Print queue automation with AutoPrint

From order to plate

• Orders and low stock create requirements; Farmit queues the plates needed to cover them.
• Priorities and deadlines decide the order of the queue.
• Each plate is assigned to a compatible printer that frees up first, by model and loaded material.

Checks before every start

Before a file goes to a printer, Farmit checks again, right before sending:

• The file was prepared for this printer model.
• The printer is online and idle.
• The bed was confirmed clear after the previous print.
• The right material, and colour if the product needs one, is loaded.
• Nothing else is being sent to the same printer.

A start that the printer does not confirm is marked unknown and never resent automatically, so a plate is never printed twice by accident.

Rules you control

• AutoPrint is off until the owner turns it on and verifies the configuration.
• Choose eligible printers, products and materials.
• Limit how many plates start at once and in which hours.
• Decide what happens after a failed plate and whether a failed transfer may be retried.

Clearing the bed

After every print someone takes the part off, checks it and confirms “Build plate is clear”. Only then may the next plate start on that printer. An automatic part ejector (Farmit Auto) is in testing.

Questions