Fabtotum Development – FABtotum

FABtotum files for liquidation.

Marco — Thu, 05 Jul 2018 10:15:54 +0000

We regret to inform that following a stakeholders decision FABtotum SRL is putting the activity on hold and liquidating his assets voluntarily.

A rapid shifting market and lower sales from 2016 to 2018 have created a condition of unsure recovery and profitability, culminating in this decision.
Following the crash of consumer 3D printer sales in 2016-2017, the new products in the B2B market were still not performing well in terms of units sold, despite the appreciation for the products.
Potential investors were not willing to finalize an offer in a dwindling market and strategic partnerships were taking more than expected to gain momentum in a very competitive arena.
To avoid increasing the debt with investors, suppliers and banks a voluntary debt relief liquidation has been filed.

The liquidation procedure, officially and lawfully filed, will carry on until debt relief is completed.
Anticipating this situation sales via the FABtotum online Store have been stopped beforehand.

The online services will continue to operate in the next weeks, giving access to documentation and all the website.
Online Support and email support have been temporarily terminated.
A FABUI patch will release soon to allow “Local Access” of the FABtotum FABUI software (bypassing the FABID login automatically).
The FABtotum Github account will still provide the open source code for all the FABUI software , the FABlin Firmware and FABtotum hardware.

While disappointing for everyone involved we hope with this measure to foster the conditions for FABtotum to continue making innovative solutions in the AM & 3D printing industry.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners and you, our customers, for your past business and trust.
Last, would like to thank our staff for their daily commitment, dedication and teamwork.

FABteam

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FABtotum introduces 3D Printers Sharing&Management

Marco — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 15:20:59 +0000

FABtotum introduces 3D Printers Sharing & Management, Unified Login and CAM Services

FABtotum is always on the forefront of Software technology when it comes to it’s own 3D Printers.
Back in 2014 we introduced the FABtotum Personal Fabricator, a IOT 3D Printer Autonomous and connected to the Internet for firmware and software updates.
Last Year we introduced FABUI 1.0 “Colibri” the first Embedded Linux-Based OS completely built from the ground up for 3D Printing, compatible with all the line of FABtotum multipurpose 3D Printers.

FABID UNIFIED LOGIN SYSTEM

Today FABtotum introduces another piece of innovation by releasing the FABID system with the latest FABUI 1.1.0 Release.
FABID is a single, unified login which allows all FABtotum Web and 3D printer services to coexist and cooperate.
Registration is free and it only takes your Email.

Register once, log everywhere: FABID is an integrated password manager for your FABtotum Products & services.
Log in the User Interface (FABUI) of any FABtotum product you own, or use it to access a shared device on MY.FABtotum.
Access your aggregated account informations (blog,forum,store,support,FABUI) with an unique handle.
With FABID, access streamlined Support & billing with access to all your products and history.

FABID launches today with the first services available, MY.FABtotum and CAM Toolbox.

Find out more

Register once

Direct FABUI login

System-wide access

Streamlined Support & billing

MY.FABTOTUM

MY.FABtotum is a web service that allows to manage and access your FABtotum Printers.
Using the unique login “FABID” users can create groups of printers and manage them, control them remotely, share them with other people. Business,Industry,education can also take advantage of this feature by managing all the printers in one space and giving access to specific FABIDs.
MY.FABtotum is free to use up to 3 printers and can be accessed from anywhere in the world and works with any FABtotum device.

Find out more

Group & Manage your Printers

Direct FABUI Access

Share Device Access

Connect Everywhere

CAM TOOLBOX

CAM Toolbox a subscription service for Gcode Preparation and postprocessing.
To start, the CAM toolbox will include the new Laser module for images and DXF postprocessing for laser engraving.
With CAM Toolbox Laser module you can prepare Gcode engravings for the laser head directly from your FABtotum FABUI interface and launch the gcode directly from within the FABUI with no addional hardware.
CAM Toolbox is a cloud service and therefore is quick even on tablets and smartphones as it does not require computing power locally.

With CAM Toolbox you’ll able to make:

PCB engraving with photosensitive masks( phositive and negative) from raster images;
PCB engraving with photosensitive masks from Vectorial DXF;
Cardboard and paper Marking from raster images and DXF;
Card and paper engraving from raster images;
Balsa and Wood engraving from raster images;
Balsa Cutting from DXF;
Aluminum alloy engraving from raster;
Aluminum alloy marking from DXF;
Origami-like features with cut and fold lines on paper and cardboard,

Note:
CAM Toolbox is a cloud service, therefore It requires an internet connection and a free FABID account.

