is totally nervy to abort a job and step back through all initialisation steps.

Laser Cut

  • 10 W module: only update the Z value for work origin. Do not touch the X and Y values! With your default values the laser isn’t right in the center of the work space.
  • 40 W module: same as for the 10 W, if you input the material thickness, only set the Z value!
  • If enclosre is present and connected: why pop up the safty google warning message? Machine works only if the door is closed.

Touch screen and Luban
Lan-Connection via Luban to machine, suppress the confirm message on the screen!
That is a big problem, if you own more then one machine and both are standing 2 floors below you PC place! It isn’t funny to run every time through the stair house for changing the connections.

20

I requested the transfer of files from the console to the USB stick several times