What’s the only thing worse than starting a multiple-hour 3D print job only to have the printer mess up eight hours into the project? How about when there are still several hours of the job remaining, and melted filament spews out all over the place? Wasted filament, wasted time, and the possibility of destroyed physical property around your printer is not something to be taken lightly. I can not tell you how frustrated I have gotten in the past over failed prints, and actually worry quite a bit when I have to step away for a few minutes, much less a few hours, during the fabrication of an object.
If you happen to be at home, then you can check on the print every fifteen minutes or so, but what if you happen to be out of the home or office during a lengthy print? Authentise, based out of Singularity University in Mountain View, California, believes they have found a solution.
The company, which has specialized in securing intellectual property during the 3D printing and file transfer process, today has announced their new Authentise Computer Vision service.
“We are very excited to tell you that we are releasing a technology critical to address the high failure rate of printers, which can be between 25 to 70% in some cases, according to our partners and users,” stated Karla Lopez, Co-founder of Authentise.
The new service is simple, yet brilliant, at the same time. Using their proprietary software, Authentise enables 3D printing enthusiasts and businesses to monitor their prints using sophisticated computer vision software. The system works with almost any off-the-shelf webcam, which can be situated in a position so that it has a direct view of the object being printed. Authentise has even made available a 3D printable webcam mount for those who need one.
Once the camera is set up and a print begins, the rest is left up to the Authentise algorithms. The user can leave the area, and the software will monitor the video automatically. If it senses any deviation between the model file and the object which is printing, it will immediately send a text message or email to the user. The user then can respond back, “Pause”, and the printer will automatically stop printing. This enables the user to return to the print sight, and possibly salvage any project before it’s too late, while also preventing any major filament waste or damage to the surrounding area and/or printer.
For those interested in this new service, there is a private beta signup form on the Authentise website. The company aims to launch in beta sometime this month, and be ready for general distribution before the end of March. Let us know if you’ve signed up for the beta release, and what your thoughts are of this service. Discuss in the Authentise Computer Vision forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the brief video below about this new service:
