Dyze Design/ Kickstarter
SENTINEL's Schematic
SENTINEL's Schematic
A team of designers from Canada have created a 3D printer accessory that monitors and cleans the filament.
Dyze Design have launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for the hardware device they are calling Sentinel. The designers have gone about creating the accessory so production is not ruined midway through. Sentinel will allow the print to be paused, moving the spool to the ‘park’ position while the filament is cleaned or replaced.
“With 3D printing becoming what it is, many companies and people are working on improving the accessibility, reliability and size of Fused Filament 3D Printers,” Dyze Design wrote on their Kickstarter page. “This results in bigger objects being printed, meaning longer print time and more materials being used. With printers now being able to run for hours without any sort of mechanical hitch, it has become increasingly easy to simply start a print and come back sometime later to pick up the finished product.
“However, more than a few users came back to a job completed and an unfinished object due to lack of raw materials. With Sentinel, the days of prints failed due to a lack of filament or dust on the filament are over.”
Dyze Design/ Kickstarter
Sentinel to scale battery
Sentinel is as small as a battery
The Sentinel, designed specifically to negate a low filament level hampering a print, has a rugged metal casing and cover, both with a black finish that is characteristic of Dyze Design products. Clear markings and an instruction diagram are also engraved on the surface of the accessory direct the user.
Under its casing, a simple circuit board with a light sensor checks if a filament is present. This system provides reliable readings no matter what kind of filament is being used, be it rigid or flexible, opaque or translucent. Additionally, two M8 Male push-fittings encompass the device, gripping a whole PTFE tube, ensuring that the filament is properly guided through the Sentinel. A foam hidden in the casing is used to clean dust from the filament.
The device can also be easily applied on any 3D printer that has a free digital pin. It can be fixed to the printer using only two screws or it can be implemented next to the spool. No complex coding is required and a full installation guide on the Dyze Design website.
Dyze Design are a group of designers who have created a range of products for use in 3D printing. Their goal is to consistently provide innovation and optimisation to the growing 3D printing market.
