Array & Element Release Notes

Element

Clearing filament path optimization

• In certain cases when a Material Pod fails to unload during clearing filament path the Element will now continue with the print if other Material Pods contain the required materials

Material Pod LED Status Update

• The Material Pod will set its LED to pulsing yellow while it is updating
• When a Material Pod update succeeds, the Material Pod LED will flash green three times before returning to its idle color
• When a Material Pod update fails, the Material Pod LED will flash red three times before returning to its idle color
• Fixed a bug that would cause an error when writing to a 3rd party tag

Array

• The status section on Array's home tab now provide more information about what Array is — and isn't — doing.
• Warnings are now provide when the following may be causing Array not to start prints:
  • No active Elements
  • Gantry inactive
  • No Print Beds remaining
  • Unable to detect Storage Cart
  • Storage Cart almost full
  • Storage Cart installation is not complete
• A status is now displayed listing what the gantry is doing:
  • Gantry is homing
  • Gantry is opening a door
  • Gantry is fetching a bed
  • Gantry is placing a bed
  • Gantry is fetching a print
  • Gantry is storing a print
  • Gantry errors are now shown more clearly in the status section

Gantry reliability improvements

• Gantry movements while fetching beds from the Storage Cart have been tuned to improve reliability
• Gantry now checks bed sensors more frequently during bed storing operations to prevent it from continuing bed placements if they fail

Element

• Material Pod LED behavior has been completely reworked to provide more context into the status of the Material Pod.
  • When first connected (Existing Behavior):
    • LED Flashes White until connection is established.
    • Once connection is established, LED Flashes Green for a few seconds before moving to its idle color.
  • Idle Color (New Behavior):
    • If the Element can print with the Material Pod, the LED will be Solid White.
    • If the Element cannot print with the Material Pod, the LED will be Flashing Yellow.
      • Filament not loaded correctly.
      • Material Pod running old firmware.
      • No spool detected.
      • Filament spool empty.
  • Printing Color (New Behavior):
    • The Material Pod actively printing will Pulse Green.
    • Any Material Pod that may be used in the print will be Solid Green.
    • Once a Material Pod is no longer used in a print, it will revert back to its idle color.
• Material Pods must be updated to the latest firmware version in order to be used in a print.
• Unloading errors no longer fail prints if the Material Pod that failed to unload is no longer used in the print.
• Previously, when a Material Pod failed to unload during a print, Element would cancel and fail the print.
• Now, Element will first check if the Material Pod is used later in the print.
  • If the Material Pod is no longer used in the print, the print will continue.
  • If the Material Pod is used again during the print, Element will cancel and fail the print.
• Element now displays open-source licenses for the software used.
• Fixed an issue that resulted in requests to Material Pods in slot one to be more susceptible to failures compared to other slots.
• Fixed an issue where Element would be unable to print a file if the DAF metadata contained a filament ID index that was larger than the number of filaments used in a print.

Array

• Array now displays open-source licenses for the software used.
• Improved the reliability of the gantry store print workflow.
• Fixes an issue where gantry could be shifted too far to the left when storing a bed in the Storage Cart.

Element

• Introduced densifier calibration, accessible through the new ‘Troubleshooting’ menu
  • Provides an option to adjust x positioning for densifier workflows. If Element is unable to reliably produce densifier chips, consider following this procedure
• Adjust the positioning of the Print Head relative to brushes to improve nozzle cleaning consistency
• Improved reliability of ‘clearing filament path’, and refined error messages
• Fixed UI styling inconsistencies

Array

• Fixed a bug where an order started from USB would not have its thumbnail displayed correctly
• Fixed styling inconsistencies when displaying print details of an Element

Element

• Display an HT Print Head icon in the top bar if it is installed

Array

• Fixed a bug where the hardware version in About > Settings would only display PILOT
• Fixed a bug where Gantry would not re-home if it's previous movement failed
• Fixed a rare bug where canceling a pending order with a single job would display an error

Element

• UI improvements for screens relating to the 3rd party material tag writing processes
• Introduced support for printing with untagged filament spools for single color prints

Array

• Improved the device updater architecture for Array and Element software updates.

Note that once devices are updated to version 1.0.0, they will not be able to downgrade to versions 0.13.1 or older.

Bugfixes

Element

• Fixed a bug where failing to clear the filament path at the end of the print would cause subsequent prints to fail to start
• Fixed a bug where unloading a Material Pod would occasionally retract filament too far
• Fixed a bug where, during the process of installing a chamber module, starting the chamber module test did not turn the fan on
• Fixed a bug where bed and chamber temperature presets are not displayed when no Print Head is installed
• Fixed a bug where a failure to unload a Material Pod while printing would not fail the print
• Improved the filament change logic, reducing the chance of leaving filament blobs on the nozzle after the change is completed

Array

• Fixed a bug where Array would fail to pick-up a bed from an Element if it failed while clearing the filament path at the end of a print

Element

• Handle Material Pod run-out if it occurs while loading material to the Print Head.
• Enable the electronics cooling fan.
• On the print status screen, Others has been renamed to System Settings.
• Improved error messages during the loading extruder portion of printing to be more informative and accurate.