View Subscription plans

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Community Highlight: Solder Paste Dispensing Head

Marco — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 14:11:12 +0000

Solder Paste Dispensing head by S&I Engineering

A few Projects we covered are as structured, well documented and useful as the one from S&I Engineering, a Greek Company specialized in a series of digital manufacturing, software and hardware oriented activities.
The project in question is a Solder Paste Dispensing Head, a custom FABtotum head build upon FABtotum own Head Development Kit (HDK) capable of Solder paste deposition. By using the FABtotum as the multipurpose platform it is, they were able to use it to lay drops of solder paste on printed circuit boards (PCBs).
In other words this custom head is meant to do the dirt and boring job of preparing PCBs for soldering in the reflow oven, a huge advantage when dealing with very small quantities of prototypes.

There are many reasons to take a look at this project:

It’s made with off-the shelfs components for the most part.
The remaining components are easily replicable on the FABtotum itself with 3D printing, Laser Engraving or PCB milling.
All the parts, codes and PCB layouts are provided.
Assembly and everything else is well documented.
It actually solve a problem.

Head Development Kit

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The 3D printed parts

The mechanical components (nine in total) are used to convey motion from a stepper motor to a leas screw that in turn squeezes a siringe.
During the project these componets have been adapted from TwinTeeth design then 3D printed with the FABtotum personal fabricator itself.
On the left the assembly (minus the electronics, syringe and motor) is presented.
The base in particular has been modified to be fit the Head development kit and in particular to screw on the metal plate provided with it, on top of wich the head development board itself is mounted.
Aside from the syringe moveable clamp (on top) there are no 3D printed moving parts.

The total assembly is a bit higher than the standard head enclosure so it had to be mounted without it.

In action

Electronics & Coding

To control the stepper motor a PCB has been made in kiCAD. it is a FTDI circuit.
The head is equipped with an Arduino Nano, connected to the HDB in order to receive serial commands from the Totumduino controller inside the FABtotum via the flex cable.
If it sound complex it’s because it is, and S&I Engineering went the extra lenght in implementing all the communication protocols .
As a side note it is also important to notice that other options to control motors with less components exists, like using the 5th axis native port (on the bed connection board inside the FABtotum Core) or using the newest FABlin feature to send steps/dir directly via software and the HDK board pins (SCL=Feeder Step , I2C SDA=Feeder Dir, SERVO +5v =Feeder Enable).

This FTDI circuit PCB has also been milled with FABtotum using FlatCAM to generate the gcode and the Milling Head V2 with a V-Carve engraving bit, wich makes everything even more impressive.

Back to the serial comunication, the Arduino sketch has been developed to act like an intermediary, executing stepping controls directly from the head to the attached stepper motor.
The *.ino file can be opened in the Arduino IDE, can be flashed on the Arduino Nano, and is open source so can be studied and modified to fit custom needs.

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Assembly & Testing

As per documentation the non replicable parts are the following
An Arduino Nano v3 , a 28BYJ-48-5V step motor and a ULN2003 driver.
for the syringe 1 x 10cc syring pump with an 20G-0.6mm ID-1.5 inch length dispensing needle
For the actual paste : Diluted Leadless Solder Paste with IPA (Isopropil Alchool).

Once the assembly is completed and the electronics wired, the serial comands can be tested in order to check that everything is working as intended.

Gcode commands can be executed manually from the JOG menu of the FABUI or one can plug into the FABUI Colibri and wirte their own Gcode controlling script or FABUI Plugin on the onboard Raspberry Pi.
A nice video of the head being controlled is shown on the right, curtesy of S&I Engineering Youtube Channel.

Resources & Credits

In the IT industry the success of a platform can be expressed in the number of users it serves. Another way to measure success it looking at the number of projects taking full advantage of said platform.
This project actully does that and more. it Exploits the FABtotum for what it is on multiple levels.
While the FABtotum is primarily a tool to make things, it is also more than that.
This Head parts has been made with the FABtotum CORE, a manufacturing device to make things first, but also a multipurpose device on wich this head is fully justified and fulfill a vision of multipurpose /multimaterial manufactuing for wich we strive everyday by provinding more and more expandable heads,software and documentation.
This project not also expand the range of possibilities but it’s been made possible by the very tools we provided, the Print head, the Milling head and the head Development Kit, wich makes us -in turn – very proud of the results.

