Fabtotum Team – 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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Community highlight: 3D printed Cable Car scale model

Marco — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 14:41:45 +0000

On Tuesday we previewed Angelo D’angelo’s work, a early 20th century cable car model (or “Tram”) from Milan, Italy.
Today we take a look at how he did it.

The original article is available in Italian on Angelo’s Blog.

The return of the iconic Tram23, thanks to 3D Printing

Last year, when we sampled the Orange PLA material, the first thing that struck imagination was the very close color match with Milan’ “1500 Series” Cable cars. Still running because its historical value: foreigners who come to the city will be able to spot it, despite many cable cars have been updated with more modern versions.

Some of these ended up on 6000 miles west of Milan, in San Francisco , a city famous for his international cable cars.

Without any 3D model available Angelo started getting all the original drawings for a particular version of the tram, the 3- door variant still running to this day in Milan.
Considering the printable volume on the FABtotum personal fabricator, the max scale reacheable was 1:32, for a total legnth of 61cm splitted in 2 smaller parts.

With loads of pictures (some taken from the streets) and reference material, he started working on Autodesk Fusion 360, his preferred design software used for many other projects (including some of the 3Dprintravel series or buildings).
To keep the parts togheter metal pins were used.

With all the parts ready to be exported 3D printing could begin.
Overall it took 50 hours and a few tries, 5 different materials and over 45 parts were printed.
The model has also interiors: the interior paneling was made in wood so Woodfill PLA was used to simulate that.
Metal parts were printed with Silver PLA, and so on.

Assembly took a good amount of time as well (especially to find the time and patience to assemble it all).
Small clamps were used to fix parts together while instant glue cured.
In this phase transparent Acetate was used to simulate windows as well, a tecnique used in architectural models as well.

After all the work was done Angelo finally was able to contemplate his unique model.
There is another catch. The version of this cable car was in service up to 10 yars ago on the “Line 23” connecting the city centre to his university.
We are sure this 3D printed model will be a nice reminder of his student years and commuting in Milan.

Thanks to Angelo D’Angelo for sharing his project with us.

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Design and 3D print a robotic arm with Fusion360 and the FABtotum

Marco — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 14:42:23 +0000

Design and 3D print a robotic arm with fusion 360 and the FABtotum

Today we take a look at a simple but interesting project that made a few months ago. As the title implies, we designed, printed, assembled and tested a 3 axis robotic arm.
Parametric CAD and 3D printing allowed to do almost all of this in a day or so.

This is part 1 of 2. The second part comes in next week. Let’s get into it.

We started by designing a modular arm, one that could be printed in multiple copies and bolted to make the primary arm.
This design was first used as a proof of concept on 5 axis machining we did back in 2016.
The objective here was to create a very simple, easy to print and rigid structure that could be used for simple object manipulation.
The structure for it won’t need to be extremely stiff but we designed the arm as stiff as possible anyway.

The arm ends with the motor holder on one side (standard nema 17) and a standard FABtotum chuck on the other. So that you can have compatibilty with the 4th axis chuck we designed a few years ago. (This was designed in fusion 360 too).

With all the parts in place it was time to export them to STL and into a slicing software. For this project we used Simplify 3D, but any will do.
We filled the build platform with all the parts needed to make two axis (i.e: two arms!).

We used the Print Head Pro with our Orange PLA filament. Nothing too fancy but pleasant nonetheless, and reminescent of industrial heavy duty machinery.

To 3D print the parts we took advantage of our small industrial cluster of FABtotum 3D Printers, a set of internet-connected units we always have ready for production, prototypes and personal projects.
We connected using the my.fabtotum.com interface and uploaded the updated design files.

The print itself was made without batch controls (all parts at the same time). This allows to use the entire build surface since parts can be as close as possible between them.
In the next images you can see the build plate extracted to show how much space was still available should we wanted to make a fourth axis as well.

Once removed from the build plate, the parts were assembled with bolts seaparately.

On the third image of the previous row, a variant created with the 4th axis chuck attached.

