prusa3d / PrusaSlicer

G-code generator for 3D printers (RepRap, Makerbot, Ultimaker etc.)
https://www.prusa3d.com/prusaslicer/
GNU Affero General Public License v3.0
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Add Settings for Estimated Startup and Cooldown Times #13217

Open forReason opened 1 month ago

forReason commented 1 month ago

Description:

It would be beneficial to have settings in PrusaSlicer that allow users to provide estimated startup and cooldown times in the format { hh.MM.ss } (or xxx.x minutes) . These settings would enhance the accuracy of print time estimations by including the time needed for the printer to warm up before printing and cool down after printing.

Use Case:

Imagine starting a print and the printer estimates it will take 15 minutes. You return after 15 minutes, but the printer is either still finishing up, or the print bed is too hot to safely remove the print. This can result in potential burns or permanently bending the still-warm plastic if you attempt to remove it too early. Further risks would be damaging the print or worse the build plate when trying to remove a print fixed to a hot buildplate by force.

Proposed Solution:

  1. Estimated Startup Time Setting: Allow users to input an estimated time for the printer to warm up before starting the print.
  2. Estimated Cooldown Time Setting: Allow users to input an estimated time for the printer to cool down after the print finishes.
  3. Configuration Location: These settings should be part of the printer configuration.
  4. Filament Overrides: Ideally, these settings could be overridden per filament, as different temperatures and case opening requirements might affect the warm-up and cool-down times significantly. (optional)

Benefits:

Negatives

Example:

Estimated Startup Time Setting:

Estimated Startup Time: 00:03:00 (3 minutes)

Screenshot from 2024-08-07 02-06-00

Estimated Cooldown Time Setting:

Estimated Cooldown Time: 00:13:00 (13 minutes)

Screenshot from 2024-08-07 02-25-56

Comparison of Estimated vs Actual Print Time:

Slicer Estimate: 12.3 minutes
Actual Time (including warm-up and cool-down): 25.5 minutes
Slicer estimate with new calculation (Warm up + print + cool down ) (3 + 12.3 + 13): 28.3min

Screenshot from 2024-08-07 02-26-15

From the test results, I assume, the slicer already factors in a given warmup and cooldown time, but it seems too little. For longer Prints, the time is more accurate, since warmup and cooldown dont play a huge role but its quite relevant when printing either small parts or with a high nozzle and high layer height.

neophyl commented 1 month ago

Basically a duplicate of https://github.com/prusa3d/PrusaSlicer/issues/12659 (but yours is prettier)

forReason commented 1 month ago

I'm hesitant to close my issue as I put a lot of effort formating, testing, and fleshing out a solution. Hence, I let community or moderators to decide which issue to keep