3D printers are becoming so very popular now and you can get them in many different sizes and configurations to suit your purpose. AON, a company providing 3D printer services in Montreal has built a prototype of a high-end dual extrusion 3D printer. A notable feature about this printer is the huge build volume of 129,600 cubic centimeters, which users can heat up to 70°C. However, most importantly, the device has an SBC that runs it – a Raspberry Pi or RBPi running the open source Linux Operating System and a 3D printer host software named OctoPrint.
AON was frustrated with the limitations of dual-extrusion printers available. They had to contend with limited build volumes, high failure rates and warped and cracked products. AON decided to address the above problems by building their own 3D printer. The result was an RBPi based high-end, 3D printer with a huge build area – 18x18x12 inches or 45x45x64 cm.
Estimated at an eventual retail price of US$4,000, the AON 3D printer (still a Kickstarter project) may not exactly be an impulse buy, since consumer 3D printers are available from $300 onwards. However, the discount price for this fascinating printer finds favor in a write-up in the 3Ders.org website.
The AON 3D printer makes use of FDM, or Fused Deposition Modeling. This is a thermoplastic extrusion technology and most other 3D printer manufacturers such as the MakerBot Replicators use it. However, the difference is AON offers dual extruder heads that operate independently.
Users printing a complex object can speed up the printing by using both extruders simultaneously. Alternatively, printing of two identical designs is possible using the same or different colors or filament materials. To prevent waste of plastic oozing from a temporarily inactive extruder, the user can park the extruder off to one side.
To heat the chamber up to 70°C, the AON 3D printer uses its 1800W heaters. AON claims this helps to reduce cracking and warping with use of high-end materials such as Polycarbonate, Nylon or ABS. The printer allows printing with PLA or other special high-temperature materials and eliminates heat creep with special devices. These include high-end E3D Volcano hot ends reinforced with a heat-resistant thermocouple and cooled with water. Another robust feature is the high-end XY gantry that can travel at 500mm/s on the XY axis.
The printer, with a size of 80x90x125cm, integrates an Azteeg X3 Pro controller board. This features SD8825 SureStepr motor drivers and the Wi-Fi enabled RBPi. According to AON, the price includes the preloaded OctaPrint and a license for a copy of the Simplify3D printer software.
As the RBPi is Wi-Fi enabled, users do not need to tether a laptop. They can use any web browser to link to OctaPrint, which runs on the RBPi or any other embedded Linux board, supporting a huge variety of 3D printers. All usual print control features are available with the web interface, and this includes uploading and previewing the gcode files. Users can also configure custom controls. Remote visual monitoring via a webcam is possible, including remote temperature monitoring.