The arm will be mounted on a single motor (axis A) that will rotate around the vertical axis. The other two motors will respectively lower the arm and tilt the forearm.

With those 2 orange arms assembled we proceeded bolting the two together, making the B and C axis respectively.
The range of motion of this arm isn’t comparable with 4-5 axis robots but it’s enought to do some simple pick and place of objects.

This will indeed be the application we will implement in part 2.
In Part 2 we’ll create the base and the forearm in fusion, design and build a simple electromagnet so that the arm is able to pick up metal objects from a container and deposit them in another.

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Community Highlight : 3D printing for Retrogaming

Marco — Thu, 21 Dec 2017 15:08:21 +0000

3D printing for retrogaming

Rasmushauschild’ Super Pi Boy – Raspberry Pi 3 Game Boy is a favourite among retrogaming enthusiasts.
The super Pi Boy is a 3D printed Gameboy that packs a punch: a Raspberry Pi3 as a computer module , a Linux based OS and a full color TFT display.
Powered by a lithium battery it runs Retropie, a custom raspbian distribution optimized and outfitted for the sole purpose of retrogaming.

Rasmushauschild describes it as:

It’s built around the Raspberry Pi 3 single board computer, making it a seriously powerful device!
It runs Retropie which provides a wide variety of emulators, all the way from the first Atari console to the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast and everything in between!

Since at FABtotum we all love the Raspberry Pi (The FABtotum personal fabricator /core uses one to run the FABUI!) and retrogaming, once we saw we could 3D print most of the components it was only logical that we started this DIY project in the spare time.

3D printing the shell

The super raspi boy is made out of two separate shells, that were 3d printed using FABtotum PLA and the Print head PRO using the FABtotum Core Multipurpose 3D printer.
The shell , resembling a 1989 Nintendo Gameboy, has been modified to add a few buttons not present in the original version, useful for navigating the emulator menus, pausing ,etc.
These bottons, also 3D printed, sits upon digital switches directly placed under the front shell.
Printing all these components is pretty straightforward, provided buttons are sliced with a skirt to increase adhesion.

Assembly

Once the shells are printed each component is placed inside and soldered together following the schematics.

The biggest part of soldering was connecting all the digital switches to the GPIO ports. Not a complex task but delicate and trivial, especially when the space for cable management was restricted.

The GPIO pins are connected to each and every switch in order to read the digital inputs.
Soldering everything with the 2 3D printed case halves side by side is the best option, as the folded cables add up fast and the shortest they are the better.
The screen required a small modification in order to be powered correctly and the battery was a little bit too big for the enclosure (an extra 2mm needed to be squeezed in) but everything worked out fine.

After a couple of hours, once assembly was complete ,we tested the whole assembly first by checking the power was charging the battery and then firing up Retropie from the SD card.
After a successfull login (A monitor and a keyboard or a SSH terminal is a must) we set up the GPIO ports using the Adafruit retrogame script (you can find it here).
After every button was working along with the battery and audio it was time to put everything together with screws.

TimoG‘ Super Pi Boy from Twitter

Conclusions

The final result is a dream come true for every kid from the 80’s: a portable emulation platform that condenses around 20 years of gaming from the first ZX spectrums to the N64.
The sheer amount of fun (and nostalgia) potentially condensed in this kind of projects is mind boggling!

If you have the time to print out the parts and willing to buy the components needed this is definitely one of the coolest DIY projects in gaming.
A shout out to Rasmushauschild for making this available to everyone (you can reach him via email here).
A thanks also to TimoG that shareds his own Super Pi boy made with his FABtotum 3D printer (on the left).

Resources:
3D printed parts: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1779343

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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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3D printing for the industry – Jigs and Fixtures

Marco — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 10:55:48 +0000

3D printing for the industry: Jigs and Fixtures

There are many uses for 3D printing in the industrial field.
One way to do so is by using directly 3d Printing, i.e. directly making parts for your products.
Another way to use 3D printing “indirectly” is as a mean of supporting manufacturing and assembly efforts in the production line.

In fact, one of the easiest ways to incorporate digital manufacturing in the production line is in fact by using 3D printed jigs and fixtures to optimize the production workflow.

