When will we be able to set backup drives?
When will true multispool/backup drive functionality be available? We still can’t print multicolor/multimaterial models with designated backup drives for each color. Simple runout detection incorporating multispool was certainly an improvement (and we had to literally beg and yell for it) but it was really a baby step on the way to a feature we were all expecting and promised at the time of sale. For many of us that was 10 months ago. Can we get please get an update? Again, I don’t mean to be harsh, but being passive waiting for Mosaic to provide feedback and communication on the status of things proves futile. Not all of us are on Facebook. We shouldn’t have to go to a third party platform to find information on how to use your products. Can we please get timely communication on the status of things instead of having to repeatedly ask for it?
Is this a good question?
As another addition to this question, When backup drives are added, how will they function? i.e. if filament in the "primary" runs out and the machine switches to backup, will it switch back to "primary" if the backup runs out? (allowing the user to "reload" the primary )
by Zeno LeHericy
Oooh Zeno, that's a really good idea. That would certainly free up additional spools for more colors/materials. I was also wondering if there could be a designated, " universal safety backup drive" so in the event any drive ran out and it didn't have a designated backup or the backup drive ran out it would default to this drive. It would also kick in in your example if the user didn't reload the primary and the backup drive ran out. It's really just a safety net peace of mind kind of thing.
by Larry Schack
Those are definitely good ideas!
I really hope they make it possible for it to switch back and forth between two drives as each one runs out, that's a very common method in Industrial Automation to allow for either of the materials to be refilled at any time. I've worked with a lot of robotic system to set up that way and it definitely simplifies a lot of the material handling process.
That said the ability to assign multiple backup drives is also very useful (and easier for the average user to understand, as it will allow for much longer lights out prints, assuming that the pallet is reliable enough to run a print in the 100+ hour range (currently not even possible to upload that big of a file in one shot...)
I have a couple of multicolor prints in my long-term print queue that will require four colors and probably two to three spools of each color. (mostly because why not!)
Eventually once support is available for belt printers and the like it will be very cool to see what can be done
by Zeno LeHericy