Special thanks S&I Engineering for sharing their work with us.
All the projects are available at: thingiverse.com, youmagine.com and grabcad.com.

We always look for exciting new projects to showcase what personal fabrication is all about.
Share your projects with the community: send us what you have been doing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram!

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FABtotum’s Community Highlights: multicolor 3D printing #2

Marco — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 13:15:33 +0000

Community Highlight : Multicolor 3D Printing on the FABtotum

Last year we showed how to do multicolor 3D printing with some gcode modifications.
Since then, thanks to your feedbacks and suggestions we introduced Assisted Filament change & pre-programmed or manual pause management during the print on FABUI Colibri (by adding M0 in the gcode where a pause is needed or clicking the Pause botton on the FABUI page).
This approach allows to change filaments during the print, a process a little bit tedious that however gives good results, as shown in the aforementioned article.
What was once a complex procedure can now be executed thanks to one of our latest software updates.

Today we take a look at another application of multicolor, that allows changes of filaments during the same layer.
We take a look at Tommaso Spanò‘s combined use of the FABtotum Core PRO (with Printing Head PRO) and Mosaic Manufacturing’s own Palette+.
Tommaso just received his brand new batch #1 Palette+ and was eager to test it with the FABtotum Core. He used FABtotum’s filaments as well.

Tommaso’s Palette+ takes up to four filaments (even more if you are VERY good in timing) and combines them into a single filament strand. This strand is then fed to the Printing Head PRO, enabling the creation of multi-filament prints.
This includes PVA filaments to create supports that are solubile in water that do not require mechanical removement by hand.

“To 3D print a complex multicolour object with a single extruder you need to modify the gcode”

The strange object near the actual model on the Hybrid Bed is actually used to discharge the heating chamber of the nozzle from the old, undesired color.
It’s basically a place where to dump the remaining filament between two colors and where you actually waste material during colour transitions layer by layer.
For this reason it’s commonly referred to as the “waste tower”. Proper name, anyway, would be “transition tower”.

Get your Printing Head PRO

Find out our Filaments’ range

While the FABtotum Personal Fabricator Core has no official dual extrusion Head at the moment (YET) it’s great to see that the potential of the platform is exploited with this and other projects, thanks to the open source nature of the hardware and software stack.

How does this thing work?

As for all technical details, there is a lot to tell. Best things is to read more on Mosaic’s Palette dedicated page, or you can simply contact Tommaso Spanò, who will be happy to get you a couple of extra details.

Here are just a couple of small “thing to know”:

Palette is compatible with both FABtotum’s Heads, so any of you can give it a try;
Bundled software (Chroma) will help you. No need to change anything on the FABtotum. Other small parts will as well manage the filament check;
A so-called “ping” and “pong” system will help you calculating the right amount of material for each layer;
Extra work is needed on the gcode: get your patience and 3D printing skills ready to be practiced!

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Share your projects

Special thanks to Tommaso Spanò for sharing his work with us.
We always look for exciting new projects to showcase what personal fabrication is all about.
Share your projects with the community: send us what you have been doing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram!

The post FABtotum’s Community Highlights: multicolor 3D printing #2 appeared first on FABtotum.

FABUI 1.0 Colibri released!

Alessia — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 15:02:14 +0000

Hooray!

We worked hard, we asked an helping hand to the community, got it, worked hard again and…here we are! The first release of FABUI Colibri is ready for everyone. No beta test anymore, but the first official release of our User interface and Operating System developed from the ground up for 3D printing and multipurpose personal fabrication.
FABUI colibri comes pre-installed on all FABtotum CORE Lite and PRO units shipped from today on, but is also retrocompatible with all FABtotum personal fabricators out there!

So: how to get it? What are the main news? Summing up, you will just need to write the files on your SD card and install it just like you did with the old FABUI versions. Follow the link to get started:

How to install Colibri on your FABtotum

IMPORTANT!
Even if you’ve been using FABUI Colibri and testing its beta, a reflash of the SD will be needed on this particular occasion. Make sure to have the latest update!
Once done, make sure to:

Run a 1.1 firmware version or above (see System Info page);
Run the first setup (do not skip any passage);
Run a probe calibration (Maintenance -> Probe Calibration -> Angle Calibration).

