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    Multi color printing with Prusa's MMU V2 & Duet?

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    • Olimanundefined
      Oliman
      last edited by

      I was hoping to pick up the MMU2 to put on a custom printer with a Duet 2 board.
      Is this something anyone has already accomplished or would it be supported by Duet at any point in time?

      Or is this only a home grown venture?

      bartolomeusundefined 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • bartolomeusundefined
        bartolomeus @Oliman
        last edited by

        @oliman I was going to. Awaiting a bit more reviews on the MMU2 and maybe the first design iterations.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • Olimanundefined
          Oliman
          last edited by

          Thanks @bartolomeus, I'll keep an eye out on reviews but I think I'm convinced the MMU 2 will be better than the Palette+. At least the design principles of the MMU 2 seem more dependable (also I'm not a fan of the custom Palette+ splicer).

          Anyways, maybe someone will come out with a more mod friendly or printer independent MMU 2 clone. I would rather support Prusa, but not at the expense of taking a gamble of the MMU 2 not working with a non-Prusa printer.

          I'm sure someone smarter than me will figure it out soon.

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          • fmaundefined
            fma
            last edited by

            For sure, MMU2 seems more reliable, and easier/cheaper to fix if it brakes. And interfacing it with the Duet/Duex is easy if you remove the electronic, and wire motors to the Duet. Then it is just a matter of a few G-Codes as macros to use it. Maybe ask Prusa if they can sell it without the electronic?

            BTW, I'm working on my own filament multiplexer, but a mix between v1 and v2: a passive mux above the extruder, like in the v1, but a simple loader, not Bowden, like in v2. I'm waiting for mini-clutch to test my design.

            Frédéric

            OBELIKSundefined 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • bartolomeusundefined
              bartolomeus
              last edited by

              Someone is already designing an alternative. The design is on thingiverse. He also has a thread on this forum somewhere,

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              • fmaundefined
                fma
                last edited by

                In fact, there are 2 designs on Thingiverse (both guys are on this forum). I started mine because it is different in many ways...

                Frédéric

                tjb1undefined 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • OBELIKSundefined
                  OBELIKS @fma
                  last edited by OBELIKS

                  @fma Do you really think it would be easier without MMU v2 electronics? I think it should be possible to send the code to change the filament. But it is true you would need to change Duet FW to support this.
                  I really hope it will go this way.

                  P3Steel Toolson mk2 - Duet 2 WiFi --> RatRig V-Core with Duet WiFi 1.03
                  Original Prusa i3 MK3S

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                  • fmaundefined
                    fma
                    last edited by

                    Well, wiring the motors on the Duet is a solution you can use right now, without any modification, so anyone can do it, and it does not need too much efforts nor skills...

                    I'm not sure it will be possible to communicate with the electronic, as it uses a SPI bus (MOSI/MISO/CLK are available - maybe not on a header, though - but it needs an additional CS - chip select - signal).

                    Frédéric

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                    • dc42undefined
                      dc42 administrators
                      last edited by

                      If the Prusa MMU needs 3 stepper motors, I wonder whether there is any cost saving compared to a 5-input Diamond, or a QuadFusion if 4 colours is enough for you; plus the 1 or 2 additional stepper motors and drivers. Also the Diamond and the Quad can do colour mixing, although the mixing isn't perfect.

                      If the MMU communicates with the main electronics via SPI, then you could connect it to the daughter board connector on the Duet. Of course, RRF would need to be modified to support the MMU.

                      Duet WiFi hardware designer and firmware engineer
                      Please do not ask me for Duet support via PM or email, use the forum
                      http://www.escher3d.com, https://miscsolutions.wordpress.com

                      bartolomeusundefined 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • tjb1undefined
                        tjb1 @fma
                        last edited by

                        @fma said in Multi color printing with Prusa's MMU V2 & Duet?:

                        In fact, there are 2 designs on Thingiverse (both guys are on this forum). I started mine because it is different in many ways...

                        Do you have any links to these?

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                        • fmaundefined
                          fma
                          last edited by

                          Have a look at this thread: https://forum.duet3d.com/topic/6346/multi-material-filament-feeder-repurpose-e1-stepper-driver

                          There are links to both.

