Challenge Accepted: Bambu Lab A1 Mini Printing a Flawless 7-Segment Display (Review)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ค. 2024
- Today we're testing the new Bambu Lab A1 Mini. Can it do real engineering work? Can we print a functional 7-segment display? Let's find out!
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Bambu Lab A1 Mini Combo*: bit.ly/3Q74t2P
Bambu Lab Filaments*: bit.ly/3pusOqd
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00:00 Intro
02:12 Proof of Concept: PCB
02:55 POC: Modeling
04:09 POC: Testing
05:45 Desigining a 7-Segment Display
07:27 Multi-material Slicing
10:57 The A1 Mini in Action Printing
12:24 The Printed Result
13:29 Test #2: Solid White
14:12 Multi-Layer Diffuser Design
15:00 Test #3: Multi-Layer Diffuser
16:24 Block Diffuser Design
17:47 Test #4: Block Diffuser
19:23 Conclusions
I really appreciate that you show the whole engineering process, with all the research and decision-making to evolve a design. It’s not just informative but also engaging.
Thats so cool James! The single diffusor layer is much better than what I did! Thanks for the shout out.
Kudos for plugging Christopher Helmke's content btw. Dude is impressive indeed!
No one on TH-cam quite makes me feel imposter syndrome like he does. He's just so damn good at what he does.
white petg probably is using titanium dioxide as a pigment, so it is pretty opaque and will not work great as a diffusor. Non-pigmented filament (often branded as natural/natur/or simillar) would be definitly better. It isn't translucent, but should diffuse light without dimming it as much.
I was thinking maybe he could add a clear layer closer to the leds, then have the final lens in clear 3 layers thick. That way the clear closer to the leds does a little diffusion, then it's smoothed out again by the final lens. That air gap would probably require bridging tho
I don’t understand. Is the result not good here? Looks good to me.
Clear PETG transparancy depends on speed of print and other settings in lesser degree
I print 7seg displays with my X1C, and I use natural white as the diffuser layer, and it works great.
@@c0mputer The results are really go IMO, but I thought the result of some of his prints were good when he could see room for improvements. That is what this comment is about, improvement. The difference between 99.9% and 99.999%. 😀
I almost feel like this new printer is even better than my existing X1 Carbon. The nozzle change is superb.
I loved how you broke down the topic and showed your process through it all. Thank you!
This is an excellent video. Quality throughout, and I love the bass groove outro. Well done!
When im looking into a printing topic you are the first choice every time.. buying this system for sure now. Thanks again!
Terrific video. The fact you guide us through the whole process, your thinking, the successes and the failures, and your solutions is so, so, so, so helpful. TH-cam is just the greatest resource thanks to people like you. Thank you.
LATE BREAKING NEWS: There is now a firmware update that appears to fix the underextrusion issues I was seeing in the first layer. With the new firmware (01.01.00.00) I am now getting good results with the automatic flow calibration and the default profile for the Bambu Lab PETG Basic filament.
Another great lesson on 3D printing. Thanks for all that hard work.
Excellent test of this little fella. Bambu Lab have really lifted the bar with their printer performance and pricing in all their range.
Another awesome video! This is something I had been looking for - and thank you for the link to order! Shame they are now on back order until after thanksgiving! Keep up the great work on these videos... I am always amazed at your level of professionalism and thoroughness.
First time channel viewer here… Very informative, no-nonsense video that doesn’t shy away from the more advanced projects (in my eyes, anyway, as somebody looking to go into 3D printing). I’m amazed at the quality of such a relatively cheap printer and this has re-awakened (re-awoken?) my interest in them!
That seems to be a very capable machine! Thanks again James!
I came for the 7 segment displays, I stayed for the translucent windows, and I am *not* disapointed.
Thankyou James, for answering questions I didn't even know to ask ❤❤❤
Oh, and P.S. Your video on the carbon-fiber roller bearing balance tester thing completely inspired me; I've started drawing up 3D parts for my modelling projects. Thankyou for the inspiration ❤😊
This is so cool! I did a project a while back for 8 segment displays using neopixels that was way more complicated and did not turn out nearly as good as this. Thanks for a great video.
I really enjoyed this project. Great example of what the printer is capable of and also a fantastic way of producing custom displays.
