Sunday, October 19, 2014

Acceleration and PyPy

While trying to dial in the acceleration on my Replicator original, I ran across a post regarding the alternative "just in time" Python compiler, PyPy.

http://mbot3d.eu/install-pypy-to-accelerate-replicatorg-slicing/

It offers much faster slicing when using Replicator G and Skeinforge.  I tested PyPy out and can confirm that it indeed does take much less time, about 1/3rd of the speed of Python 2.6!

On a top secret unidentified part:
  • Python 2.6:
    • 2 minutes, 59 seconds to slice.
  • PyPy:
    • 1 minute, 1 second to slice.
Needless to say, I switched over and haven't looked back since.  

On the acceleration front, after replacing the Makerbot Mightyboard a while back, I never got around to setting up the acceleration settings.  For a while, I was only printing at about 40-50mm/s with low acceleration settings before the machine felt like it was rattling loose.

After dialing in the settings, I'm now printing at about 75-85mm/s with overall much quieter operation.  : )