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  1. #1
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    Bipolar 3d Printer?

    I've been following this for about a month now, doubt I'll purchase it, as the RepRap HELIOS seems like a much better option, but I'm not quite sure what kind this is. This Sculpto+ looks like a SCARA like the Helios, but the company is saying it's using Bipolar co-ordinates, which I don't think is what the HELIOS uses. Seems to have auto leveling, which is nice. Still doesn't look like these have heated bed though...

    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...y-desktop-3d-p

  2. #2
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    The rep rap Helios has two actuated joints on the arm, the "shoulder" and "elbow". So the arm itself provides all your reach in X and Y, then the end effector moves in Z.

    The sculpto has one joint on the arm that swings in and out, and then the bed itself also rotates. This gives you your X and Y. The arm then moves in Z. "Bipolar" seems to be a marketing term for saying both the arm and the bed move in a polar coordinate system.

    So mechanically, it's a bit different from the helios which is a SCARA with a shoulder and elbow, the sclupto has an elbow and then the bed spins to give you access to the rest of your print volume.

  3. #3
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    Ahhh okay thank you very much for the clarification. so it's like a mix between the polar 3d printer and the scara somewhat. Yeah, i don't think I will get this, having a heated bed is a must for me, at least with the HELIOS it's a non moving bed, so it can possibly have a heated bed (albeit cost might be high cause of the heater beds needs probably at least 3) but yeah I don't have Polar 3d printers on my list just because of they seem to can't have a heated bed, only reason I see getting them is if I teach 3d printing at my school and I buy one for students to try it out. On that note, found a new type that I've also been following that I definitely will be putting on my list (thought probably waiting until next year for this type). https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...ism-3d/updates Straight Line type. Only thing it doesn't seem to have is part cooling fan? Which I don't think it's hard to do as long as its mainboard supports it.

  4. #4
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
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    kappa thing looks interesting. But it's on kickstarter so might ship might not, but not for at least a year, at best.
    By which time there'll probably be kits coming from china :-)
    Also not a single print in that video had any curves in it.
    Is that a thing or are the designers simply obsessed with low poly models ?

    Saw a sculpto+ working yesterday.
    Interesting.
    Then you think about it and it still has 4 motors. Very slow print speed, not that great a print area - have to conclude it's more of a gimmick than a viable alternative printer.
    And the levelness of a rotating bed is crucial, topographical mapping is probably not going to help if it's off in any way.

    It's the old adage: just because a thing can be done, does not mean it is actually worth doing.

  5. #5
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    Yep that's one of the first few thoughts that came to me, I thought it was more of a gimmick then anything, or the cool factor, yeah I personally did not back the Kappa thing yet (really wonder why they called it that too lol since Kappa can mean a troll thing :P) and not released until March, that's a good 6 months away, will wait and see, however if it does work and can print curves etc all the tricky stuff, will be very interesting, cause it only requires like half the parts compared to a cartesian, and seems easily upgradeable for a bigger print volume, but only half the price ish? we'll see.

  6. #6
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    The Kappa works just like a typical polar printer that moves the print head up and down and in a straigbt line along the bed, then rotates the bed to access the rest of the build volume. It can do curves, if anything it needs to segmentize straight lines like a delta. The difference is X(across the bed) and Z are not independant, they are coupled in a sort of triangulation. I doubt it has a heated bed, unless the bed cant continously revolve (no vase mode if your print goes through the center of the bed?)

  7. #7
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    Trakyan I think? you're confusing the Kappa with the Scultpo+, the bed on the Kappa printer just moves right or left.

  8. #8
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
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    yep on the kappa the head just goes forwards and backwards and up, the bed moves left to right.
    There's no reason it couldn't do curves, just wondering if they're having problems with their software.

    I've never seen the point of low poly models - but it would seem some people are obsessed with them.
    weird.

  9. #9
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    Sorry, my bad, i remember it having a circular bed and I guess i jumped to conclusions.

    Low poly is an aesthetic, not nessecarily a point behind it. I like them because they remind me of crystal structures and look like chamfers, and everyone knows chamfers are awesome(totally a fact).

  10. #10
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    Well, the thing isn't being released until March 2018, so I'll wait till then, but it would definitely be an interesting because i could possibly easily build my own since it requires alot less parts than a CoreXY, we'll have to see how the quality is though, but the biggest thing is that it doesn't seem to need a lot of space compared to again the cartesian and CoreXY, though I'm not sure how stability is on that.

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