Very nice project. Thanks for all of the details and critical observations. Just bought an A1 a couple of days ago and am waiting for it to arrive.
Thank you for your detailed description on your settings. I learned a lot from this.
What a slick idea. Standard 7 segment displays are honestly so tricky to get good visibility on without just the right diffusion layer and this makes it look so good and seems like it has the potential to allow make a very bright display without running into bleed or contrast issues.
This has made me decide to get an A1 for myself. Thank you for this video!
This is great, have been thinking about this application for quite some time now, thanks for showing this!
Awesome Video James,
I love seening the engineering descisions that you make and showing us how you get there. Also looks like this little printer will be great for the proto-typeing work in PLA or PETG.
Keep up the great work🙂
I normally skip over review videos but I watched this one all the way through and I'm seriously considering one of these.
As far as review videos go, he didn't spend a lot of time talking about the product really - spent way more time showing an interesting use of it instead. The results sell it!
Probably one of the coolest applications for AMS. Nicely done
Well done. Your review was so much better with a real problem to solve.
Thanks for another great video! I ordered one with your link and looking forward to my first multi color printing experience!
Exactly what I was wondering about how to do exactly something like this.
Thanks!
Really inspiring project. Makes me think of a lot of applications for this kind of idea! Looking forward to seeing the fusion tutorial you promised ;)
Really great video. I enjoyed seeing the finished product evolve and improve.
This is eye-opening, gives me a whole option for designing control panels. Thanks!
Realy realy nice Vid, that answered my questions regarding a small diy led sign project. Many thanks!
review that surprised me, we need more review like this
Very cool idea on the diffuser, nice to see your try prints
Really great video. Love all the details and seeing your thought processes. Would love to see more detailed slicer settings you use. Still getting used to BambuStudio myself with my A1.
This kind of work with 3D printers is really helpful for us tinkerers! Subscribed and looking forward to more of your testing using 3D prints with Bambu printers.
Very Enjoyable and inspirational! Thank You ❤
When you hold objects that are a little reflective on the top down camera view, the glare can make it kinda hard to see detail. I think getting a circular polarizing filter for your camera would be a nice video upgrade that won't break the bank.
Great video as always. I just noticed this with the printed parts casting a lot of glare in some shots, not a huge deal.
Hi James, that was a Fusion 360 masterclass as far as I'm concerned.I learned so much from it. Love the videos. All the best from Jim in the UK.
Well done, the machine does a really nice job with this fine detail and difficult geometry.
That printed result at 12:30 is sooo nice.
❤WOW ! Fantastisch! auf so eine Idee 💡 zu kommen ist wirklich sehr schlau. Hut ab.
Awesome job, thank you!
Great design and result!
Definitely will play around more with both correction factors as well as top layer pattern. Hilbert Curve might be what I have been looking for without knowing.
Great idea. Been printing for years, and this seemed a no brainer to get for small parts rather than sending to bigger and slower machines. Waiting for it to arrive. Wasn't sure about the AMS, though ordered it as well, and glad I did now.
Great video, and a very interesting idea. This made me think of another possible variation. Instead of a black panel with white segments, print the whole first layer in white. Use black in subsequent layers to define the individual segments. I think that would make all the segments invisible when they are not illuminated.
Lots of great ideas to try in the comments today.
@@Clough42 you could also try to separate the two layers (diffuser and transparent petg ) by leaving a 1mm gap between them. I know, the diffuser will be printed in the air , as bridge , but for those small sizes might work quite ok .
I would love to see a "PC fan showdown" -style video where he tries out all of the crazy ideas we send him.
To have good diffusion, you want a first layer of diffusion closer to the LED to spread the light source origin. The secon layer acts as a screen on which the light is projected. Think of it like a laser pointer illuminating a thin paper and then the spread from that is projected on a wall.
The most important thing is to leave some space between the first and second layer.
Very cool design. I'm looking forward to the walk through.
I've been away from 3D printing a while, James. Seeing these capabilities has me dumbfounded, especially for the costs! Using that faceplate in a product, one would not know it was printed and could perhaps be a one-off (unless of course they removed it and looked at the backside).
Amazing!
