I’d really like status and completion notifications for the Wash and Cure available via PreForm and the Dashboard. Especially the Cure, since, including pre-heat times, the process length is comparable to the time it takes to print the part (i.e. long enough to justify a notification).
However, the Wash and Cure don’t have any network capabilities, and I wouldn’t want to have to purchase new versions of these units just to get notification features.
Therefore, I propose:
- Updating the Wash / Cure firmware to provide status information over USB.
- Creating a USB-powered wifi accessory device that can be plugged into the Wash / Cure USB ports.
- Also updating the Wash / Cure firmware to provide network configuration UIs on their front panels when the device is present.
As a bonus:
- Also give the accessory an ethernet port.
- Give it multiple USB ports (or let it support being connected through a hub) so that a single one of these boxes can serve multiple Washes and Cures (I realize this can complicate configuration, I have some ideas there too but the Formlabs engineers are smart I’m sure they’ve got good ideas too) (it’d conceivably mean the device might need its own power supply, too; personally I’d be OK with that).
- Give it a USB pass-through port or allow it to update device firmware over the network (basically so you don’t have to unplug it to update Wash / Cure firmware). This’d also make letting the devices auto-update (like the printer does) a possibility, in theory.
I would find this incredibly useful. If not the Wash, at least for the Cure.
