Modix has launched the fifth generation of its large-format 3D printer platform with a significant infrastructure upgrade.
A new Duet 3 electronics architecture, the company says, enables automatic tool changing, multi-material printing, compact pellet extrusion and 45-degree printing on its Modix BIG series.
Modix says that the upgrade has been driven by its aim to provide customers new capabilities on printers they already own 'instead of buying a new machine every time the technology moves.'
With the move to the Duet 3 control platform with CANBUS distributed electronics, motor drivers, I/O modules, sensors and toolboards can be added throughout the printer, supporting more than 20 axes and drivers without redesigning the main electronics.
Other new features of Modix's Big Generation 5 include:
- Integrated accelerometer for automated calibration and motion tuning
- Ethernet as standard plus removable Wi-Fi connectivity for cyber-security-sensitive organisations
- New touchscreen interface and updated user experience
- Multiple reliability improvements based on customer feedback
Additionally, these technologies are planned to be introduced at Formnext 2026 (Hall12.1 Booth F101):
- Bondtech INDX automatic tool changer. Tool changing now expands from desktop machines to large-format additive
manufacturing. On Generation 5 a single machine runs multiple materials and multiple colors within one part, on Modix printers
of one meter and above. - Compact pellet extruder. A pellet print head for the BIG series, extending the Modix dual-technology strategy onto one platform: pellets for throughput and low raw-material cost, filament for detail. Best of both worlds, and more production out of a machine the customer already owns.
- 45-degree printing. A tilted print-head system. Angled printing is well proven on belt printers. Generation 5 adopts it on large Cartesian machines for greater geometric flexibility and real-time savings: walls printed at an angle produce shapes that would otherwise need extensive internal supports, saving kilograms of material and hours of post-processing on large hollow parts.
Mr. Shachar Gafni, Modix’s CEO: “Modix has always built modular printers so customers upgrade rather than replace. Generation 5 extends that to the electronics itself: the controller carries spare capacity for motors, sensors, tools and accessories. New capabilities ship as upgrades whenever technically possible.”
The BIG series covers six models, from the BIG-60 to the two-meter-tall Everest, and supports independent dual extrusion, high-flow filament printing and multiple print-head configurations. Generation 5 is already in customers' hands, and machines ordered through the summer are shipping on the new platform; Modix is now announcing it across the BIG series with a 'minor price update' to the base model of each printer. Details on the INDX tool changer, compact pellet extruder and 45-degree printing system will follow as each becomes commercially available.
