A new 3D printer from India hits all the marks.
Divide By Zero is perhaps the most well-known manufacturer of 3D printers in India. The company has over half a dozen 3D printers on the market today, ranging from desktop to industrial.
We last featured them when they announced a unique “switchover” technology that swaps extruders automatically when clogs are detected.
Now they’ve come out with “Altron”, a new desktop FFF 3D printer that is billed as “India’s first fully automatic 3D printer”.
What makes it “fully automatic”? It includes a number of features that we’ve been increasingly seeing on new desktop devices. For the Altron, it means the device includes fully automated leveling and Z-gap adjustment. The combination of these two features, along with the spring steel PEI-coated print plate, make for more reliable printing.
The Altron is an open-gantry design that has a 200 x 200 x 200 mm build volume, adequate for most desktop projects. The system also includes a clog-detecting print head that uses a servo motor, no doubt inheriting some of the smarts from their switchover technology.
The Altron can print at up to 200mm/s, but Divide By Zero does not explain at what layer height, nor do they specify the volumetric extrusion capacity. It does have input shaping, however. I’d say this device is between the old-style slow 3D printers and slower than some of the fastest devices on the market today.
The Altron’s hot end can hit 300C, enabling it to handle a wider range of materials. Divide By Zero explained that the Altron is able to print PLA, PET and TPU. PLA-CF is also mentioned, suggesting that the Altron might include a hardened nozzle.
The company has also equipped the Altron with a remote monitoring capability. You can monitor and control prints from your phone or device, although it does not appear there is an integrated webcam. However, they do say that it is possible to manage a farm of Altrons using this capability.
The price for the device is pretty decent at INP40,000 (US$478), and comparable to other inexpensive Asian desktop FFF devices.
Via Divide By Zero
