The Bambu Lab X1-Carbon is an excellent 3D printer and takes an enormous quantity of the credit score for launching Bambu Lab into the highest tier of the patron 3D printing trade. However the X1-Carbon is a few years previous now and its weaknesses are well-known throughout the group. The obvious of these is the proprietary design and ecosystem, which limits what customers can do to unravel the opposite issues. Luckily, there’s customized open supply firmware accessible known as X1Plus and this X1Plus Growth Board will aid you take advantage of it.
X1Plus is firmware that may substitute the proprietary firmware that comes put in on Bambu Lab X1-series 3D printers, together with the X1-Carbon. Proper out of the field, it has some attention-grabbing options, like calibration instruments and assignable {hardware} buttons. However the actual draw is that X1Plus is open supply. That makes it excellent for individuals who like Bambu Lab’s {hardware}, however don’t wish to be restricted by the proprietary firmware and software program. Because the wiki says, “X1Plus is to your printer what jailbreaking is to a smartphone.”
However as nice as that’s, the potential is proscribed to the {hardware} accessible. The X1Plus Growth Board dramatically expands that, giving customers the power so as to add new cameras, sensors, networking connectivity, lights, and extra to their printers.
The X1Plus Growth Board connects to a Bambu Lab X1’s management board and tucks behind the touchscreen in an unobtrusive 3D-printed enclosure. It gives USB-A 2.0 ports, a ten/100Mbps Ethernet port, 4 particular GPIO growth connectors, and one 3.3V STEMMA-QT/Qwiic I2C connector. Onboard regulators take the 24V from the printer and drop it right down to 5V and three.3V for these connectors.
It’s attainable to make use of these ports and connectors instantly, corresponding to for a USB webcam or a LAN connection, however there are additionally add-on boards deliberate. One thrilling instance is the digicam shutter launch set off board. That has two 3.5mm TRS jacks that may inform exterior mirrorless or DSLR cameras to snap pictures. The X1’s chamber digicam is lackluster and this add-on board makes it straightforward to seize high-quality timelapses of prints. Customers can even be free to design their very own add-on boards to allow no matter performance they like.
Just like the X1Plus firmware, the X1Plus Growth board is open supply. The PCB recordsdata are accessible on GitHub proper now if you wish to make your individual board. However it appears that evidently a marketing campaign to promote assembled boards will launch quickly on Crowd Provide, so subscribe for updates there in case you’re .