Bambu Lab filament - More info from/via RFID tag

Bambu Lab X1 Series Bambu Lab X1
1

I read in another thread the following statement:

“As far as I can tell, the RFID tags just identify that the filament is Bambu, which material, and which color. They don’t change the slicing settings for that filament, they just pick the filament profile from the list in the slicer when you set which filament in the AMS each object should print with.”

Is that really the case? Only material type and which color it comes?
So what’s the whole purpose of using that tag at all? Anybody that can read and use a keyboard can type it in manually.

I guess Bambu Lab knows best, at which slicer settings each of their filament produces the best/optimal results. So why don’t they simply include such info in the RFID tag as well? In case it’s too heavy for the RFID chip, why not include it in Bambu Studio as a look-up table, i.e. if the RFID tag shows “PLA Matte”, Bambu Studio will automatically adopt the slicer settings (specifically speed) to the loaded filament.

2

You should ask BL about that.

3

Isn’t the lookup table exactly what is happening?

BsmbuStudio selects the profile based on the filament type on the tag. And the profile contains all the settings.

1 Like
4

If you load the filament in the printer first, then open Bambu Studio you will see the filament you added & can choose it from the dropdown menu. This would change the settings.

5

Yeah, though some kind of “reduced look-up table” :slight_smile:
If I’m not wrong it’s finally just a matter of increasing the amount of parameters from the look-up, i.e. instead of only filling the material name, its color swatch and the material printing properties (temperatures, fans, etc.) also manipulating the slicer settings as well.

Actually I started this thread to get an idea if my understanding is right and if there’s a demand by other users (and not only myself).

6

I’m confused. So it will change e.g. speeds for you if you switch between PLA and PETG (non HF)?

7

No, just the filament…like temp, fan speed, bed plate temp.
Things that are in the filament tab settings.

8

Ah, ok. But that’s exactly what I mean, it’s a good first step by Bambu Lab to provide those parameters - but wouldn’t it be even better, if they also automatically adjust e.g. the speed settings? Maybe to be as flexible as possible with a tickbox you either can check/uncheck? :wink:

1 Like
9

It actually does change speed by the “max flow” value in filament settings. So when you load a TPU filament, it will print at a reduced speed, because TPU can’t handle the speeds that PLA can. And there are a lot of other settings connected to the filament type.

10

Maybe a small overview is helpful of how BS handles settings:
BambuStudio (inheriting from Prusa Slicer) stores settings in a few different places. I remember machine settings, filament settings and process settings. Did I miss one?

Machine settings contain many basic settings for the printer like build area, max speeds and accelerations the mechanics can handle, and many more.

filament settings contain all settings that are specific for a filament type, like cooling, bed temperatures, max volumetric flow, minimum layer time, retraction settings and quite some more.

Process settings contain all settings that you would typically adjust depending on the project. E.g. number of walls and top&bottom layers to balance stability versus amount of material.

Of course, there are some that can’t be clearly assigned to one of those categories. E.g. print speed is a good example. The filament can only handle so much speed, yet you often want adjust speed for a project. In that case, they introduced the max flow in the filament and speed in the process settings. If the combination of layer height, extrusion width and print speed in the process settings would exceed the max flow in the filament settings, then the speed is reduced accordingly.

Other settings are debatable. E.g. the overhang speed reduction would be much better located in the filament settings in my opinion, but I guess there are reasons that I don’t see to put it in the process settings.

There are also settings that have a default value in the machine settings (e.g. retraction length) that have a default value in the machine, but you can override that default in the filament. That makes a lot of sense for TPU for example.

This approach is quite smart in my opinion. It allows to have preset settings for each filament type in the slicer which can be updated via slicer updates. At the same time it allows for adjustments by the users while still switching those settings with the spool.

Of course the tags are just a convenience feature and you can as well switch the filament settings manually.

1 Like