Axon 3.0 alpha 1 released

Could you post a link to the V5.4.0 upgrade notes please?

Hi all. I tried the new software. I could not define my printer fully ( 3D Touch, 3 heads) because there seemed to be no standard material profile definitions in this alpha 1 release. The material drop-downs are blank for me.

I'm running win 7 (x64) and I did uninstall Axon 2 before I tried it. On re-read it says that Axon2 and 3 can happily co-exist, so maybe Axon 3 relies on ver2 to be present to provide material settings? Anyone have success getting this going?

I've rolled back to Axon2 and will keep and eye out for updates here. I recommend that early testers try the Axon3 PC software out before they rush into re-flashing 5.4 firmware and loosing their settings (doh!). On that note it looks like v5.4 firmware does not like Axon 2 output (some CRC error).

Interested in other experiences, especially any success generating build files or even printing! From what I've seen of the interface looks like it's going to be good, with some new print quality options.

Nick.

Just processed my first part with Axon 3 and its much much faster than Axon 2 at the slicing process. I am still to update the firmware so haven't tried printing a part as yet.

Obviously BFB are trying to make the software more user friendly but in doing so they have once again removed the advanced user controls. Why not have an advanced option where experienced users can tweak settings? Here's an example why we need this: 

A while back we had to print a thin walled extrusion profile. Using standard settings, the printer would print the exterior profile but would not fill the gap in between producing a very weak flexible part.  The only way we could get the part to print solid was to set infill to 100% and extra walls to 0. Using Axon 3 I no longer have access to these controls so it will be interesting to see how it handles a part like this. 

> We have invested a great amount of time and effort in print process development to achieve good all round settings with the intention being to save users having to tweak parameters.

IMO, this is a serious mistake in judgement. One-size-fits-all rarely works. In my experience with Axon, I want more access to controls, not less. Some of the things it does are just plain odd and all print jobs do not fit into the same category of difficulty. You cannot possibly think into every situation that will come along. Nice Utopian idea but please give us the control we need. Set an Advanced button that opens up additional areas of the application and let those who want Easy have it, too. Thanks for considering. Those of us who are comfortable with technology will appreciate it.

I think the greater problem with axon 3 is you can use only bfb material because there is not material profile editor.

I hope this will be present in final release.

I am sure bfb is trying to make axon as easy  and fool proof as possible but how can i change a parts from press fitting to sliding fit.

If i have to do this with the drawing i have to adapt the drawing again to send to the cnc machine ( if the part(s) are approved by the client).

you should already have the following installed: Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 x86 Redistributable - 10.0.40219

Yes I do...

When you click build, do you see any status text above the "Build Statistics" area or is it quitting before getting that far?

I don't know if it's the window you call "Build statistics"... I can see a "Build progress" window open then axon crashes immediately. I had just enough time to read the window's name.

When you run a build and it has problems, hopefully the application will no longer crash and create a diagnostics log file in the temp folder

No luck ! It still crashes the same way without having time to log anything. Log file only contains "22/10/2012 17:46:29.769 Loaded" (I deleted the old one before doing the test).

I have only tested on my small laptop which is a Dell Latitude D630 with Windows 7 32 bits. I will test on my office tower PC under Windows XP and let you know.

Thanks Andrew.    I'm very interested about the nozzle wipe upgrade that is coming to the store.    Like some 3D touch users the wipe box never really worked properly for multi material builds (or simply as a support material).   Is it possible that some/all owners will qualify for a free upgrade?

cheers,

-Chris

> Axon3 now generates gcode file with a new extension : .bfbe and they are not anymore "readable" in a text editor. Looks like a compiled file...

Seriously!? Well, they did say that A3 requires new firmware and this looks like the reason. If this is the case, now I know what others have been talking about when they mention that BfB makes things proprietary. NOT COOL. Lots of users make changes to their build files. Making them not human readable is another serious mistake in judgement.

If this is another glitch in the Alpha release and this result is not intended, please disregard the above; except for a plea to not ever consider doing this in the future.

> So I guess there is no luck trying to print such a file without changing the firmware!

Ok, now I need to know if updating the firmware on my 3DT to 5.4 will also prevent using a standard .bfb g-code text file to print with. I hope I will be pleasantly surprised... on both counts.

And just last night I counseled someone to buy a 3DT over a Makerbot Replicator 2X.

> 1) It's amazingly fast at slicing ! I think it doesn't rely on Skeinforge anymore and would explain why it can be installed along with Axon2. But it's just a suposition...

Yeah, it uses their "Cubify Engine". It will remain to be seen where this goes. I haven't been a fan of Skeinforge but, then, I haven't had the gobs of time required available to learn it.

> 2) At the moment it has very few settings, nearly none. You won't be able to choose the number of shells, solid layers, infill % or fill patern. I hope this to be added in a future version

Essentially, if I wanted to buy a Cube, I would have—at quite a lot less. I chose to invest the extra to get a better machine with more capability. Am I now going to be downgraded after the fact? It's beginning to look that way.

Just went to the cubify.com site to check the price and, gee, it doesn't work. Ahhh, I got it, IE-only is it? Sure enough. Even a banner at the top saying to get IE9. Come on. Symptomatic, at the very least. There is a larger world out there. Widen your view and listen.

Hi, Andrew.

I do like the speed of the new slicer engine, though as you know I tend to use a different slicer entirely.  [8^)  I would echo the comments of others regarding the option to change some advanced settings, especially as now you can not even search-and-replace in the output file.

It looks like, from your reply to NickC in post #7, the new firmware will continue to support regular G-code?  Could you please state if it is official BfB policy to continue this practice?  (I do understand if it takes lower precedence than supporting the code form the new slicer, and I also understand that 3D Systems is unlikely to share their blowfish encryption scheme with me.  [8^)

Final (overly-optimistic) questions: is there any chance the old RapMan 3.1 series will get a firmware update?  Or maybe you could even open-source the old driver code?

thanks,

Jonathan

Hi Guys

I just wanted to put my input into this on how we see things moving forward

Existing professional users

Axon 2.1 is still openly available and fully supported as we are very mindful we have an extremely important user base who want to be able to develop their own profiles for different applications or materials.

To this extent we have maintained the integrity of firmware version 5.4 which will allow the user to run both Axon 2.1 and Axon 3 output files and also fix some minor reported bugs (please see firmware release note for full details).

We are in the middle of evaluating a spec for an advanced user version where we will have some form of setting options. This we hope will be available in the coming months.

Axon 3.0 Alpha

With Axon 3 we have tried to make software that will go part way to demystifying the print process, start to open up the technology to the masses, improve print repeatability and part quality.

To achieve this of course it does mean we have had to develop closed optimised generic print profiles which will cater for a wide range of geometries.

In summary

Axon 2.1 is still supported on all 3DTouch, BFB3000 Plus, BFB3000 and Rapman printers.

Axon 2.1 is still supported on all 3DTouch printers even when they have been updated to V5.4.0 firmware.

Axon 3 will be able to be used on all RapMan 3.2 printers over the coming weeks once the firmware update has been released.

We hope that all will download and try Axon 3 even if it’s to run only part of their requirements as we are really excited about the results that come from it… this is from the heart, from someone who is passionate about opening this technology to all.