Reprap "wishlist" - what would your ideal features be?

Just wanted to start a utopian discussion of what the ideal reprap would have (aside from cost, that one is already a given )

My initial list:
-Very fast prints
-Very high quality, warp-free prints
-Larger print area
-Wireless printing capability (ideally wi-fi)
-Queuing system (print multiple parts one after another, with a way to clear the print bed and begin the next print automatically)
-Ability to make my own filament my throwing some scraps in a bin (think, go buy some cheap ABS pipe from Home Depot, and toss it into a bin that converts it to filament)

Mine would be:
1: A system of automatically interchangeable hotends/nozzles/tools etc so you can use a big nozzle for quick messy infill, switch to a tiny nozzle for slower but pretty exterior surfaces. Perhaps the option to automatically switch PLA colours for each tool simply for aesthetics.

2: Making reprap printing as simple as normal inkjet/laser 2D printing. Plug in your USB cable, load up your model in your preferred software and click "Print". Allow the clever ppl to continue using it the way it is if they prefer, and whenever they come up with major improvements to the system they can be incorporated into the dumbed down system in the form of a driver update or similar.

3: A much larger print area. I want to print things that are useful in the real world,.. maybe a scooter for the kids, a small piece of furniture, a new bike etc.

4: Much cheaper raw material. If the size limits have been lifted on printing, I don't want financial constraints to restrict my potential!

An integrated toolchain comprising....

• A machine comissioning procedure
• Calibration procedure
• Material calibration database
• Shared online object repository
• Parametric Modeller
• Plate layout tool
• Slicing engine which can use different configurations for each object on a plate
• Jog control
• Printing host

All presented in a one click OS agnostic installer.

In other words, somone builds a machine, downloads "the software", clicks through the wizard which tests and discovers the capabilities of their hardware (ie max axis speeds, accelerations, extruder rates, limits of motion), chooses the appropriate material, follows the calibration procedure, finds (or creates) an object they desire and makes it - all within the space of a day.

And all the way through the process it should be easier to upload and share information, configurations, objects and failures than to keep them locally.

That would be smashing wouldn't it

Cheers,

Doug

This should be an interesting thread.

-Multiple extruders
-Soluble support
-Multiple colors
-Mulitple nozzle diameters
-Other tools. Why limit ourselves to FFF/FDM?
-Probe head
-Small routing spindle
-Engraving/cutting laser
-Vinyl cutter

Someone should be along shortly to suggest that we go ahead and implement all this stuff.

My wishlist:

- Greater Z height; it should ideally equal the width and depth of the bed.
- True single-board electronics with integrated motor drivers AND powerful chip. Like the Melzi, but with something better than the underpowered ATMEGA644P. It should be so cheap that in the event a driver blows, you can just replace the whole thing without it being much of a cost.
- Move to aluminum extrusions wherever threaded rod would otherwise be used for structure. Die, threaded rod!
- In a similar vein, simplify assembly. It can take days!
- Automatic bed leveling/Z height calculation. Perhaps before each the first print each day or couple of hours so it doesn't need to re-calibrate before every print.
- Reduce Z axis motor count to four; use the savings to use a real leadscrew instead of threaded rod.
- More polished host software. Pronterface feels rough, and Replicatorg is over-engineered and needs too many hacks to get it to work with RepRaps.
- Host software seamlessly integrated with slicing software (Slic3r, in my case) and built-in STL manipulation; profile selection with per-print temporary overrides for common settings (infill/perimeter speed, solidity, number of perimeters, etc).
- Faster slicing; it should be so fast you don't even need to understand that there is a "slicing" step. You should be able to open or select your file and send it the printer without having to wait for many minutes for the file to be sliced. Netfabb comes close, and Slic3r is at least much faster then Skeinforge.
- Wireless printing.

Great ideas so far, guys!

Forgot to add:
-Soluable support material! 1-click generation in the printing tool and then the ability to simply soak my parts in water afterwards to rinse off the support material (PVA).

-Self Calibrating(Visual would be nice, with calibrating marks on the printbed )
-Auto Leveling
-Print via Printer dialogue box

asifjahmed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> -Wireless printing capability (ideally wi-fi)

Wireless you can have! Check out my blog: [julianh72.blogspot.com]

(Using XBee, not conventional WiFi, but the net effect is pretty much the same - control your RepRap from anywhere in the house.)

Sorry - I can't help you with your other 5 wishes. (Oh well, one out of five ain't so bad!)

---

Follow my Mendel Prusa build here: [julianh72.blogspot.com]

[docs.google.com]

Is a sorted copy of the list. ... We'll see if I can keep it updated

-Remote Print Queue. Something like Google Print to at least put it on a print queue, for later printing like when I get home, or with a software queue manager. ... Would be OK with an automated build platform to auto-print.
-Simplify for 'kiosk mode'. This way 'little things' could be printed by anyone in the household, if already on a local 'device'.
-Allow local SD card type print controller, to automatically download a STL from Thingiverse (or other repository) and print. This could expand the 'kiosk mode' version to print 'anything'.
-A build version that needs no calibration needed.
-Web interface to monitor (and with webcam to see) print remotely.

I dont know whether its been asked before but why not 5 filaments into one printhead, 3 primary colours a black and a white, by changing the feed and retract rates on each of the 5 filaments you would get multi colour, and the inbetween bits where unwanted colour is being expunged on a change of colour either goes to infill, support structure or a purge bucket. That would be pretty far from where we are today, but seems doable

Have tuning better documented: There are bunch of parameters and no idea when to tune what. It's more like black magic and try and error.

gazob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I dont know whether its been asked before but why
> not 5 filaments into one printhead, 3 primary
> colours a black and a white, by changing the feed
> and retract rates on each of the 5 filaments you
> would get multi colour, and the inbetween bits
> where unwanted colour is being expunged on a
> change of colour either goes to infill, support
> structure or a purge bucket. That would be pretty
> far from where we are today, but seems doable


Someone is on it already!

[blog.reprap.org]

---

Join us at a regular West of England RepRap User Group event
For details, visit tiny.cc/woereprap or tiny.cc/woerug

- forgiving assembly - smallest variances now can translate to big differences when leveling the bed. Construction that would make if difficult to screw up would be a big plus for me at least.
- Built-in 3D scanner

[docs.google.com]

Updated spreadsheet of requests