Armored Turtle / Box Turtle AMS Filament changer

[mvdveer]

3 hours ago, 5twenty said:

Sitting on parts and prints for mine.

I don't go to discord much, but has anyone chained two together? What is the hub for on the board?

There are a couple of builds of 5 and 6 lanes - have not seen two daisy-chained.

This is the latest on the 8 track version:

 

Which hub? The box on the back covers the filament cutter and collects the remnants of the cut filament. The hub feeds into this through the filament cutter.

                                            

The only hub mentioned in the manual is the feeder from the spools.

                                                      

[mvdveer]

Since starting this build, the manuals have obtained an addition - General assembly and Final sections.

Since I finished the build, I still read through the manuals and it was valuable as it pointed out where to use the PTFE tubing with 3mm ID and where to use the 2mm ID. I also neglected to place some M3 washers on the lane trigger switches, which I did.

Tuning of the Box Turtle, as it is still in Public Beta, was dependant on discord help and contrary to prior experiences on Discord, the Armored Turtle guys were non judgemental and very helpful. (Still got to tune the BT_snappy). The instructions on GitHub was outdated as the config files and what they contained changed sine the readme on GitHub was compiled. 

I can now say that all lanes load and unload to the toolhead without an issue, I think I got Tip-Forming sorted and am just about ready to start the first multicolor print. The Box Turtle poops, kicks and wipes  on all lanes

Had some issues initially with LED's not doing what they were supposed to (Lane 3 was dead, colour not what it was supposed to be on other lanes. Lane 1 (Left looking at the picture) shows it has a spool and is loaded - obviously not)). The last LED in the chain (Lane 4)was working, so it could not have been the LED. Nonetheless, I replaced that LED without making any difference at all. Turned out it was all in the software settings. Although the packet of LED's I bought said they were RGBW, it turned out they were RGB only. Once this was changed in the config file the LED's worked fine.

I initially had a high pitched wine on Lane 4 - extruder, and it failed to load to the Toolhead. Swapped out the TMC2209 driver but that did not make any difference at all. Replaced the Moons motor with an LDO one (was closest at hand at the time) and the whine disappeared, the lane loaded the toolhead. The same happened on Lane 2. As a trial (want to be scientific), I replaced the motor on lane 2 with another moons (of the same batch I ordered for this project), and the problem persisted. Swapped it out for a LDO motor and problem rectified itself. Makes me wonder whether these were genuine Moons motors or just branded as such. (Aliexpress order) Needles to say - I have ordered 4 LDO motors through Amazon which will be arriving tomorrow, when I will replace the other two lanes.

Box Turtle mounted on the Voron 2.4 300 (This was the 2nd Voron, I build and self sourced. I has changed a bit, now having Aluminium motor mounts, aluminium gantry backers, beefy front and Z-idlers, aluminium XY joints, ClickyClacky Fridge door and now the Box Turtle.

Next: BT_Snappy configuration (The servo for BT_snappy is run from a buck converter and is rated 6 - 7.4 V.) and Orca Slicer configuration.

The servo aligns for the cut, Cuts and then aligns the Bowden tube to the toolhead after the cut when I test it manually. Just got to figure out how it is implemented in the macro. 

All the best for 2025 FOLKS - Let's keep tinkering

[mvdveer]

The turtle is now cutting as well. Got the BT_snappy to snap at the filament  (cut I mean). 

I tried a multicolour print and got some real bad layer shifting on the colour change. Well in my rush to try this new gadget, I neglected to update my START_PRINT macro to include the loading of the initial tool. 

 T{initial_tool} #Load Initial Tool

Was late last night, so I'll do this tonight after work and try another print.

Am going to build an enclosure for the turtle, mainly to keep dust out of the filament for now. Once I am happy with how it works, I will reprint the trays in dual colour in the desiccant version.

Also thinking of doing the blobifier mod.

 

[gedds]

On 12/14/2024 at 2:59 PM, mvdveer said:

Flashing the ACF Lite:

Put the trusty Rig through its paces and successfully flash the ACF Lite Board as per the instructions in the manual. 

Re-installed the board and tidied up the wring.

