RepRap: Blog

The Java driver software now handles multiple part printing reasonably well, though wrinkles remain. This tray of Mendel parts was printed on my old Darwin in six hours (my new Mendel is still, as web pages say, Under Construction...). Erik and Nophead's experiment of reversing the extrude motor at the end of each write has led to minimal PLA string.

Ages ago Zach defined an XML multi-part file format for RepRap (and Fab@Home) that should be pretty easy to implement that would allow one to store a whole tray of parts like this in a single file. (The G-Code file generated to build all of them is also a single file of course.) I have a few immediate things to do on the software/firmware front (like having an M code that sets the temperature and waits till the extruder gets there, as opposed to returning immediately - one needs both), then I'll implement that. That in turn should mean that Mendel is represented by between four (Mendel) and six (Darwin) files that one just has to load and print...

Labels: factory, fast production, reproduction