I am wondering if it would be possible to create a MMS that rivals the AMS system that Bambu lab offers. I like the idea, however I believe that an open source project would be greatly beneficial for the community.
If it is possible, I would be up to designing and testing the idea, however, I would like to know if it would be possible to create it and make klipper control it. I might need some input/help understanding the process that goes into creating the macros to do it lol.
I can see several uses for this and I think that we have all wanted to print multiple colors at the same time. For example, it would be useful if you have a batch of colors that you switch out constantly, and want to make it automatic. It would also be super useful for making dissolvable supports. Any input and ideas from everyone would be greatly appreciated. I would love to see this come to life.
I would like for it to cost less than 200 as the AMS system from Bambu is 350, and the MMUS from Prusa is 300. I would mainly design it based off of the MMUS as it is incredibly versatile, giving you the ability to place where you want your spools. I also like the fact that the AMS is a self contained unit with the option to keep your spools in there. My goal is to make it modular, so users can pick and choose the specific parts that they want to use.
For the time being, I am thinking of setting it up to use up the two extra slots on my manta m8p, however, I know not everyone will have extra slots. So In the future I will try and create a version with a board that communicates with your board. Maybe with can-bus.
Hard to say. Such a unit has been on my list for a long time, but I never got around to building one.
Both the ERCF and the SMuFF have gone through several design iterations. The first time I noticed SMuFF it was at revision 3, now it is at 6.
The projects have different philosophies: SMuFF has its own firmware, while ERCF takes advantage of Klipper’s multi-MCU capabilities. There are also reports of what could be improved, and for ERCF there are two forks that seem to address some of the design weaknesses of the original project.
I’d recommend hanging out on the respective Discord channels to get a better idea. I haven’t dug too deep myself.
In terms of price, I don’t think there is much difference. The components used seem to be pretty much the same. Not including the filament, I’d think you can get away with around 100 € / USD or even much less, depending on the amount of stuff you have lying around anyway.
As I said, details about implementation, extensibility, etc. are beyond my knowledge, as I have not spent too much time with either project.
I know this reply is late, but I recently created the 3MS, which is based off the Bambu AMS/Prusa MMU1. It’s a modular multimaterial system designed specifically for Klipper. I would really appreciate any feedback about it/ideas for improvement.
I am currently in the process of developing an open-source AMS-like unit for Klipper printers
Most multi-material units are just the extruders and can be complicated. Like the 3ms, I plan to make it open source, but instead of being complicated like most others, I want to make it a single unit that holds the spools, steppers, and motherboard with an LCD to indicate what is loaded and what isn’t. I want it to directly rival most closed-source 3d printer multi-color units like the Ams, CFS, and Ace, which are closed source. Just wanted to post this somewhere for people to see.
Once you finish up the initial design phase, I’d highly recommend reaching out to @moggieuk (the HH dev) on Discord to get support for your MMU added to Happy Hare, along with the LCD (or to ask for tips updating HH yourself if you’re already familiar with Python).
@EddyMI3D
they do
one has 4 servos and a single stepper to channel filament, the other just has a sliding extruder to grab the filament and push it through
@3dcoded thanks for the tip, I do have a deep understanding of python and would prefer forking it and doing a pull request
would also make an octoprint plugin for the people still using it(me)
although I was planning to connect the unit via a USB cable to the pi to also accept firmware updates since I’m using the Arduino bootloader. how does hh communicate with the device?
Happy Hare sets up the MMU’s control board as a Klipper MCU and controls it directly through Klipper. That way, it doesn’t rely on your frontend/interface.
i see how it works
although for my device I was planning to only have a single serial connection to the printer and for klipper to send gcode via the serial connection for it
You can use CANBUS (one wire power and data) or USB (just data) and power to control the MMU via Klipper. Happy Hare has many nice-to-have features like automatically homing to sensors, endless spool, Spoolman support, Mainsail and Fluidd integration (beta), KlipperScreen, etc. If the MMU thinks more independently of your main printer, you might run into state-management issues. Happy Hare integrates the two to solve this.