Array

• Introduced support for writing RFID data to 3rd party spools from Canvas or USB.
• The front and back screens now display more detailed Material Pod spool information.

Bugfixes

Element

• Fixed an issue that occasionally slowed the internal network speed.
• Installation of a Cooling Module is now optional if the print file requests it.
• Improved overall stability.
• Fixed an issue where a firmware update could cause the firmware to hang in certain hardware configurations.
• Fixed an issue where the print thumbnail would unintentionally be compressed while in the print status screen.
• Adjusted the colors of certain print statuses.
• Fixed an issue where third party filament UIDs were not properly displayed on the Details screen for Material Pods.

Array

• Gantry Controls distances have been reduced, this allows a Gantry to be safely moved if it is in a confined space.
• Fixed a bug where a user could still click on a disabled "Update from Internet" button.
• Fixed an issue where the Cancel and Deactivate button would still be clickable while the print has finished and the gantry is in the process of storing the print.
• Fixed an issue where the placeholder thumbnail for a print would not properly display.

Element

• Various cosmetic enhancements and bug fixes for the user interface
• Fixed a bug where temperature isn't set properly for multi-material prints that use different printing temperatures

Array

• Element Individual Material Pod Updates
  • Array now supports individual Material Pod updates on each Element outside of the standard Array updater flow.
  • Material Pods can be independently updated via Element > Materials.
• Array now displays more detailed information about each Material Pod
  • Serial number and firmware version
  • Spool information (runout, loading failure, third party tag, no spool)
• Added the ability to modify the chamber module type on each Element, allowing users to use the Element Cooling Module
  • Array will now schedule jobs based on the chamber module installed on each Element
  • Elements with Chamber Heaters installed require their chamber module to be set on Array

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where Array would not respond to certain Gantry failures when preparing/storing a print job

Element

• Introduced initial support for material pods running out of filament
• Element will try to use a new material pod (with the same color and material type) if the current material runs out
• Run-out will only be handled when printing with long pieces, where run-out occurs after the Print Head is loaded
• If there are no suitable Material Pods to use after running out, the print will be canceled
• Improved the consistency of how Element pauses, resumes, and cancels prints
• Allow the option of selecting the Chamber Module that is installed (Chamber Heater, Cooling Module, or empty)
• Fixed an issue where certain offline Elements would get stuck during the update process

Array

• Improved the interaction between Array's Gantry and the Element door handle to reduce the risk of failing to close the door
• Updated the print job queuing algorithm to now consider Element Chamber Module when assigning print jobs to Elements
• Fixed an issue where certain offline Arrays would get stuck during the update process

Element

• Improved UI for multi-color printing
• Improved UI for single color printing
• Added advanced network information, accessible through Element screen
• Improved firmware error logging
• Improved handling of errors during printing
• Fixed issue where filament was oozing from Print Head when pausing print
• Improved pausing / resuming process, fixing issues where print quality was affected
• Fixed issue where Print Head stops on top of the print resulting in poor print quality

Array

• Disk usage optimization during software updating
• Improved Gantry reliability when placing print beds in Elements

Element

• Element now supports individual Material Pod updates outside of the normal updater flow.
• Material Pods can be independently updated via Home > Materials > Details.
• A maximum of 2 simultaneous Material Pod updates are currently supported.
• Home screen layout has been readjusted to provide a more intuitive user flow by swapping the Materials and Settings icons.
• Fixed a UI bug where the temperature screen icons would shift on the page as the temperature changed.
• Fixed a bug that prevented 3rd Party Tag Initialization from working properly.
• Fixed various UI bugs on the print screen.
• Fixed an issue where certain offline Elements would get stuck during the update process

Array

• Improved Gantry firmware stability in select edge cases.
• Fixed a bug that made the X button difficult to press when attempting to close a modal.

Common Changes

• Multi-Color Beta Feature Release
• Multi-Color support has now been enabled on all Array and Element devices.
• The UI while printing will shift between printing, pausing, and preparing screens while filament change is occurring; this is normal and will be polished in a future release.
• Note: Recommendation is to start with 2 colors and less than 100 transitions.
• Filament production length has now been tuned to waste less filament while printing a long piece of filament.
• This should reduce the amount of time densifying at the end of a print and result in less filament wasted.
• Clearing Filament Path and Cutting control screens have now changed to more clearly indicate when the job has completed.
• Changes have also been made to prevent a user from accidentally performing the same action again while the current actions is still being performed.
• Fixed a bug that prevented prints from starting due to an error while attempting to clear the filament path.
• Improved UI reliablility on device startup.

Element

• Fixed a bug that formatted error messages incorrectly, resulting in large text font for body text.
• Text should now be in proper font size and should be scrollable when the text body exceeds the size of the screen.
• Fixed a bug that caused the progress bar during a print to be incorrectly colored in various states.

Array

• Fixed a bug where long printnames would overflow outside of various screen components.
• Long print names should now be properly wrapped or clipped.