FABUI Colibri is thought to be easy and user friendly; from first setup to everyday use, it will guide the user and make sure everything runs smoothly.
Try it now and let us know what you think!

The main features: what’s new?

All FABtotum’s owner will recognize the main layout which remains similar on purpose. The FABteam has worked with the precise idea of making it as simple and clear as possible.
Regarding the tech specifications we’ll report a summary, while we advice to visit the GitHub page to find the complete list:

Generalized pass on UI to improve performance and usability
Designed to be more resilient to power failures;
Automatically restores files and filesystem in case of system failure
No SD Card flashing needed, only a simple copy-paste of boot files;
A failsafe “Earlyboot-WebUI” interface assist during first install and recovery
Full backend redesign for speed, readibility and stability;
New Plugin framework that allows better plugin integration into the UI;
Plugin generator for easy plugin creation;
All system updates (Firmware, OS, UI, SW bundles) are accessible from Update section;
Firmware rollback and custom FW installation is supported;
Probe length store per head so no recalibration is needed when heads are switched;
Jog Panel redesigned;
Built-in GCode help that is in sync with the current firmware installed;
Milling and laser engraving jog support position storing/restoring, useful for multi-step manufacturing or laser height calibration.

While all users can now update to FABUI Colibri, the switch is not mandatory. Of course, we strongly advice it though. It won’t opo-up as usual so you’ll need to intentionally look for it, download it and install it.
Here a video preview of the FABUI Colibri.

Last but not least, FABUI Colibri will add the possibility to use the Printing Head PRO, which release will be official soon after this big software update.

We won’t add much but we’re eager to read what you think about it so please let us know: community feedbacks are essential.

Thanks again to everyone’s help.

Keep following us,
FABteam

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Colibri Effect Contest’s winners and other stories

Alessia — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 09:12:34 +0000

Time’s up!
Fairs are all gone (for the moment), Easter Egg has expired, the Printing Head PRO awaiting time is matter of days, Colibri Effect Contest is over. It’s definitely time to sum everything up!

1. Fairs and Shows
We have been roaming a bit around Italy and Europe: did you have the chance to meet us? We introduced our Printing Head PRO and Hydra. Have you read about them already? Have a first glimpse on our website!
People during the shows have always welcomed us and found our projects great. Some of you also joined us and discovered what we are working on, as well as the mentioned new products.
In the upcoming months we’ll try to be at other fairs: if we’re missing an important date let us know and if it is not 2017 maybe 2018 we’ll see us partecipating.

2. Printing Head PRO availability
Introduced a while ago, now it’s at the final tests stage. In a few days it will be added on the store: a newsletter will follow soon after. We’re proud of the results, as quality of the prints is higher than ever and range of filaments is widening up constantly.

3. Colibri Effect Contest is over
After a beta testing period where many of our friends and users have been helping us troubleshooting, the very first FABtotum Colibri 1.0 version is ready to be used by everyone. Many features have been added, checked, tested.
This means the contest we lauched on the same time has come to an end, we have the five winners’ names! Congratulations to:

@christopherwit
@florentmaye
@homahe
@AndrewKillian
@dr4Ke

We really want to thank them as they really helped the Dev Team. A constant flow of reports, feedbacks and advices have overwhelmed them: that’s the purpose of having an Open Source project. This is a benefit both for you and us: we can have a better result, you have a better product. Easy.
The winners will be contacted via email within 8th of May in order to organize the withdrawal of the prize.

Again, thanks for being such a great community: a particular mention goes to the member of the Forums as well. Keep up the good work! It is a true inspiration for us to see that many “old fellows” are still with us and use their FABtotums for completely different projects. Their help to others, also, is a helping hand for Support Team.
Summing up, this period has seen us busy: all the Team members had a full agenda. We still have a lot to tell though. We’ll be back in May with our Community Highlights (if you want to be featured write us), we’ll get you precise dates for the release of the Printing Head PRO and more is just yet to come. Meanwhile, stay tuned.

Cheers and congrats to the Colibri Effect Contest winners!
FABteam

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FABtotum’s Printing Head PRO: a new professional approach

Alessia — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:07:04 +0000

FABTOTUM is yet ready to take its FABtotum Personal Fabricator to professionals with its upcoming hi-performance Printing Head PRO.

