[Solved] MK4 Wishlist  

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

Maybe add an enclosure and a more capable mcu on the list. Although personally, I would be happy to see an enclosure even as an optional upgrade - but I think ideally the enclosure would have a means to regulate temperature and an interface with the main board so that it could be controlled even remotely with octoprint custom scripts.

Whoops, from the thread title I thought you were looking for any upgrades. I'll leave this here anyway in case you want to expand the survey.

I don't think a touchscreen is necessary because it would drive up cost for not a lot of benefit.

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

a new touchscreen would be cool, but it of course it comes down to the cost of a touch display.

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

We won't do enclosure, as noone would buy it. It would be much more expensive than the IKEA LACK thing. We developed one but with reasonable BOM and margin it would be $250+ 😯

Graphic LCD and better MCU sounds reasonable. But we will never get rid of control encoder and buttons. Small touchscreens are clumsy 🙂

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

any chance of you releasing the BOM?

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

any chance of you releasing the BOM?

This

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

any chance of you releasing the BOM?

Whats that?

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

We won't do enclosure, as noone would buy it. It would be much more expensive than the IKEA LACK thing. We developed one but with reasonable BOM and margin it would be $250+ 😯

Graphic LCD and better MCU sounds reasonable. But we will never get rid of control encoder and buttons. Small touchscreens are clumsy 🙂

Fair enough, that seems like a good sweet spot 😀

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

any chance of you releasing the BOM?

Whats that?

BOM = Bill of Materials

i just think it would be awesome to see what enclosure they came up with !

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

We won't do enclosure, as noone would buy it. It would be much more expensive than the IKEA LACK thing. We developed one but with reasonable BOM and margin it would be $250+ 😯

Graphic LCD and better MCU sounds reasonable. But we will never get rid of control encoder and buttons. Small touchscreens are clumsy 🙂

It's good to see the final word on this. I think there are several potential sources of value beyond the lack hack. You could keep the main board and psu out of the enclosure, integrate some temperature control for the enclosure (even if it's just heated by the bed and uses a fan to vent in room air above some user-defined maximum), and even some LED lighting for users who want full remote control using a camera in an otherwise dark room.

To be honest, even though I like to tinker as much as many others with this hobby, I definitely see value in not having to in certain cases. It's just a time vs cost tradeoff. But, I really should stop arguing the merits and just do a +1 on sharing the BOM. 🙂 if it just keeps the psu and main board out, I would definitely build it and tinker to get the rest of my wishlist!

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

I don't have much interest in a touch screen. A good solid implementation of the rotary encoder and Octoprint is plenty. By using a 4" touch LCD and Touch UI on Octoprint, you can get quite a bit of the functionality. The current menu needs some work. For example, to change filament between prints, the unload option is in the settings, it should be at the op level. I would much rather see Prusa go all in on the Pi, and offer Octoprint plug-ins specific to the printer for extra functionality. For example a plugin to change filament.

Only reason I see for an enclosure is for ABS. I used to use a cardboard box in the winter for PLA on the Maker Select, because it had a crappy heated bed, and it would lift. We are having a serious cold spell right now, as in -20C! The MK3 is right next to a window and I can feel the cold radiating, but the printer is running like a champ! Prusa's bed is fantastic!

To get an idea on enclosures, look at what Printed Solid offers for the Lulzbot printers. Lulzbot doesn't make an enclosure, but endorses Printed Solids unit. $250 for the TAZ6, and $150 for the Mini. They are pretty well thought out enclosures.

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

No touchscreen please !

I will not find my lunch and my fingerprints on a scratched display 😉

But, a new OLED display will be fine, for example https://shop.prusa3d.com/forum/original-prusa-i3-mk2-f23/oled-replacement-t4244.html

Thomas

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

1. New screen, touch or not. Just bigger to show more information and scroll more smoothly.

2. Build in WiFi or Octoprint or any wireless connection.

3. Smoke/fire detector and alarm ?

4. Better X-axis calibration (i.e. make it horizontal) depends less on eye balling.

5. Better mechanism to adjust belt tension, or other mechanism to replace the belts?

6. Able to print anything without support (a big DREAM! But hey, we are talking about next gen....)

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

Able to print anything without support (a big DREAM! But hey, we are talking about next gen....)

--->>> print in weightless space :ugeek:

Thomas

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

I wish there was an option to vote for new non-touch screen. Touch screens may sound sexy, but are rarely practical. They are fairly common on non-3D printers at this point and I’ve yet to see one where the interaction is done well. A nice, color, graphical display could allow for better state/status display. (No cheesy animations though, please.)

I’d like to see the ability to transfer and monitor jobs over the network though. I’d swear constantly sneaker-netting SD cards cuts their life in half. Maybe not necessarily a full Octoprint host on board, but maybe an on board Ethernet port and WiFi antenna, over which the printer exposes a simple REST API. Coupled with an (optional) onboard camera users could write and even script all sorts of fun stuff. Of course once you network the printers, security becomes an issue...

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

Dont really need a touch screen, but my current printer has one that works pretty well. However it requires proprietary firmware on the trigorilla board.... A well executed rotary knob should work just as fine. Will see, dont have my MK3 yet

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

I’d just like to add that I personally really like the touch screen idea, but also see the use of keeping the rotary encoder and button. Shouldn’t it be possible to have a touch screen that can also be controlled by a rotary encoder and button, giving everybody what the option to use what they prefer.

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

I’d just like to add that I personally really like the touch screen idea,

Both my Epson printers have touchscreens. They can be rather annoying because of their limited size (ie what you have to touch is often very small, making selections quite difficult at times).

A new lcd/oled, better button/s and rotary enc, yes.... Touchscreen, no.

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

I’d just like to add that I personally really like the touch screen idea,

Both my Epson printers have touchscreens. They can be rather annoying because of their limited size (ie what you have to touch is often very small, making selections quite difficult at times).

A new lcd/oled, better button/s and rotary enc, yes.... Touchscreen, no.

It seems like you did not read or understand the rest of my post. Adding a touch screen that can also be controlled by a rotary encoder and button would let user chose which method they prefer. I believe some tasks will be faster and easier on a touch screen while others (like live z-adjust) will be a lot easier with a rotary encoder. This is about letting the user chose which method they prefer to control their printer by adding both options.

Regarding small touch screens, obviously going to small makes everything difficult but having a good UI design and layout can make even small touch screens work.

Re: MK3S / MK4 Wishlist

Would not mind a bigger display, but I actually like controlling it with the encoder.