Prusa introduces compact 3d printer Prusa Mini

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Prusa Research has announced its latest printer: a compact 3D printer called the Prusa Mini. The printer costs less than half the price of the popular i3 MK3s printer and is intended as a second printer or entry-level printer.

Prusa Research, the Czech manufacturer of one of the most cloned 3D printers for the consumer market, has released a new FDM printer. The compact model, announced by founder Josef Průša on the company’s blog, has been given the name Original Prusa Mini and will be available for 379 euros. Deliveries should start in November this year, but the printers can already be reserved.

The Prusa Mini has a somewhat smaller construction volume than the big brother in the i3 series: the construction volume measures 18 by 18 by 18 centimeters, where that is 21 by 21 by 25 for the i3. The printer is mainly intended as an entry-level model, since the price of the Mini at 379 euros is about half that of the i3 MK3s. The Mini could also serve as a second printer or part of a so-called printer farm: in the latter case, the productivity with two Minis would be higher than with a single i3.

Although the print volume is slightly smaller, Prusa has equipped the Mini with numerous upgrades over the i3 MK3s. Zou uses a 32bit motherboard based on an STM32 controller, where the i3 has an 8bit Rambo board. The stepper drivers are also a bit more modern: the Mini uses Trinamic 2209 drivers, which make the stepper motors very quiet. The i3’s monochrome display has been replaced by a color TFT, and the motherboard has built-in wired networking and optional Wi-Fi via an Esp32 extension.

The larger MK3s can handle exotic filaments better: not only can the extruder of the MK3s handle higher temperatures of 300 degrees versus 280 degrees for the Mini, but the Mini also has a Bowden-type extruder. The MK3s’ direct-drive extruder is probably better at printing flexible filaments. Both models have a spring steel print bed that makes it easy to remove prints. The hotbed of the i3 MK3s can be heated warmer and the Mini has a power brick as power supply instead of a built-in power supply.

Prusa had a earlier this week teaser posted on Twitter with the text ‘We are bringing something “BIG” to @ERF2018’. @ERF2018 is the Twitter username of the organization behind a reprap event. The announcement of the Prusa Mini seems diametrically opposed to that teaser, but the ‘one more thing’ of Josef Průša’s blog is the announcement that the company is working on a large printer. That model, for the time being the Prusa XL, would have a construction volume of 40 by 40 by 40 centimeters and would be based on a core-XY architecture. However, it is not yet known when that XL printer will be released on the market.

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