The FABtotum goes PRO
With the capability of switching heads, the FABtotum Personal Fabricator is an evolved 3D printer that can 3D print, mill, engrave, laser cut and more.
The Printing Head PRO is the first head module of the FABtotum PRO line: a full new set of Heads will be announced during the 2017 and 3D printing is the first function to take advantage of this (r)evolution.
What’s new with that? What’s the difference with the previous Printing Head V2? There’s more than one.
The new concept, of course, will still benefit of the main idea of the project: retrocompatible with all the FABtotum models, both the first Personal Fabricator and the CORE edition, the Printing Head PRO brings top tier 3D printing to the FABtotum Personal Fabricator.
Directly thought to be the solution
The Printing Head PRO is a direct-drive system.
Thanks to its fast and precise filament control, objects are sharper and more detailed than ever, even with complex structures that require loads of retractions.
Oozing, Stringing and other filament related issues are a thing of the past.
PRO stands for professional
Precise, long lasting, reliable: all these qualities describe the Head as much as the final objects. The Printing Head PRO is the definitive solution for all 3D printing manufacturing needs on the FABtotum Personal Fabricator platform. It aims to serve a businness when a pre-production phase is required or prototyping is one of the most important steps before the final product is designed.

The Printing Head PRO can support continuos production batches and effectively run for days at a time. The Printing Head PRO is also a big step forward the expanding market of materials. Flexible filaments, special and exotic mixtures are all easy to be printed thanks to the Direct-drive system and to a renewed cooling solution.

A closer look to the Head
Unlike other printers, the FABtotum can take advantage of its unique hi-torque gantry, originally thought to sustain Milling Head’s subtractive motor. Speeds are not compromised, quality is higher.
Based on the FABtotum Print Head V2 Nozzle design, the Printing Head PRO features exchangeable nozzles, serviceable hotend, a filament fast-release lever and a full metal hot end.
A dedicated power circuit grants low heating / cooling times: the circuit will work both during the pre-print phase and during the final task.
Cooling is granted by a triple fan system that ensures manufacturability even in the hardest spots on big and small objects with few or lots of separated parts.
Bridges, overhangs, holes, steep angles: everything is doable with a Printing Head PRO.

The essential solution
Thanks to a new active retention mechanism, the Printing Head PRO will be very permissive of filament density and physical proprieties. But the biggest advantage of the Printing Head Pro is its efficiency for long tasks and pre-production runs: batch printing, serial production of prototypes are now easy achievements for every businness.

A quick overview of the specifications:

Autonomous Direct Drive System;
Filament quick release lever;
Stainless steel protection shield;
Exchangeable brass nozzle (one is 0.4, optional 0.6 mm, more coming);
Thermistor, heating cartridge for cleaning and servicing;
Extruder is made from a Full metal Body with 6mm PTFE Liner;
Inox steel melting chamber, with heatbreak to stop thermal flow to the head;
Aluminium heat sink to cooldown the body and PTFE liner;
Max temp: 240°-250°;
Materials: PLA, PETG, ABS, NYLON (to be tested HIPS, PC).

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The new Printing Head PRO

Marco — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 13:38:17 +0000

The FABtotum goes PRO

The Printing Head PRO is the first head module of the FABtotum PRO line: a full new set of Heads will be announced during the 2017 and 3D printing is the first function to take advantage of this (r)evolution.

This new module, of course, will still be retrocompatible with all the FABtotum units, both the first Personal Fabricator and the CORE edition, the Printing Head PRO is the most advanced printing head.

What’s new with that? What’s the difference with the Printing Head V2? There’s more than one.

Discover the Printing Head Pro

Follow the link below and join us during the upcoming fairs to learn more about the Printing Head PRO.

The Print Head Pro release date and pricing will be announced in the upcoming weeks and it will later be available via the FABtotum Store for purchase.

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FABTOTUM’s Contest #2: The COLIBRI effect

Alessia — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 16:42:59 +0000

Dear all,

last week COLIBRI left the nest and made its first flight around.
It has flown in many houses and reports are coming back: and that’s what we want to hear from you. How is it going? How is it behaving? Are you already playing with it?

The COLIBRI effect contest

Have you ever heard of the Butterfly Effect? Well, we want to see the COLIBRI one!

The FABUI COLIBRI is still beta, meaning we still need some days to see how it goes and adjust it where needed. Luckily, FABtotum has a great community around the world that can try and follow endless different paths that would require the Team too much time to replicate.