3D printed Fixtures as ergonomic aids

Jigs are usually used to make other operations easy and straightforward.
Like the example on the right (a support to allow assembly of a PCB board), jigs can be used to assist assembly or diagnostics of one particular part.

In this particular case ergonomics considerations are used to make the assebly easier by tilting the board and fixing it.
This kind of jig has a very limited design and production cost and can be made in a few hours.
The benefits of this kind of parts is measured by the amount of time is saved each time (a few seconds or minutes ) at a time, multiplied by days.
the results are several hours saved in a typical assembly line each month.
On top of that a better assembly protocol can be astablished (by presenting the part in a particular way that is easy to assemble) and thus reducing potential issues and QA defects.

3D printed Fixtures as assembly aids

Another example is the one used as a fixture here: a support for assemblying a complex object.
A fixture is then used to place the part in place and assisting the worker in the assembly phase.

just like the other example above the main advantages are the following:

Parts fit only their designated spots (reduced errors, misplacements)
Quickly populate the assembly with parts (efficiency boost)
Parts are correctly oriented,spaced and can be fastened/glued togheter with no human error. (improved precision)

Design guidelines

When designing a fixture a lot of things should be taken into consideration:

ergonomics: how to make the fixture ergonomic to handle/use
tolerances
assembly procedure

Thankfully 3D printing allows to iterate multiple versions of the same jig/fixture in a matter of hours so that changes can be made.

the Jigs and fixtures projects can be saved and kept in one’s own archive to be used when needed.

3D printed jigs for manufacturing: a case study

Jigs are used to fix the object to work on from moving relative to the tool.
In this example we’ll take a look at how design, manufacture and deploy a jig for retooling of a plastic case part.

The problem that was solved with 3D printing was to hold a piece for CNC milling on a ABS plastic case.
The Jig was created with a CAD modeling tool and tested in a CAM environment in order to plan the gcode sequence.
As a result all positions and offsets (including home position) were accounted for directly in the design phase.

The part to be milled is positioned

The support is designed around the part

A CAM simulation can be run with the jig and part assembled.

Since the design phase is relatively quick in a CAD environment, more time can be dedicated to iterate the design phase with a physical prototype.
In this case the position of the part and the snug fit we wanted to achieve was essential for this kind of milling processes on an high number of pieces.

Finally, as the images shows, the CAM itself can be simulated with the digital design itself to keep quality,safety and usability considerations as an high priority concern.
While not this is the case in this example, The jig itself could be even considered sacrificable during certain operation, so that a part of the jig itself is milled to free the part or to reach certain spots.

Once ready the jig is installed in the desired offset. This offset can be defined earlier using the CNC table posizion or empirically measured later.
The jig has holes and a alignement slot to allow correct orientation on the CNC plane.

Once the Jig is placed and the part locked in place, the CNC is calibrated and homing is performed.
the CNC jog can then be run and the part exctracted manually or automatically later.
This process can be chained and modified to work with humand and autonomous workers in a always-flexible and expandible workflow.

The related 3d drawings can be saved after a test run and the project will be available for manufacturing, replication and expansion when and where needed.
The video below shows some of the processes outlined in this article.

Conclusions

Some final considerations & conclusions on the topic are the following:

3D printing makes creating Jigs and fixtures easy and inexpensive
Different 3D printing technologies can be combined with machined parts to make complex fixtures with parts in tolerance.
With 3D printing jigs and fixtures can be considered for a very wide range of operations both manual and automated as well as hybrid operations on the piece.
CAD and CAM design of a Jig and the related CNC machining operation can be combined in one design environment and tested in few hours.
3D printing jigs allow to iterate multiple designs in house.
Jigs designs can be stored and 3dprinted when and where needed.
Sacrificable fixtures can easilby be introduced as much as permanent ones.
jigs and fixtures allow control of the process, precision as well as safety and ergonomics for the operator.
jigs and fixtures are responsible for a sensible reduction in manufacturing costs such as man hours and defects.

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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 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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