Great video! I hav a P1S on the way so I'm doing my research about how to do stuff like this while I wait. Thanks
Thank you for putting and intelegent and practical use for this segment. Everybody else wants to repeat the specifications not the use.😎
Excellent engineering thought process! Aside from the entire white layer I was predicting exactly what you would do!
Multimaterial sein Vater. Beeindruckend. Danke.
Committed to excellence. How you drill and dig to improve an already acceptable result. Congratulations. As other comments show, very inspiring for further improvements (seems to be ingredient of 3D printing though 😊)
I used to be a fan James .. now you're making me order printers. Mixed feelings man!!
I had not seen your video before, I was searching for reviews of this printer and stumbled into this one. I was very pleasantly surprised to see some serious design engineering using this printer much in the same way I would if it got it. Rapid test parts for my model trains. Then when i saw you also had the multiple filament adaptor I felt I had no need for such a tool. UNTIL I SAW THE RESULT! Then I started thinking about my trains. Number boards, cab fire boxes and bulk heads, running lights, direction indicators, all kinds of reason to use the multifilament gizmo. Then I watched the details unfold. It was fun to someone working just like I do. Print multiple variations until it comes out right. Great methodology and example of printer use and value add. Well done on the three layers Amazing quality. My advantage is I can make the panels as small plates that fit in the larger frame. So a large part with these features printed in it is not required. What do you think ????? Dennis in Virginia
Your design of that display was super cool, never considered a diffuser layer before!
Another great video. Mixing multiple colors and filament types is a huge leap forward for the maker community. My X1 should be here tomorrow. I've been working on a car dash project off and on for a couple years and this looks like the ticket. Most people use the old DYMO labels UGLY. Two things. I tried a sheet of diffuser material and found the light would bleed into adjacent arears. I would print the "light funnel" out of the white with black around each one. This helped diffuse the light much better for me.
Thanks for sharing, I'm impressed by the results you were able to achieve with the A1. Regarding the quality issues you saw with the 0.1mm diffuser layer, I ran into similar issues with PETG and fine layer heights in my X1C. Bambu Studio uses volumetric flow rate to constrain its printing speed with PETG, so when you switch to finer layer heights it tries to print PETG much faster than it should, which can result in poor print quality. Reducing the maximum flow rate for the material might help get the result you're looking for.
Great video and awesome work!
Diffuser thought... would a broken or cross hatched or whatever clear layer work as a diffuser. So all clear material for transmission of light, and facets with sandwiched air gaps to do the the light scattering. Even a grid of pits or pyramid shapes on the diode surface may be enough. 🤞
And you do very good work with bamboo!
Always spectacular work and information. great video...I just love my P1PS too
You can use Hilbert curve infill for the first layer to prevent any diagonal pattern in the front of the panel. I’ve done it before with great results. Takes a lot longer but worth it.
thanks for a great video! really cool concept
Wow. 30 ish years ago we were doing one offs with inkjet transparency film, black paint, colored bits of film, and white film stuck to the inside of of the transparency film, and they looked ok, but could easily be scratched, and would take hours if you changed your mind. Now you can do a better job with something that conceivably could be a Christmas present. Great work as usual.
Great video and review!
Very well done and I‘m very much intersted in getting an A1 mini myself now. 😊
Considering the clear is not perfectly clear would adding more layers of the clear defuse the light better wile be brighter? Idk just a thought.
Great Vid! I found your it totally useful for the type of simpit panel engineering that i enjoy. i really appreaciate you showing your engineering process and gleamed so much to add in my next simpit panel. Just wished the form factor of the AMS Lite was more practical to have with me in my Kommand Center as it would be on your desk. P.s You really sold me on the purpose of the AMS
Very much looking forward to that Fusion video where you talk about how you created those dovetails/keystones in the object!
Thanks for showing your workflow in the slicer! I've been fascinated by multimaterial, but can't see myself justifying the cost of P1P or X1C or fiddling with an ERCF when any printer can do filament swap at X layer which was mostly adequate for the occasional print where I'd want multiple colours or different materials (PLA composites mainly). Yours is an excellent use case for MMU, same with the TPU+PETG mix membrane touchpad I saw the other day and so on - I think A1+AMS could be a decent starting point for me. Loved your presentation as well - you went through different iterations of the design and explained the changes you made so nicely, subscribed.