Start playing with us: we started together a while ago, it’s time to get together again and make FABUI COLIBRI better!
How to? Simply report us as much as you can, we’ll make a list and a chart of the most influential, active users and reward them. A free spool to the top 5 among you!

How to enter:
Visit the link below and add logs. The Team will review all the comments and feedbacks. The Team will then make a chart of the most interesting logs. Number and quality will then be mixed to get the final winners.

https://github.com/FABtotum/fabui-colibri/issues

Times and places:
The contest will officially start on 27^th of March at 6pm (GMT+1) and will last until 31^st March at 12am (GMT+1) . Winners will be announced with a newsletter between 3^rd April and 25^th April as soon as the list has been reviewed and.
Any FABtotum owner can partecipate from any place in the world.
Previous logs and reports will be as well counted if the publisher will partecipate.

Prizes:
The top 5 active users will receive a free spool between the standard PLA/ABS ones depending on availability. Winners will be contacted privately via email to check the details within 72h from the newsletter confirming the names.

Read the full Terms&Conditions here

Ready, steady, go!

FABtotum

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FABUI COLIBRI: the world first OS for 3Dprinting

Alessia — Thu, 23 Feb 2017 16:17:49 +0000

FABUI COLIBRI is finally ready for its first steps in the world. From today, it’ll be available for dowload. After a first trial period, (the Beta test will last around 40 days) it will then pop up as update for everyone.
Want to try it immediately?
Join the revolution!

All the FABtotum’s owners have got used to what the FABUI has always been: a web interface that linked the machine and the human. A webpage with a dedicated IP address that could guide the multipurpose device to run all the tasks required.

Well, not exactly. Today, after three years of development, the FABteam is ready to introduce you the very first Operating System for 3D printing: FABUI COLIBRI.
A brand new multipurpose tool for a multupurpose device. The FABtotum CORE and FABUI COLIBRI are the perfect match.
Linux derived, will set a new start and a long path that is yet to be created.
FABUI COLIBRI is the result of a long process: feedbacks from the users of the FABUI and a hard work of tests converted in a complete different experience. COLIBRI is built from the ground up for 3D printing thanks to the Team and all the FABtotum’s owners, who will as well be able to update their devices and join the revolution.

What makes FABUI COLIBRI so great?
It’s light, it’s fast, it’s stable. Just like the small animal FABtotum took the name from (colibri is the italian word for hummingbird; some species are called with the same word in english as well), the world’s first Operating System for 3D printing is studied to never leave the user and get him/her a best-ever experience.

Light: it only weights around 150mb and it has everything needed to start working. The file can easily be written on a micro SD (or standard SDs for “older” users) to switch from the FABUI to COLIBRI. Of course, it will be built-in on any new device and it is retro-compatible with all the existing units.

Fast: the first boot takes around 120 seconds, then only around 15 seconds for the next times. The white lights will tell to the user that everything is ready, just as usual. But faster. The FABtotum will be accessible to a standard IP address via Ethernet cable and can be as well connected via Wifi. With both solutions, the webpage will respond immediately to every command, from moving the axis or managing temperatures to uploading the files.

Stable: every Operating System has a recovery method and COLIBRI is developed to never fail. No more loss of files, no more troubles. The first ever OS for 3D printing is able to reboot in a click and fix itself so that the user is never left alone with a crashed system. The FABUI COLIBRI is meant to work continuously. It will as well always automatically update in the background (as long as the device is correctly connected to the net).

Not enough? It also comes with brand new algorithms which will better manage every print; it introduces pauses while printing, it adds a performing virtual visualisation, it has a 3D scanning function performing better than ever. Last but not least, any user will be able to update but also to downgrade both software and firmware should they need to (for instance if they develop a different interface they will always be able to use it no matter what direction FABtotum takes).

