My Bambu Lab printers have been already quick, however this improve made them smarter

I completely love my Bambu Lab 3D printers—however they may very well be quite a bit higher. Not in {hardware}. I believe the {hardware} is unbelievable. But the software program that runs the printers might use a number of work. Thanks to the open supply neighborhood, my Bambu Lab 3D printers acquired a free improve that made them quite a bit smarter.

My printers have been already quick, however they did not know a lot about my prints

Speed was by no means the issue, all the pieces across the print was

I’ve been an enormous fan of Bambu Lab printers for years now. The printers are simply quick, correct, dependable, they usually look good too. That final half would not have something to do with how effectively they work, however it’s positively a nice-to-have.

The drawback is, Bambu’s software is fairly limited. Sure, Bambu Lab has farm-focused software program, however it’s not all that nice. Bambu printers are additionally feature-packed, however they do not all the time have the options that I would like them to have.

That’s why I decided to move mine to be run by open source software. Bambu Lab acquired the movement system proper for the printers, however the management aircraft simply wasn’t the place I needed it to be.

Bambuddy fixes that. With Bambuddy, I’m in a position so as to add a number of options to my Bambu Lab farm that I merely cannot with first-party software program. For one, I can simply monitor all of my printers from anywhere using a web dashboard, which is very nice.

But that is solely the beginning of the options that Bambuddy provides to my Bambu Lab print farm.

Bambuddy retains an eye fixed on my prints so I haven’t got to

Obico is a good piece of software program that I used to run after I had my older Ender 3 V2-style 3D printers, however I simply have not used it on my Bambu Lab printers. The fundamental purpose is as a result of I did not wish to must attempt to mount a separate digital camera for every printer—so I simply caught with utilizing the built-in error and fault detection that Bambu ships with (some) of its printers.

Bambuddy, nevertheless, works in a different way. Since Bambuddy can entry the Bambu Lab digital camera instantly, it will probably cross photos from the digital camera to Obico natively. All it takes is a self-hosted Obico ML server (which runs as its personal container) and Bambuddy does all the pieces else.

It defaults to utilizing the printer’s built-in digital camera, polling about each 10 seconds to see if there’s an issue with the print. If it detects that there is a drawback with the print, it will probably cease it proper then and there.

This works on all Bambu Lab printers, and is not restricted to the newer fashions, making it an especially huge improve for my older P1S and my A2L.

Bambuddy additionally has an empty construct plate detection operate. It makes use of OpenCV to check a body with a calibrated empty-plate reference when a print begins, and it pauses if it sees an object on the construct plate. This, once more, is obtainable on newer Bambu Lab 3D printers, however not the older ones.

Bambuddy brings this characteristic to all of my printers, not simply the brand new releases.

I lastly know what my prints truly value

The spreadsheet I all the time meant to maintain, with out the spreadsheet

Bambuddy additionally handles value and filament monitoring means higher than different platforms I’ve seen. Since Bambuddy can learn all the knowledge it wants instantly from the printer, it is aware of what filament is loaded and the way a lot that particular spool has been used.

The spool monitoring does take a little bit of repairs in your half, however Bambuddy automates all the pieces else. For occasion, it makes use of the slicer estimates for a way a lot filament a print will want and pulls that quantity off of the spool’s availability.

This not solely helps me know when it is time to order extra of a particular filament, however it additionally helps estimate the price. This value comes from the per-spool value per kg that may be entered, which then rolls into a price per print to solely cost for what is definitely used.

The further magic comes from integrating a smart plug with energy monitoring into Bambuddy. It can truly pull the electrical energy utilization and price in to assist inform me precisely how a lot that print value me, which helps me truly value my prints higher.

In addition to serving to preserve monitor of filament and price, Bambuddy additionally helps me sustain with upkeep reminders based mostly on print hours for sure issues. Plus, it has print-time accuracy statistics. Essentially, was the slicer time estimate correct to the real-world time it took to print that object?

All in all, Bambuddy provides a ton of unbelievable monitoring options that Bambu Lab simply cannot compete with.

Queueing prints retains my X2D busy even when I’m not

Clear the plate, faucet as soon as, and the following job begins by itself

I do not learn about you, however I’ve positively had some occasions after I had a number of print jobs and needed to simply queue prints to start out one after the opposite. The means I completed this up to now was by simply having a number of slicer home windows open, after which attempting to recollect what I had already printed versus what was left to print.

Within Bambuddy, there’s a queueing system that fixes this actual gripe. It has a drag-and-drop format plus a Gantt-style timeline view to assist view when a print ought to begin subsequent. It additionally lets me schedule prints out in the identical view.

Essentially, the best way the queue works is it takes a print and queues it up for the following accessible machine that it will be appropriate with the precise nozzle measurement and filament loaded. When a print finishes, the following print strikes up subsequent and is only a button-click away from beginning.

The nice half is, as soon as I begin that subsequent print, it clears from the queue and leaves simply what’s truly remaining for me to print so I haven’t got to consider it.

Bambuddy additionally goes the additional mile for scheduled prints. It not solely checks the filament earlier than printing, however it will probably additionally preheat or warmth soak earlier than a queued job if the filament or print requires it, and in addition helps auto power-on and auto power-off when used with a appropriate sensible plug.

Bambu constructed a quick printer, and Bambuddy made it a wise one

At the top of the day, Bambuddy simply will increase my Bambu Lab printer’s skills. It takes an already-great printer and makes it higher.

I really like how a lot smarter my printer is when operating with Bambuddy. And, because it’s open supply, I can increase its capabilities and add my very own every time I want, even when the principle app itself would not have it.