                          Frédéric

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • bartolomeusundefined
                            bartolomeus @dc42
                            last edited by

                            @dc42 for me the benefit of the mmu2 is that it remains direct drive, and doesn't add mass to the X carriage.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • deckingmanundefined
                              deckingman
                              last edited by

                              Just to add something to the mix, there is a company called RD4 which makes a multi filament feeder. It's called the RDB. They did approach me and asked if I would be willing to test one of their units, which I agreed to do. I signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement with them but alas they never did send me a unit or provide me with any information (if they had, I could not of course divulge anything). I note however that they have a stand at the TCT show so I'll stop by and see what's what.

                              Yet another alternative is the Pallete2 system by Mosaic.

                              Finally, the cheapest option is to pause the print, retract the filament, load new filament, purge and resume. Essentially, that is all that any of these systems do albeit in a semi automatic way. Unlike the Diamond and the Quad (and to some extent the pallette2) which have all the filaments loaded so switching between them is simple a matter of changing tools (which can be done "on the fly" without pausing the print).

                              Ian
                              https://somei3deas.wordpress.com/
                              https://www.youtube.com/@deckingman

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • martinjundefined
                                martinj
                                last edited by

                                I've made an MMU2 unit from some scrap parts I had laying around just as a Proof of Concept to see how if i could get it to work with Duet.

                                I haven't implemented any tramming which i do believe is important to avoid jams especially stringing is a problem.
                                I also think for it to be sort of reliable it needs to use some sort of filament sensor to check if the switch is successful or not so the print may be saved through manual intervention, though I haven't really found a way to solve this with Duet. I really would like to have some sort of conditional checking.

                                0_1538072523470_duetmmu.jpg

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                                • brunofportoundefined
                                  brunofporto
                                  last edited by

                                  If the objective is just add collors one can create a multi pen filament colorizer (like this https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11742 but with all colors you want)

                                  Also I discussed with a friend to have a special tool that holds a pen (grabbed from a 100 color carousel) and just draw each layer perimeter with the color you want 😄

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • JLink33undefined
                                    JLink33
                                    last edited by

                                    Hi, I built my own MMU2 and configured the Selector and bearing rotation mechanism with endstopless homing, but I cannot figure out how to configure the extruder drive motor with the five drive gears. How do I do that on the duet. What commands do I have to add to my config.g. Thanks

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                                    • dc42undefined
                                      dc42 administrators
                                      last edited by

                                      I am not familiar with the MMU2. Can you explain in more detail what the requirement is?

                                      Duet WiFi hardware designer and firmware engineer
                                      Please do not ask me for Duet support via PM or email, use the forum
                                      http://www.escher3d.com, https://miscsolutions.wordpress.com

                                      martinjundefined 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • martinjundefined
                                        martinj @dc42
                                        last edited by

                                        @dc42 the most critical actions for mmu is during unload/load of a filament where it could slip or jam. The way MMU2 handles it is to use a filament sensor to detect potential problems during load/unload.

                                        Example when loading, move filament forward and check status of filament sensor. If doing this for X step and the filament sensor doesn't detect the filament you would do a retry phase, e.g back filament some and retry and if still doesn't succeed pause print for manual intervention.
                                        Same principal would be used for unloading to verify it succeeds.

                                        Unfortunately I don't see a way to solve this with Duet with its current functionality, and I don't have any suggestion on how it could be solved using GCode. Wish there were some sort of advanced scripting support.

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                                        • fmaundefined
                                          fma
                                          last edited by

                                          What about moving the intelligent script out of the Duet?

                                          • connect all motors to the Duet/Duex;
                                          • connect an arduino to the Due connector and to the I²C bus; also connect the filament contact on the MMU carriage to that arduino;
                                          • write a Duet macro to send a specific code over I²C when filament change is needed, and pause the print;
                                          • send required G-Code to the Duet to move the motors, check the sensor, do the retries if needed...
                                          • send a resume command to the Duet.

                                          Note 1: you may use an esp8266 and control the Duet over wifi instead of serial;

                                          Note 2: this arduino/esp could also communicate with the original MMU electronic, over SPI, so you don't need a Duex. As Prusa board firmware is open, you could re-use most of its code to handle the MMU electronic communication. The only thing to do is to sync Duet and MMU.

                                          Frédéric

                                          martinjundefined Bester42undefined 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • martinjundefined
                                            martinj @fma
                                            last edited by

                                            @fma It was actually my initial thought when i was thinking of making a MMU2. Connect and run everything externally. However it does increase the complexity, was hoping to be able accomplish it only using the duet.

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