Randomize location on built plate?
Question: Is there already or can we add a feature to randomize the location a print goes on the build plate?
I somehow got it in my mind that always putting my print in the middle of the build plate might cause uneven wear on the PEI coating, so I manually move the prints around to not always put stuff dead center. Obviously, there are times when random doesn't work, but I was wondering if there was a way to have the slicer automatically move stuff around. I'm also open to the possibility that I'm way over-thinking this as well. 😉
Thanks!
RE: Randomize location on built plate?
No there is no current way of randomising the position on the build plate. As the slicer generates simple gcode that the printer follows exactly this wouldn’t be a job of the slicer anyway but would require a printer firmware update.
The printer would have to look at the max bounding box size and then shift it randomly to still fit in and adjust all the gcode position values by that amount. Not impossible but not that simple either.
I seem to recall that the request has already been made for that over on GitHub anyway.
RE: Randomize location on built plate?
@neophyl
Thanks! I'll go see if I can find that to read the thread.
RE: Randomize location on built plate?
The relevant Issue on GitHub is here:
https://github.com/prusa3d/PrusaSlicer/issues/320
Why not just move the model in PrusaSlicer before slicing?
RE: Randomize location on built plate?
@3delight
I do think this is a great idea to protect your build plate.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: Randomize location on built plate?
The relevant Issue on GitHub is here:
https://github.com/prusa3d/PrusaSlicer/issues/320
Why not just move the model in PrusaSlicer before slicing?
First, thank you for the link!
Second, I currently do move things manually but there are 2 issues:
- I am extremely lazy.
- I thought having a randomizer would make better use of the whole plate since humans generally fall into predictable patterns. For instance, my idea of "random" is often just along the front or back of the build plate. This is almost certainly better than always printing in the center, but then I'll still refer you back to #1. 🙂
Once I read through the GitHub ticket I'll likely better understand the issues.
One thing I was kinda thinking about is seeing if I could do something in OctoPrint since that would allow me to have not only per-file randomization, but per-print. (I've never done an OP addon so that would be quite the fun challenge!)