This is a DRM chip from a Stratasys cartridge.

This is a DRM chip from a Stratasys cartridge. The plastic inside is the same filament that we use, but it goes through this device and records the usage to ensure that you are only using filament that was bought from Stratasys for 10x what it’s actually worth. It is the antithesis of everything I stand for.

How long until we start seeing these on Makerbot’s plastic?

lol…
What printer is that a part of?

oh ok:

Mmmm Stratasys plastic is usually of a significantly higher grade… What plastic are you using?

No I agree it probably isn’t worth the huge mark-up, but I don’t think it is ‘the same plastic’ you guys use.

The guy who showed me this chip told me that they had already disabled that workaround.

Thir is no real diable of the workaround unless it reads the grade as it goes but all that information would need to go somewhere wouldn’t youe be able to record the signals and replicate to trick the chip

That’s pretty much what I suggested. A general purpose microcontroller should be able to emulate that chip and always report itself as a fresh cartridge on power-up, assuming you can break whatever crypto scheme is being used to identify authentic cartridges.

But then again it may be able to tell if the signals are being repeated but I can’t imagine it being a problem for toolong

The machine stores the data internally, but if the chip gives a new valid ID code each time, it shouldn’t be able to tell that you’re not just loading a new cartridge every time.

We need to create Cartridges with a Chip that has a Button on it: New Filament in (anything but not Stratasys) then press the Button and tell the cartridge to tell the Printer that you have new, totally compatible Filament in

Unless you printed a ring of filliment and just had it cycle in the background that may be a simpler way

The chip doesn’t actually detect the movement of filament. That is done by counting steps of the extruder. That data is recorded on the chip, and the metal bits you see there are a switch that simply ensures that filament is present (something we’ve been talking about adding for a long time, but AFAIK nobody has actually implemented it). The cartridges stop working before the filament is actually gone, and the switch is just a failsafe to ensure that the filament going through it has not broken off inside the cartridge or something.

I want more sensors for Filament and i want it now.

Ohhh well that seems to be incredably swiss cheesy for lack if a better explenation not that that was a great one so it is very easy to trick and will make the printers more efficient ?

Oooor consumers could simply boycott companies which engage in unfair and harmful business practices.

@Nathan_Ryan not only are consumers ignorant, but many more people have the “I don’t really care about it” attitude.

The question is how long until we see cheap materials also on Stratasys machines. http://haveblue.org/?p=938
EDIT: sorry I didnt notice this has already been posted earlier… anyways, I want cheaper filament for my Dimension SSt1200es too :slight_smile:
I´m interested in filament cassette with the “reset” button so let me know when one is available for sst1200es :slight_smile:

(Or better yet, to have a totally new program to control the hardware so that the Z-step can be changed smaller etc… Something that allows KissLicer to be used maybe)

@ThantiK harder to justify these business practices in a market where we have plastic recyclers like lymans. Once filament makers go mainstream even the ignorant will start changing their attitude.

Plus, inkjet and laser printers never allowed for the same kind of diy community that 3d printers do. The grass roots community here has a staying power and we won’t support those types of bs products. I also steer neophytes away from them.

Two pictures that went through my head while reading this (and a third older one revisited):

  1. An adjustable mount at the top of the extruder that holds a simple micro switch, where you turn a screw to move it closer to the filament. The mere presence of filament closes the switch. That’s help when plastic ran out, but not so much with jams where you want to know whether the plastic is moving.

  2. (older idea I and others have had for years): laser print onto a label a visual encoder image in the shape of a 608 bearing. Stick that to the side in the idler, with a small optical sensor to see whether the idler is moving and in which direction. That’s detect jams, and might almost replace the need for #1

  3. with cheap enough and small enough circuit-board based cameras like the raspberry Pi board they announced, have an extruder designed to hold a mini camera pointing exactly at the hobbed bolt digging into the plastic. Video stream is saved for diagnostic purposes too. Good for watching via human live (just a cool and useful view), plus you might design video analysis algorithms that detect problems (looking for powdered filament caking the teeth), or replace #1 and #2 above with simple edge detection… (If you don’t see the notches on the filament coming down the bottom, it may have ground away.

All of these seem like a lot of work for only some benefit (we do get our printers printing without it, after all), but once the work is done and published as a new model (and firmware using that data is made public), then everyone can benefit.