A simple and user friendly look
The FABUI COLIBRI just looks easy to be used. Main features and threads are clearly listed on the left menu. FABtotum’s owners will recognize the same structure laying behind the revisited one. The new skin is clearer and gets the focus on the most important threads.
Dashboard: the place where all the news are shared via our blog and social accounts. Community craetions are as well shown here.
Make: that’s how the tool and function is chosen. That’s where all the projects become live.
Jog: useful both to check the behaviour of the printer and for any special task.
Maintenance: here is where the user should go when it’s time to clean up, and/or to set the right filament.
Settings: need to fine tune your FABtotum? No problem, everything can be checked and calibrated. From the net to the Hybrid Bed.
These are only the main areas of the menu of course. Along with a more friendly interface, there’s another big change: the FABUI COLIBRI features three languages. English, italian, german. What about the others? Ask the community: having a big group of users around the world means that if FABtotum does not make it, someone else can. The Team will then review it and get it available for everyone.

A free spirit
The FABtotum remains an open-source for the greatest of its parts. FABUI COLIBRI has a dedicated area for the custom heads and plug-ins. Since the beginning of the company’s life, community creations have always been welcomed. With the introduction of the Head Development Kit the Team offered a new support hardware side. FABUI COLIBRI adds the chance to easily feature any DIY tool. The users who can develop additional parts will just need to set everything up and get the most out of their creation(s). FABUI COLIBRI adds a simplified tool that will open up to a preset list of plugins, such as the one for the Laser Head recently released, but as well leave space for ideas and suggestions from the world.
Just as for the languages, there are still many sides of the platform that can be enhanced and the Team is more than happy to receive feedbacks from the community.

3, 2, 1, GO!
The FABUI COLIBRI, also known as FABUI 1.0, is ready to be downloaded and tried. After a first round of feedbacks, it will then pop up as update for everyone. As said, it is a major change but will still work on every existing unit.
The FABtotum is a multipurpose device and FABUI COLIBRI is of course intended to work only with it. Every function available today – 3D printing, CNC milling, 3D scanning and Laser engraving – will benefit of improvements.

How to install it on your FABtotum:

FABUI COLIBRI is the first Operating System in the world completely developed for 3D printing. Completely developed by the FABteam, it will make everything fast and simple.
Here below you’ll find the steps to follow to install it on the FABtotum: compatible with every unit, it is built-in for new devices (starting from March 2017).

1. Download the latest image available:
http://update.fabtotum.com/colibri/armhf/images/sdcard_latest.zip
The file will be automatically saved on your computer as a zipped folder. Should your computer not recognize it, give it a try anyway.
2. Format an SD card (any kind/size will do):
make sure to use a FAT32 File System and label it as “Boot”.
3. Unzip the file you downloaded at step 1 making sure that:
a) the destination you select is the formatted SD;
b) no folder is created. The content of the .zip should be pasted directly in the main directory;
c) once done, you should see three folders (“bundles”, “earlyboot” and “overlays”) plus a series of files;
d) once done, you should see that the files just weight around 150mb.

4. Insert the SD into the slot of the FABtotum:
a) when you do this, of course, the unit must be turned off;
b) if it’s the first time you open the electronic panel, make sure to firstly take the screw off from the bottom right. The remaining three points are magnets. This is valid for unit delivered until Jan 2017. Newer units will have screws on all the 4 points.
5. Connect to your FABtotum via Ethernet cable just as you did on the very first time.
6. Turn on your FABtotum:
you should hear a couple of “beeps” and lights will start blinking. They should stop in a minute more or less. If this does not happen, files might not be correctly copied on the SD. First, try to repeat operations. If this still does not solve, contact us via ticket system.
7. Get the blue lights:
when FABUI COLIBRI is ready to start its booting, leds will turn to a stable, electric blue.
8. Open your preferred browser and go to page 169.254.1.2:
a) first boot will take up to 1 minute: you’ll just need to follow the instructions on the screen and wait for all the files to correctly upload.
b) second setup will need you to fill in your details: register again with your email and password. Please avoid using the autofill provided by some browsers at this step. All the lines must be filled and have a white background;
c) make sure to use a valid email;
d) as for the languages, feel free to select your preferred one. Some pages are still available only in english for the very first release. Updates will later translate everything.
9. Follow the wizard:
FABUI COLIBRI will guide you step-by-step through the next steps. Make sure as well to recalibrate your FABtotum, reconnect to the net and simply run all the tasks just as you did when you received the unit.

Nice, now that COLIBRI is on your FABtotum, feel free to share with us your feedbacks and advices. But! Please use the below link so that the messages go straight to the Dev Team.
No ticket needed, no forum post, just here:
https://github.com/FABtotum/fabui-colibri/issues

We once again thank every person who helped us, even just using his/hers FABtotum.

Keep following us,
FABteam

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