Happy New Year! (Patreon)

Hey everyone. It's been a long time since I've had anything very exciting or release-related to report, but don't let my radio silence fool you. There's a lot going on around here. With a whole new year breaking, this seems like a perfect time to catch up with you.

New Thinkyhead Quarters

My work for MakerArm is on indefinite hiatus while they reorganize and regroup, so I'm back to working full-time on the main Marlin project without any other distractions. I've moved out of the room I was subletting north of Austin and rented a modest apartment in a more verdant and habitable neighborhood in Austin (West Campus).

I hadn't planned to remain in Texas quite so long! I've been considering a move back to Seattle because that's where this whole adventure in embedded code and 3D printing got started. But I felt I couldn't really afford or deal with the stress of another long distance move. So my plan is just to focus on the project and enjoy a stable period of production on my own terms and in my own space.

To give the project a boost I've recruited my good friend Thanh Vo to help out as a full-time tester, documentation writer, video editor, web developer, etc. We're currently in the process of getting the workshop set up, furnishing the apartment with free finds and custom-built pieces. The space is just starting to come together, but we're already doing a lot more testing.

Marlin 1.1 News

Marlin 1.1.9 has been a great success. Many users have updated to Marlin 1.1.9 over the last 4 months and we've gotten a lot of positive feedback, with no critical bugs reported. I've applied a few patches to bugfix-1.1.x, and that branch will continue to be the best source for the final 1.1.x version of Marlin from now until the sun burns out.

Layer Shifting

A small number of users (mostly with CoreXY and Dual X Carriage machines) have reported that sometimes during a print the X or Y axis position will get shifted out of alignment. It was discovered that enabling JUNCTION_DEVIATION (thus supplanting "jerk") fixes the issue, So if you encounter any layer-shifting (or even if you don't) I recommend enabling this option. It does a little more computation, but it's smarter than jerk.

Marlin 2.0 News

A handful of regular contributors and I have been working diligently on Marlin 2.0 every day, and it has quickly surpassed Marlin 1.1 in features, stability, and hardware support. There are still a number of holes to fill with 32-bit ARM support before we can do an official release, but for classic AVR boards, I'd recommend Marlin 2.0 as the superior choice over 1.1.9 right now.

New changes now in Marlin 2.0 include:

• Reorganized LCD menu
• Enhanced Status Screen with more options
• Hierarchical file layout
• USB Flash Drive support
• Improved Power-Loss Recovery handling
• Backlash Compensation
• Further optimized code

2019 and Beyond…

The TODO list for Marlin is huge right now, with many people clamoring for me (or anyone) to implement their most-wanted features. I have no doubt that the list will be just as long 365 days from now, so Patreon is going to be a vital resource over the coming year. Here are just a few items from the list:

• Expand support for touchscreens
• Support SLA printers (both DLP and Galvanometer)
• Fix/improve SCARA support
• Add Gradient options for mixing extruders (e.g., Geeetech A10M/A20M)
• Complete Prusa MK3 multi-material support
• More 32-bit board support

And then there's documentation:

• Write a formal Marlin User Manual
• Short tutorial videos on Marlin features
• Video series on how Marlin works in-depth
• Livestreams and more engagement

…

Last Word

Expect to see more frequent updates here on Patreon — a few times a month and whenever I have any new things to share. We're going to start on the video production soon, beginning with a series of short "Inside Marlin" videos explaining the technical workings of the firmware, and then a series of "official" videos on Marlin configuration and features.

See you soon!