The easiest way to achieve multi-material prints is to incorporate more extruders into the printer’s design. I recommend reading both the stepper driver and motherboard firmware sections to figure out which motherboard is the best match for your 3D printer build.įirst and foremost, the motherboard should be chosen based on how many extruders your printer will have. This section will outline the minimum capabilities of a few popular motherboards that exist on the market. However, there are many other features, such as the presence or absence of a certain type of stepper driver, that will weigh into your decision to go with one motherboard over another. The number of stepper motors, heaters, sensors and buttons that are supported is often a deciding factor when purchasing a motherboard. It is the motherboard’s responsibility to provide the physical connectors for these outputs and inputs.
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This job includes not only barking orders, like telling the stepper drivers when and in what direction to move the motors, but also requires the microcontroller to listen and respond to various inputs like the extruder temperature or the state of the limit switches. It’s the microcontroller’s job to enact the code from the 3D printer software to ultimately produce a 3D printed object. All the electrical components will be connected to the printer motherboard, which houses the microcontroller.