Sharing Ultimaker 3 files

[SandervG 1,522]

Today, one year after releasing the Ultimaker 3 series we are sharing the Ultimaker 3 and Ultimaker 3 Extended files with you. At Ultimaker we believe by making our knowledge, research and development open and accessible, everyone can gain a better understanding of the technology and benefit from it.

Earlier we also shared the files for the Ultimaker Original (+), Ultimaker 2 series, Ultimaker 2 + series, heated bed upgrade and now the Ultimaker 3 joins the ranks as well.

Sharing those files has been a great help for our users who wanted to know our machines from the inside out. It empowered many users to help each other in our community, raise the level of expertise and even continue innovation.

One of my most favorite examples of innovation is the Olsson Block. Anders Olsson was able to easily develop his own hot end based on our design that allowed him to print with highly abrasive boron carbide, and this modification turned into the highly popular ‘Olsson Block’ that all of our Ultimaker 2+ users use nowadays.

Ultimaker Cura, with currently over 1 million users has strong roots in, not just ours, the whole 3D print community. Because it is open source a lot of people are able to contribute to the development, make fast iterations and involve everyone in the full life cycle of Cura. From development, to testing beta versions to being the actual end user who reports feedback.

 

Why were the files released after one year?

The Ultimaker 3 is our most advanced 3D printer to date, and all the research and development we put in there was significantly higher than anything in the past. We wanted the period of time until we release the files to match the development period that went into creating the product. For the Ultimaker 2 it was 6 months and for the Ultimaker 3 it was 12 months. This way we felt comfortable about ensuring our investment into the product, and allowing our users to benefit from our research as well after this period of time.

The mechanical files will be released under the CC-BY-NC license in a .step format which is recognized by a large range of CAD software packages. Our electronics will be shared under the GPL2 license. Besides this, you can also find a complete bill of materials in our github repository. With all of this we hope to put users in the position to learn even more about our products and the technology, and possibly even make modifications where they see fit.

At Ultimaker a lot of our products have different licenses. In this rapidly evolving 3D printing landscape we always try to find the best license for each of our products. We’re always looking for the best approach within what we think is right and is beneficial for us but overall our users.

If you are curious about what other products we have shared, check out our main repository where you can find both hardware and software releases:

https://github.com/Ultimaker/

Edited October 18, 2017 by Guest

[ahoeben 2,026]

How about the firmware though?

[Dim3nsioneer 558]

How much work would it be to add a pdf drawing of some kind to the parts? This could be a great help for users who want to order parts at their reseller.

[ultiarjan 1,223]

Great!  thanks Ultimaker, helps a lot with making mods.

Also, see there's a new silicon part.... when will this be released?

edit: looking at it I seems it also needs a new metal bottom plate... right?

Edited October 18, 2017 by Guest

[lrodriguez 32]

How about the firmware though?

Maybe here? https://github.com/Ultimaker/um-kernel

[SandervG 1,522]

We're working on the firmware, this was outside of the scope of this file sharing a year after the Ultimaker 3 was released. It requires a little more time to prepare, but we'll keep you updated about the progress and planning when this is more clear.

[SandervG 1,522]

How much work would it be to add a pdf drawing of some kind to the parts? This could be a great help for users who want to order parts at their reseller.

Hi @Dim3nsioneer,

quite some work actually. That is also the reason why they were not added this round. If I understood it correctly, we actually don't use them anymore and we would need to draw up every part for the pdf specifically. I fully agree it would be convenient (I also used them as a reference occasionally), but the time investment necessary to have all of them made was quite big for now.

Perhaps, as a second best, there is a pretty descriptive BOM in the repository which should provide a user with that answer most of the times as well I think.

[ultiarjan 1,223]

Perhaps, as a second best, there is a pretty descriptive BOM in the repository which should provide a user with that answer most of the times as well I think.

the BOM is pretty clear and usually enough, but for convenience why not just share the PDF picture books with parts? I mean the one's in use by the re-sellers.

[drayson 75]

@ultiarjan, guess it would make the things too easy for our colleagues in copyland... Edited October 19, 2017 by Guest

[ultiarjan 1,223]

@ultiarjan, guess it would make the things too easy for our colleagues in copyland...

nah, dont think so, all the CAD files are open, so how would a list of pictures help a copycat more? just think it easy for customers who need to order spareparts, easier to communicate to there re-seller..

[Dim3nsioneer 558]

Found this one recently: http://www.mindkits.co.nz/front-fan-bracket.aspx

Not saying that the links there should be online...

[SandervG 1,522]

Hi, small update-time!

As @UltiArjan also discovered, in the files we shared for the Ultimaker 3 you might find some parts in the printhead which are different from what you have in your Ultimaker 3.