Did you try putting the diffuser layer further away from the surface? I'd expect you'd get better diffusion of the light with the diffuser closer to the LED, and less reflectance of the room light off the diffuser making the segments that aren't lit darker. Or maybe fill the whole space between the LED and the front of the panel with the clear, and with all the layer lines, you might get better diffusion without reflecting as much room light on the unlit segments.
Great project 👍
Great way to test the printer
Brilliant! Thank you!
That's super cool. It's quite amazing what Abilities technology has given the average person at home these days
Wow never really felt the need to before but, I might have to get myself some kind of multi material upgrade for my printer after watching this.
I’m not a 3D printer guy, but I love all your videos!
More than impressed, nice job.
What is the base footprint size of the printer and the footprint of the filament rack ? Could the rack mount over the the printer ?
Sir, I have just designed some after market car remote replacements ( not nearly as edjucated as you, but they work ... 🙂). It has a little round clear insert for the LED, and this would be a GREAT way for avoiding that inserted extra. Also you have showed me how to bring multiple stl's in as a single unit, in stead of using the combine feature in Fusion. Thank you so much for your educated and also fantastic content !
Loved your video. Your project also impressed me. I like the logical progression (for those bukem fans) ❤❤
I think you must be the king of high tech. Thanks for the video keep on keeping on.
one tip saved me a lot of time - using keybord numbers in order to select filament instead of mouse selection
i have an x1-c but i really want one of these too, i love their products
i used a very similar technique for one of my prints a few months back. worked flawless. when i then printed the same part with a newer version of the slicer, i had those same small holes that you got. i was able to tweak some parameters here and there, but never got to a point that satisfied me.
they have to have changed some slicer algorithms and introduced some bugs that way. really hope they figure that out again...
Pretty nice results! I've been playing with diffusors. I've found that clear material isn't that clear, and when I used a ticker layer "lens" I also got more diffusion. Especially when it wasn't "perfect" i.e. rather use hilbert than concentric.
But for brighter leds, I actually opted to leave a gap and add a layer of Lee filter paper 129 heavy frost. You do lose a lot of brightness, but the diffusion is pretty good
Cool project. That's a lot of lofts on the Fusion, I'd recommend drawing one digit separately and then insert it and use the Combine tool
I am impressed with the filament changes and not having a ton of streaking messes through the different colors. I would have expected some nozzle dragging to inadvertently pick up some PETG across the boundaries.
for some reason the algorithm knows it best! I stumbled upon your video for no particular reason, and now I find myself buying a Bambu P1S after clicking on your link for the mini... I hope you get a commission for that too! waiting on that Fusion 360 tutorial!! keep the faith.
You keep making me spend money! Great video :)
Great video again James
This is a really great idea. Interested in trying with diamond PEO PLATE.
8:40 I never knew this was even possible, thanks for the hint
Good review. This gives me an idea as to how this would work with what I would tend to do in precision. I’m looking at the full size model, but this is great for small parts. Actually, Bambu said they’re coming out with a bigger, more advanced model. Sigh.
I’ve never really found a reason to get AMS for my P1S but this is a solid one!
Thanks for taking us through your process! To improve on the print surface quality even more, it might be worth using the Bambu High Temperature Plate so the first layer has no texture and is completely smooth. Also, with ironing selected in the slicer, all top surfaces can be melted smooth! Cheers!
At the time I made the video, I did not yet have the smooth plate. I just got it yesterday, and will be trying it shortly.
Try setting the diffuser back farther. Decoupling it from the lens. I'd think that'd help increase contrast while decreasing the brightness when off.
Thanks for the video. I'm blown away that multi-material has gotten this effortless.
Super cool. Fun to see. How long did it take to print the one with the 3 filaments please? Thank you. Love the detail of your videos.
17:10 “Stay on target! Stay on target!!”
Damn good work, James. I thought this machine was a big step backwards at first but it’s clear they’ve continued to innovate and have moved the bar for the industry again. I can’t wait to see what they come up with for their upcoming larger format machine. I’m currently playing with a Neptune 4 Max and it’s decent, but a Bambu machine at that scale would be epic.
The larger machine is coming. That's gonna be the start of their 2nd gen machines. Probably gonna have some more cool tech in it.