Software suggestions and requests

[Aztecphoenix]

I started this thread so that people could have a place to help better the software for the PeachyPrinter.

the first request I have is the ability to import our own STLs into the print library instead of it just having the test prints (I think it would be nice to have our own private "Thingiverse" complete with 3D previews of our prints)

[Anuvin]

Neat idea, I like it. I currently have a stl folder that serves as a library, but 3d preview would be nice.

[rylangrayston]

I agree as well ... but something like this will take quite some time to develop.
Rest assured we do plan to do alot more with the "Print Library"

For now its just a great way to avoid the learning curve needed for your first few prints, and a great way to find out when bugs are inherent to a "Stl --> slicer --> gcode --> Peachy Printer" work flow.

[3Dmonkey]

What about makeing a slim version of the peachy printer software entirely in command line/terminal based useing Python.

That would eliminate trouble with GUI's

[rylangrayston]

What about makeing a slim version of the peachy printer software entirely in command line/terminal based useing Python.

That would eliminate trouble with GUI's

This is nearly done already.. the GUI is here:
https://github.com/PeachyPrinter/peachyprinter
This GUI is like a separate program that just makes calls to the peachyprinterTools api:
which is found here:
https://github.com/PeachyPrinter/peachyprintertools

It would be rather easy to set things up so that we can just use a terminal to call peachyPrintertools to do things... Just need to write a CLI that talks to the peachyprinterTools API.

[CescoAiel]

Copied over from another thread, because this would be a better place for it:

Having the possibility to control a pump would be great, because then you can control the rise rate, and I am already thinking of (and experimenting a bit with) possibilities to do a low-cost peristaltic pump...

If the software and hardware included basic support for that feature from the get-go (i.e. 2 pins for controlling the pump and a setting to steer those pins by both # of pulses *and* timing per pulse and pulse interval), one could have a very simple control of many a pump model...


EDIT: Made a mockup for clarity...

* With this setup one could both do a single pulse of ex. 5s to control a simple DC motor driven pump, or use a simple pulse-to-step converter board to drive a stepper motor pump, or anything in between...
** Any more than that would be much easier to implement, as the basic control logic would be there already, so the modders need only modify the steering code bit!

[DoulosDS]

Peristaltic pumps have a lot of advantages, but one big disadvantage we would need to work around: they do not produce a uniform flow rate over time. The flow is pulsed or interrupted when the rotor releases pinching the tube during a rotation. As the tube resumes it's circular cross section, it draws fluid back from the outlet, reducing the output, if not reversing the flow. The flow is uniform during the interval between pulses, after the tube has fully recovered. If the pump is driven by a stepper motor, perhaps software could compensate for the pulses. That might simply be a lookup table with a drip count equivalent volume displacement for each step of the motor during a complete rotation of the pump at a given speed. If the pump is being used to raise and lower the resin level between laser slice scans, the motor could be commanded to do an integer number of rotations, half rotations, or one-third rotations, depending on how many lobes the pump rotor has. Reversing the motor by the same number should return the resin to the precise level, plus whatever increase is due to the drip system. If the pump is used to replace the drip system, a solenoid valve could divert the flow during the pulses, shunting the non-uniform flow back into the brine reservoir, and adding brine to the print tank during the uniform flow intervals between pulses.

[amoose136]

The simpler method is to use a pump with two tracks whose rollers are 90 out of phase and then follow that with a permanently trapped bubble. Imma draw a shitty paint thing to illustrate.

[CescoAiel]

The amount of 'drawback' is IMHO negligible, as it will be an extremely tiny amount compared to how much is needed to raise the fluid level...

[DoulosDS]

The amount of 'drawback' is IMHO negligible, as it will be an extremely tiny amount compared to how much is needed to raise the fluid level...

You are probably right, however, any periodic irregularity becomes glaringly obvious when viewing the surface quality of a smooth print; e.g. the rocket. Let me crunch some numbers before I conjecture further...

Assume the pump tube has an inner diameter of 0.25" which has an area of 0.049 in2. If the pump roller pinches a section of tube 0.5" long, beginning and ending at 100% open and pinched entirely closed in the middle, we could estimate the displaced volume of the pinch as half the volume normally enclosed by the unpinched tube, or 0.25" x 0.049 in2 = 0.0123 in3. Converting to Canadian units: 201.56 mm3. If the print tank is approximately 3" in diameter or 75 mm, the area is 4418 mm2, and the pinch results in a Z error of 0.0456 mm. A fine human hair is approximately 0.04 mm to 0.06 mm in diameter.

Yeah, that might be negligible, especially in a larger print tank. One way to avoid any error is to force the model slicer to use an integer number of motor turns, divided by the number of lobes in the pump (assuming direct drive by a stepper motor) per slice. The pump should be started and stopped about halfway between pinches. That would eliminate the drip counting system, and the pump could speed up the printing process. If the surface tension and viscosity of the resin is a limiting factor, the pump could transfer sufficient extra brine to ensure all the areas printed previously are covered with fresh liquid resin, then remove the excess brine leaving only the amount required by the slice Z increment. A pause before printing the next layer would allow any resin flow to cease.

I hope the pump and motor can be implemented for less than half the cost of the printer... anybody know where to get an inexpensive peristaltic pump?