Next: Installing the AFC Clipper Add on

Starting the print process for this. Was wondering what board you used for CAN communications?

[mvdveer]

4 hours ago, gedds said:

Starting the print process for this. Was wondering what board you used for CAN communications?

This Rig has a Fly Utoc 1 board for can coms.

But you can use a Pi RS485 can hat as well or the Waveshare Can hat for the pi which I have on the second Rig.

[mvdveer]

Developed an issue with the extruder on Lane 4. Does not feed the filament all the way to the toolhead. Have stripped it down and the motor is replaced with a LDO motor, but no joy. Reprinting the extruder to see if that helps. Frustrating tuning this or any other mmu unit for that matter.

[sleepster217]

Hey is this similar to the carrot feeder or more like the stealth changer as I am thinking about the stealth changer but want to keep tap working and also the galileo2 extruder as well and have not found one but have not been looking much in the last month or so as I have been keeping out of the shed as has been a bit hot I am scared to go down the carrot feeder type as I have enough trouble getting fillament to start with my hands let alone with a auto feed type as it keeps snagging on the lower tube not sure if it is something ro do with being a longer head to accommodate the rapido 2 uhf or something else but once I get it to feed dose not seem to miss a beat 

[mvdveer]

5 hours ago, sleepster217 said:

Hey is this similar to the carrot feeder or more like the stealth changer 

It is similar to the EERCF (Carrot Feeder) and Tradrack. I have built all three now and this is by far the easiest build, but it is also the MOST EXPENSIVE. I self sourced the one I built here (About AUD230). The LDO kits sell for AUD450 (I ordered one last year from dremc, and is expected mid February. 

[sleepster217]

18 minutes ago, mvdveer said:

 

Interesting is it working ok the self  sourced one u made. have u tried the tap changer or similar as I like the idea of no waste etc but becomes expensive and a little restricted on print heads but as u know u cannot win them all

Edited January 18 by sleepster217

[mvdveer]

13 minutes ago, sleepster217 said:

Interesting is it working ok the self  sourced one u made

Yes works very well - sourced premium materials as example Misumi extrusions, moons motors, geniune Omron switches, etc

14 minutes ago, sleepster217 said:

have u tried the tap changer or similar

No I have not - maybe someday.......

[sleepster217]

8 hours ago, mvdveer said:

 

I am thinking about it looking at the tapchanger setup but will need to go to the dragon burner tooth head etc so will be a big change and different can boards etc

[mvdveer]

Had a lot of trouble getting the snappy turtle cutter to work reliably. The discord channel also indicates this is where users struggle. I had intermittent lane feeds that did not complete. The issue was that the macro for snappy pulled the filament past the hub, thus if there was stringing after it retracted from the hotted, this would confuse the sensor in the hub, or worse cause a partial blockage. Which means, you still had to do Tip Forming which in my opinion defies the purpose of the cutter. (This code in the macro has since been fixed).

I decided to abandon the Snappy Turtle and built a Galileo 2 Filematrix cutter. (The Box Turtle guys have consolidated all the files for use in the Box Turtle build in a GitHub called FilamAtrix)

Installed the toolhead and everything seems to be working as intended now. Since the V2, on which this is to be mounted has just been completely refurbished with CNC motion system, and Bowden lengths have changed, its, I will need to start the calibration process again and then attempt the serial print stl which has 45 tool changes in it.

There has also been a major update to the AFC_Klipper Add on software (AFC Klipper Add On) that runs the Box Turtle, so I'll need to update that first, then calibrate.

Will keep you posted

[sleepster217]

Sounds like is a hard nut to get right but at least u are getting some were and no turtle soup?

[mvdveer]

Updated to the new AFC Klipper add on. Quite a lot has changed, but was straightforward to incorporate the changes. Successfully printed the Box Turtle Cereal file and submitted for review. I think there was something like 45 filament changes. Print completed without any User intervention. I used some nearly empty roles and the filament has some moisture in it. Did not bother to dry it, thus the quality of the print can be better.

 

                      

[mvdveer]

Having built ERCF v1, ERCF v2, Tradrack x 2 and now the Box Turtle, this is the one I would most likely be using the most. Once dialled in, it just works. For a first build - this would be the one to go for. The only downside is cost, but self-sourcing may cut this by half (It did in my case)

Some Tips:

• Forget about the hub cutter - Snappy BT. It is fiddly as hell. (And it needs tip-forming)
• Go with a toolhead cutter - Filametrix /FilamAtrix as to avoid Tip Forming which I just could not get right.
• Stick to the AFC Klipper add on software, unless you really understand Happy Hare software.
• Take your time to get the Calibration of the Bowden Tube and stn values right.
• The readme in the GitHub has not been updated as yet, so join the discord channel. The folk there are extremely helpful!

Will let you know if my serial application was successful.

 

[mvdveer]

This concludes this build:

[mvdveer]

Started building an enclosure for the Box Turtle. Had some extrusions left over from the CASA enclosure build. The formal enclosure status is  still "coming soon"

Did the frame, will need to cut the panels and currently printing the parts for a clickclacky door. From what I read on discord this is what will be used. (Though it may be a scaled down version)

They have released the BOM for the enclosure, after I already started mine. (I am just impatient) Will see if I am going to change or not. Apparently the official version will include the polymaker filament warmer. (x3 -- cost !!!!)

     

Getting big and heavy.

[mvdveer]

As you can see, I did away with the printed corners on the front and used extrusions to do a blind joint to the cross bars that support the printed skirt.

Still need to add the feet though not strictly necessary as the unit is mounted on top of the printer.

[Penatr8tor]

Wow! Look at that.

Super impressive @mvdveer. This looks like a filament changer worth building.

[mvdveer]

8 hours ago, Penatr8tor said:

Wow! Look at that.

Super impressive @mvdveer. This looks like a filament changer worth building.

So far from the four different models 0 ERCF v1, ERCF v2, Tradrack and BoxTurtle I built, certainly the most reliable and easier build. But don't know if you have seen but the Bambu labs studio AMS, now has an open source board and klipper integration. (See this thread) I like building things, but that would be a serious contender. Nothing to do except swap out a couple of boards and your away printing. 

Compared to the cost of the BoxTurtle with enclosure, if you buy a kit and do not self-source, would be around the same price point.

[mvdveer]

Enclosure completed. Used Alu composite for the back, top panel and one side panel,  and Perspex for the other side and obvious for the door.

From what I read on discord, the clickyclacky door will be scaled down - the current BOM reflects this. Whether I am going to add the "dryer" element remains to be seen.

     

[mvdveer]

Had a look at Blobifier that was mentioned in a thread somewhere and decided to bite the bullet and install it on the Box Turtle build. (See it never ends!)

Installed it and tested the servo - seems to be doing what it is supposed to

Tray in                                                                                                       Tray Out

                      

(Forget, supposed to be Wax on, Wax off )

As I am running the AFC software and not Happy Hare, it took a bit of searching on Discord, but I found the AFC adapted version. Turtleblobifier, or Blobifier adapted for AFC.

Cloned the directory, entered the pins for the servo and tray switch, set the parameters and hopefully set to go. 

[PFarm]

On 2/8/2025 at 5:26 AM, mvdveer said:

They have released the BOM for the enclosure, after I already started mine. (I am just impatient) Will see if I am going to change or not. Apparently the official version will include the polymaker filament warmer. (x3 -- cost !!!!)

Can you point me to the enclosure BOM plz?

Edited March 16 by PFarm

[mvdveer]

51 minutes ago, PFarm said:

Can you point me to the BOM enclosure plz?

Mine is not as per the BOM as I designed this prior to the BOM being released. Here is the official BOM. The last line of the BOM will drive the cost up exponentially - Polyfilament Dryers x 3

[PFarm]

On 1/26/2025 at 3:34 AM, mvdveer said:

Go with a toolhead cutter - Filametrix /FilamAtrix as to avoid Tip Forming which I just could not get right.

I see you printed the dual-sensors were you able to configure the dual sensor in the AFC software? Also, do the corners have LEDs in them?

Edited February 15 by PFarm