Partially fuelled by the feedback we receive from our users, but also driven by our own motivation to make our products better we continuously try to improve them. Upon sharing the files, let's say.. by coincidence, one of the experimental research models (WIP) made it in the repository. It holds some small iterations we are investigating which could make the product better. If I am correct they evolve around the silicon padding and the front fan.

As we speak (today or tomorrow) the files are being updated to the correct ones so you can actually use them to learn more about the product you have. But by chance, you are also in the opportunity to learn something more about our ongoing research.

In case you missed it, even though the files you see at first will be the 'real' ones, in the history you will be able to continue to see the research model. Enjoy!

Edited October 19, 2017 by Guest

[ultiarjan 1,223]

Found this one recently: http://www.mindkits.co.nz/front-fan-bracket.aspx

Not saying that the links there should be online...

yeah, indeed i did mean those..... links at the bottom of the page.

[SandervG 1,522]

Perhaps, as a second best, there is a pretty descriptive BOM in the repository which should provide a user with that answer most of the times as well I think.

the BOM is pretty clear and usually enough, but for convenience why not just share the PDF picture books with parts? I mean the one's in use by the re-sellers.

Let me find out what the status is of this, and if it can be shared.

[Dim3nsioneer 558]

Btw. part 2162 (silicone ring around the nozzle) is missing.

[ultiarjan 1,223]

Btw. part 2162 (silicone ring around the nozzle) is missing.

I have not checked other parts, but this ring is "1779" in the CAD file. Which is not very convenient for people wanting to get spare parts....

so getting these picture books (links in bottom of page) for ordering spare parts is advisable;

http://www.mindkits.co.nz/front-fan-bracket.aspx

[Dim3nsioneer 558]

Ah, yes, 2162 was the old white one and 1779 is the current red one.

[ultiarjan 1,223]

Ah, yes, 2162 was the old white one and 1779 is the current red one.

Nah, that would be way to logical it's just an inconsistency between part numbering and CAD it seems..

[Dim3nsioneer 558]

Doesn't have to be a mistake by Ultimaker could also be the reseller who made that label onto the bag.

[KindaichiShota 1]

Hi, small update-time!

As @UltiArjan also discovered, in the files we shared for the Ultimaker 3 you might find some parts in the printhead which are different from what you have in your Ultimaker 3.

Partially fuelled by the feedback we receive from our users, but also driven by our own motivation to make our products better we continuously try to improve them. Upon sharing the files, let's say.. by coincidence, one of the experimental research models (WIP) made it in the repository. It holds some small iterations we are investigating which could make the product better. If I am correct they evolve around the silicon padding and the front fan.

As we speak (today or tomorrow) the files are being updated to the correct ones so you can actually use them to learn more about the product you have. But by chance, you are also in the opportunity to learn something more about our ongoing research.

In case you missed it, even though the files you see at first will be the 'real' ones, in the history you will be able to continue to see the research model. Enjoy!

Thank you for the information!

[Swissengineer 25]

Thank you guys for the shared files, but I was really disappointed when I saw the schematics.... sorry ulti but schematic is crappy, black and white? really? are you in the 80s? No titles, no comments just rectangles with part numbers, so if I want to understand I need to look into every component... this is not really professional.. 

Only a few things that caught my eye when I looked at the schematics:

- NE555 ?? this thing still exists?

- ADC ref Resistor divider... I'm going to cry...

- why you guys don't get a 230V heater instead of using 24V and having a huge psu??

- 10k pull downs on psu line??? what?

 

 

 

[rkagerer 0]

Love that you guys do this.  I'm thinking about buying an S5... are you planning to release those as well?

[gr5 2,295]

On 1/12/2018 at 8:37 AM, Swissengineer said:

- why you guys don't get a 230V heater instead of using 24V and having a huge psu??

That bothers me as well as it is a huge inefficiency and cost increase in the DC power supply.  But it's probably a safety thing as people take these printers apart all the time to fix them.  The cabling to the bed gets a lot of stress and this has been a common failure point (where cable meets bed heater).  Imagine >100V AC on the metal parts of the print bed.  Also Ultimaker sells in countries with 220V and 110V so there would have to be a solution that handled that.

[calinb 11]

On 10/19/2017 at 2:56 AM, SandervG said:

We're working on the firmware, this was outside of the scope of this file sharing a year after the Ultimaker 3 was released. It requires a little more time to prepare, but we'll keep you updated about the progress and planning when this is more clear.

 

To save others some time searching, you'll find it here:

https://support.makerbot.com/s/article/1667417403337

 

Which I found linked along with other info here:

https://support.makerbot.com/s/topic/0TO5b000000Q61FGAS/um3-faq

 

-Cal