Thank you Paul for sharing monkeyprint as open source.
It looks very promisingly.
As i am planing to constuct a LCD-printer with some special features i was looking for a software like yours , which can be modified according to some new requests.
At the moment i run it on Windows 7 as exe and directly by the sources in python 2.7.
And i will control a wanhao D7, which is controlled by a special version of Repetier-firmware running on a mega 2560, understanding G-code and responding with special message.
I have some models which i want to print directly on the buildplatform but can not do so.
Either because the baselayers of my models are big and the models dont have overhang i do not need supports created by monkeyprint
or
my models already have a baseplate and individually created supports incorporated in the STL-file.
My models shall be printed with a very low thicknes of 0,025mm for all layers or 0,05mm for the first 3 layers.
I can not print these models with monkeyprint because of the following issues:
Issue 1:
Monkeyprint does not slice if there are no baselayer and supports generated by monkeyprint.
After adding a STL-model to monkeyprint the the "slice"-tab is greyed out and only activated after one has created a support-structure by activating the "support"-tab.
There is no way to avoid support creation by monkeyprint.
Issue 2:
I can not place my STL-models directly on the buildplatform with 0 distance.
If i change the value "bottom clearance[mm]" from its standard value 5 to 0 then monkeyprint changes it back to 0.1mm.
Issue 3:
"Bottom plate thichness" can not be changed to values lower than 0.1mm.
If i do so monkeyprint changes it back to 0.1mm.
(Semi-issue 4:
After reciving a G-code for movement printer executes this movement.
After movement has finished printer sends back a message, telling that movement has finished.
Monkeyprint could wait for such messages and after having recieved it send next commands to printer.
The movements do not need the same execution time.
So the waiting module in monkeyprint print process has to wait longer than needed to ensure that movement has finished. This could be improved if there was a module in print process which does not wait a certain time but instead waits for a done-message from printer.
)
I wanted to change the behavior of monkeyprint by modifying the .py files but sorry at the moment i am still to much novice for doing this myself.
One more question is weather, in your blog, you could explain the steps in the VTK-Pipeline from STL-reader to slice-picture generation, and to explains how from hull generation you create the wall and the infillstructure.
I would like to, in the future, help you maintain and adapt your software for new requests.
For example translate it to Pyton 3.x, adapt it to my actual printer (wanhao D7) or my future one or similar.
Sorry for that much questions and requests
but nevertheless best regards from Augsburg
salue
Thank you Paul for sharing monkeyprint as open source. It looks very promisingly. As i am planing to constuct a LCD-printer with some special features i was looking for a software like yours , which can be modified according to some new requests.
At the moment i run it on Windows 7 as exe and directly by the sources in python 2.7. And i will control a wanhao D7, which is controlled by a special version of Repetier-firmware running on a mega 2560, understanding G-code and responding with special message.
I have some models which i want to print directly on the buildplatform but can not do so.
Either because the baselayers of my models are big and the models dont have overhang i do not need supports created by monkeyprint or my models already have a baseplate and individually created supports incorporated in the STL-file.
My models shall be printed with a very low thicknes of 0,025mm for all layers or 0,05mm for the first 3 layers.
I can not print these models with monkeyprint because of the following issues:
Issue 1: Monkeyprint does not slice if there are no baselayer and supports generated by monkeyprint. After adding a STL-model to monkeyprint the the "slice"-tab is greyed out and only activated after one has created a support-structure by activating the "support"-tab. There is no way to avoid support creation by monkeyprint.
Issue 2: I can not place my STL-models directly on the buildplatform with 0 distance. If i change the value "bottom clearance[mm]" from its standard value 5 to 0 then monkeyprint changes it back to 0.1mm.
Issue 3: "Bottom plate thichness" can not be changed to values lower than 0.1mm. If i do so monkeyprint changes it back to 0.1mm.
(Semi-issue 4: After reciving a G-code for movement printer executes this movement. After movement has finished printer sends back a message, telling that movement has finished. Monkeyprint could wait for such messages and after having recieved it send next commands to printer. The movements do not need the same execution time. So the waiting module in monkeyprint print process has to wait longer than needed to ensure that movement has finished. This could be improved if there was a module in print process which does not wait a certain time but instead waits for a done-message from printer. )
I wanted to change the behavior of monkeyprint by modifying the .py files but sorry at the moment i am still to much novice for doing this myself.
One more question is weather, in your blog, you could explain the steps in the VTK-Pipeline from STL-reader to slice-picture generation, and to explains how from hull generation you create the wall and the infillstructure.
I would like to, in the future, help you maintain and adapt your software for new requests. For example translate it to Pyton 3.x, adapt it to my actual printer (wanhao D7) or my future one or similar.
Sorry for that much questions and requests but nevertheless best regards from Augsburg salue