Array

• Fixed a bug introduced in 0.7.0 where storing print would sometimes hang

Common Changes

• Updated the design of binary toggles

Element

• Fixed a bug where Element would occasionally display Material Pod's as 0-indexed
• Removed Restart button, and only support Power Off
• Added Printhead cooling fan control

Array

• Improved Gantry reliability
• Fixed bug with Printhead cooling fan displaying as undefined

Common Changes

• Added errors when attempting to print with an unsupported DAF version
• Fixed a bug where Offline users would see out of date files in the file viewer

Element

• Improved the UI for unloading a Material Pod
• Display advanced Material Pod details across all Material Pod screens
• Added more granular progress to Firmware Updating
• Improved error messages when Element is unable to automatically clear the filament path
• Display an error when an active Material Pod is disconnected during a print
• Improved Material Pod feeding reliability while printing

Array

• Improved the workflow to connect to an advanced network
• Improved Gantry reliability
• Refined how uninstalled Material Pod's are displayed
• Fixed a bug where the front door of Array would need to be opened/closed after a power cycle

Element

• Improved microcontroller firmware reliability with green/blue firmware binaries
• Improved how the chamber is preheated before starting prints, removed Marlin's bed timeout of 20 minutes
• Fixed the reliability of Material Pod RFID reading for 1st and 3rd Party Spools
• Element Desktop now uses the power button
• Fixed a bug where offline Elements would allow the user to attempt an OTA firmware update
• Fixed a bug where Element would fail to start a print if the sensor values of the material pod were undefined

Array

• Various UI styling fixes

General Changes

• Improved the reliability of HostService dependency installation to be fully offline

General Changes

• Fixed a bug with network reporting where the IP address would also contain mac address information

Element

• Fixed a bug where Element would not accurately display its network status
• Updated the Wi-Fi connection flow to properly display connection errors, and fixed a bug where the connect button would be partially off the screen
• Updated the Print Head icon in the top bar
• Display 3rd party filament information in the materials portion of the expanded top bar
• Moved the ethernet and Wi-Fi information status icons when expanded
• Reduced the time it takes for Element to shut down
• Fixed a bug where Element would crash with invalid gcode commands

Array

• Added a Gantry Controls Tab, and the ability to activate and deactivate your gantry
  • Gantry will be inactive by default (and when powered on)
  • When gantry is inactive, Array will not begin any gantry jobs to start or store prints
• When gantry is inactive, the user is able to manually jog the gantry motors, or home the axes
  • The front door must be closed to use gantry controls
  • Moved ‘Reset Gantry Error’ workflow to the gantry controls tab
  • The gantry will automatically deactivate if a gantry error occurs
• Updated the ‘Edit Quantity’ modal for an order to have ‘Cancel’, and ‘Save’ buttons (rather than ‘Save’ and ‘Okay’)
• Updated the UI to remove tab titles to provide more space
• Fixed a bug where slashes in order names would cause Element to fail starting a print
• Added ‘Orders Queued’, ‘Orders In Progress’, and ‘Jobs Stored’ information to the home screen

General Changes

• Sort files by date modified (most recent) when displaying them to the user

Element

• Fixed a bug where Element would not show the second updating screen, if the update was started through onboarding
• Fixed a bug in the uninstall printhead workflow, where uninstalling the printhead before the device expected would put it in a frozen state
• Unloading a material pod now drives forward after retracting, to ensure the outgoing filament switch is triggered. A material pod now requires both filament switches to be triggered to be considered ‘loaded’
• Fixed a bug where element would show a black screen when it failed to update firmware
• Display 3rd part filament icons when viewing the material pods in ‘list view’

Array

• Display the Element’s preparing status (ex. Homing, Levelling Bed) in the Array front screen’s Element module
• Fixed a bug where completed orders/jobs that were removed from the storage cart would display ‘-’ instead of ‘picked up’
• Fixed a bug where Elements that failed their print very early would have a negative print height, and the corresponding job would not display as stored
• Fixed a bug where the bottom bar would be a different size depending on the active button
• Fixed a bug where Array would fail to start USA/OTA updates

General Changes

• Changed how firmware bundles are downloaded to use file streams
• Improved how old firmware bundles are purged using docker prune

Element

• Added support for setting the Element type in eeprom during device provisioning
• Fixed a bug where Element backend would crash if a Material Pod was unplugged during a Material Pod firmware update
• Added third party material support

Array

• Fixed a bug where jobs that were removed from the storage cart would display '-' rather than 'Picked Up'

Element

• Fixed a bug where Element would hang trying to clear the filament path
• Fixed a bug where Element would crash if a print was cancelled while paused
• Use new Marlin acceleration values for O1 Elements
• Fixed a bug where Element would fail to load the extruder, even if it made the correct amount of filament
• Fixed a bug where the feed rate was hardcoded, and didn’t use the specified densifier parameter while purging

Array

• Fixed a bug where Array would occasionally cancel the wrong order
• Updated the Element Module card on the home screen to display 'Lowering Z-Axis' and 'Waiting for Gantry', when Array is preparing/storing a job
• Updated home screen to display the time remaining rather than a percentage while printing
• Added the ability to edit the Storage Cart beds from the Array front screen
• Refreshed the UI of the backscreen
• Can now edit bed quantity if the storage cart is not installed