GrabCAD Print and UM3

[Icehawk101 0]

Hey All,

 

Has anyone tried using GrabCAD Print for slicing with an Ultimaker, specifically the Ultimaker 3? GrabCAD has already been qualified and approved for use at my work but they only list Stratysis printers on their officially supported list. My department is getting a UM3 as a Stratysis printer is overkill for our needs. Getting Cura through IT Security review and CIO approval would take a while though so we are hoping that GrabCAD and UM3 are compatible even if unofficially.

 

Any info on this is appreciated

[kmanstudios 1,115]

I have not tried this. But the question is can it be made workable with alien printers outside their ecosystem?

 

For instance, Cura can be configured to work with any printer with a bit of patience and effort. But most of those platforms are specific to a printer series because they are partially supported by the manufacturers as a way to leverage customers.

 

Personally, I see no reason to rely on something like this as Cura (And every other slicer) will be able to take any properly formatted file and work with it. Having looked at the site, it seems their biggest selling point is converting to STL is supposed to be difficult for smart people. Other than that, it seems no more capable than any slicer and a whole lot more limited.

 

Ecosystems in any industry are good. Closed ecosystems are a problem when any part of the ecosystem goes toes up or the need to step outside of it happens. Then it all gets bollixed up. Open ecosystems are much better as they allow for future flexibility in choices and requirements.

 

And, you usually pay a lot more for a closed ecosystem at all stages.

[gr5 1,711]

If you post some GrabCAD gcode output - the first 500 lines of gcdoe, someone could probably tell you how much you will need to mess with it to get it to work on a UM3.  For single color prints it should mostly just work - maybe change out the first 30 lines of gcode.

 

But for dual extruder printing I dont' think you'll get it to work.  A huge amount of the magic for doing PVA support on the UM3 involves careful temperature control of both nozzle so one doesn't drip while using the other nozzle and so changing to the other nozzle is quick.  So there is pre-heating of the idle nozzle.  There is pre-cooling of the active nozzle seconds before it's done printing, there are standby temperatures, and I think more.

 

The gcodes for changing to the other nozzle vary by printer so the odds it will just work are also low.  Normally you use T0 (tool zero) for one nozzle and T1 for the other.  But some printers (like the UM3) allow you to control the idle nozzle temperature without having to issue T1 very briefly.

 

For dual color printing or for PVA support printing on the UM3 no other slicer can compete with Cura I strongly suspect.  S3D (simplify 3D) comes very close - probably good enough.  But even S3D won't do the preheating-idle-nozzle feature last I checked.

 

And if you aren't doing dual color or PVA support prints - get the UM2.  It's better at single extrusion prints than the UM3.  In my opinion (of course - everything I post is just my opinion).

[ctbeke 129]

What is the reason that it takes long to get Cura through IT security screening? Is it because of their process or a potential issue with Cura itself? We have many business, University and school users, so it really shouldn't be a problem. It's open source so all code is available to read.

[kmanstudios 1,115]

1 hour ago, ctbeke said:

What is the reason that it takes long to get Cura through IT security screening? Is it because of their process or a potential issue with Cura itself? We have many business, University and school users, so it really shouldn't be a problem. It's open source so all code is available to read.

I would go with their process being the issue. Off loading the responsibility of slicing a file through a third party would also mean less upkeep and such on their end. And with some of the upgrade issues with certain systems that have been reported openly, that could be a concern as well.....how much headache would it be to support the program? And, this would not be an issue with Cura per se. I have seen this with Autodesk as well with the headaches their procedures have created.

[darkdvd 910]

On ‎09‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 2:23 PM, Icehawk101 said:

GrabCAD has already been qualified and approved for use at my work but they only list Stratysis printers on their officially supported list. 

 

How can a company qualify a software without having the hardware for which it is intended?

It's like having an iPhone and validating a Android software!