For the past 6 months, we have been working on a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation as part of the “Convergence Accelerator” program.
We will be sharing much more about this project in the near future, but for now, we’ll just share one small aspect.
This is an aspect of the project that we are working on with The University of Texas at Austin. In particular, we needed a way to slice many 3D files very quickly. One way to do this is by using a batch script and a slicer that can run from the command line. Although we typically recommend, and use, Simplify3D, it does not have the capability to slice files from the command line.
Enter PrusaSlicer, which can do two things that we need for this project; 1) slice from the command line, and 2) easily add print time and mass estimates to the gcode output and/or filename.
Most people prefer to slice using the GUI, and likely don’t need to slice 14,000 STLs at once. So, here we will focus on the PrusaSlicer configuration that we’ve created for re:3D’s Gigabot X printer, and relegate the batch script and command line functionality discussion to another time.
We want our customers and peers to try out the beta version of this PrusaSlicer config. and let us know how it works for them. Note that this config. is currently only for the Gigabot X running the 32-bit board and Klipper firmware. The file can be downloaded here. The normal things (perimeters, infill %, etc.) need to be changed based on the part and application. Also, because this profile is in beta, the solution for setting the three separate extruder heat zones is not finished. For now, our solution is to add the bottom, middle, and upper extruder temperatures to the start gcode.
Now, you’re ready to slice and print!
We’ve tested the build time and mass estimates provided by this PrusaSlicer config., and we are pleased with the results.
The results above use the following parameters: Greengate rPETG pellets, 1.75mm nozzle, 10% infill (stars), 1mm layer height, 60% first layer speed, 30mm/s default printing speed.
We’ve also benchmarked the print accuracy using this PrusaSlicer config. against our standard Simplify3D profile. The table below shows measured geometry values for a 3” calibration cylinder in vase mode (same parameters as above).
We believe that the differences between mass and dimension are not statistically significant, but we will need to do more testing to confirm that.
Happy printing!