Overview of features

This section goes over the features that can be found in Armored Turtle Automated Filament Control (AFC) Software.

TurtleNeck Buffer Ram Sensor

AFC allows the use of using the TurtleNeck Buffers as a ram sensor for detecting when filament is loaded to the toolhead extruder. This can be used inplace of a toolhead filament sensor. To learn more about this feature please see Buffer Ram Sensor document.

Bypass

By default, if a hardware sensor is not setup for a bypass AFC will create a virtual bypass filament sensor. Enabling the virtual filament sensor disables AFC functionality and enabled state persists across reboots.

You can also enable AFC bypass with a hardware sensor by printing out a bypass accessory, connecting inline it after your buffer and adding a bypass filament sensor to klipper config like below. Once filament is inserted into the bypass side, the switch disables AFC functionality so you can print like normal.

[filament_switch_sensor bypass]
switch_pin: <replace with MCU pin that switch is connected to>
pause_on_runout: False

When either bypass is enabled/filament detect all AFC functionality with loading to the toolhead is disabled. Calling the TOOL_UNLOAD macro will call the UNLOAD_FILAMENT macro if it exists so that filament can still be manually unload from the toolhead.

Lower stepper current when printing

For longer prints you may want to have the ability to lower BoxTurtles steppers current as they can get hot when engaged for a long period of time.

Enabling lower current during printing can be enabled two ways:

1. Set global_print_current in AFC.cfg file
2. Set print_current for each AFC_stepper, this will override global_print_current in AFC.cfg

During testing, it was found that 0.6A worked well during printing and kept the steppers warms to the touch. We would not suggest going lower than this or the TurtleNeck buffers may not work as intended when using BOM spec steppers.

Enabling switches to show up in Mainsail/Fluidd GUIs

AFC has the ability to add sensors as filament switches so they show up in Mainsail/Fluidd web gui. This can either be enabled globally by adding/uncommenting enable_sensors_in_gui: True in AFC.cfg file or enabled/disabled in individual sections in your config file. Enabling this globally is useful for debugging purposes, but setting in individual sections will override the global setting.

AFC_buffer, AFC_extruder, AFC_hub, and AFC_stepper sections in your AFC_hardware.cfg or AFC_Turtle(n).cfg have the ability to enable sensor by adding enable_sensors_in_gui: True. There is an extra config value for AFC_stepper to allow you to either show both sensors or just prep/load sensors by using sensor_to_show: prep or sensor_to_show: load, leaving out sensor_to_show will show both sensors.

Tool change count

AFC has the ability to keep track of number of tool changes when doing multicolor prints. Number of toolchanges will be pulled from files metadata stored in moonraker. AFC will keep track of tool changes and print out the current tool change number when a T(n) command is called from gcode. Make sure moonraker version is at least v0.9.3-64 to utilize this feature.

If you have set up your Change filament G-code section to use SET_AFC_TOOLCHANGES in your slicer please remove the following lines:

{ if toolchange_count == 1 }SET_AFC_TOOLCHANGES TOOLCHANGES=[total_toolchanges]{endif }

Also remove the following if added to your PRINT_END section as number of toolchanges will now automatically reset back once print is done/canceled.

SET_AFC_TOOLCHANGES TOOLCHANGES=0

Setting extruder temp

AFC has the ability to automatically set extruder temperature based off filament material type loaded or spoolman extruder temperature if its set.

If not using spoolman make sure the material is set for your lanes and the temperature values will be pulled from default_material_temps variable in AFC.cfg file. This list can also be updated/added to, just make sure new entries have a comma inbetween and follow current format when adding new variable.

If spoolman extruder temperature or material type is not defined AFC default's to min_extrude_temp variable defined in [extruder] section in printer.cfg

default_material_temps: PLA:210, ABS:235, ASA:235 # Default temperature to set extruder when loading/unloading lanes.

Loading filament to hub

For users that have a hub not located in their Box Turtle, AFC has the ability to load filament to their hub once its inserted. This is turned on by default and this will happen even if your hub is located in your Box Turtle. This can be disabled by setting load_to_hub: False in your AFC.cfg file. Also individual lanes can be turn on/off by setting load_to_hub: True/False under [AFC_stepper <lane_name>] section in your config.

Variable purge length on filament change

AFC has the ability to purge different lengths with orcas flush volumes when doing filament changes with T(n) macros. To use this feature update your Change Filament G-Code section in your orca slicer to the following:

T[next_extruder] PURGE_LENGTH=[flush_length]

Could also be added to your PRINT_START macro with a specific length, this would be ideal for if your first filament is not currently loaded as the PURGE_LENGTH from Orca for the first change would be zero

T{initial_tool} PURGE_LENGTH=100

NOTE: If your first filament is not currently loaded and needs to change, PURGE_LENGTH will be zero and the poop macro will then use variable_purge_length from AFC_Macro_Vars.cfg file, so make sure this is set correctly for your printer

Spoolman

AFC has the ability to integrate with Spoolman. This is as simple as ensuring that the following information is present in your moonraker.conf file:

[spoolman]
server: http://<ip>:<port>
sync_rate: 5

For example:

[spoolman]
server: http://192.168.1.184:7912
sync_rate: 5

Direct Drive

AFC has the ability to use direct loading straight to the extruder/toolhead. There should be no hub in-between that lane and the extruder when this option is used. Using direct will disable the ability to use the automatic calibration functions.

To enable direct mode, the following line needs to be added to the [AFC_stepper <lane_name>] section in your configuration:

hub: direct

Espooler Print Assist

AFC has the ability to activate espooler forward movement when printing to help aid in spools from walking around and riding up wheels when they get low. This is enabled by default and can be turned off by adding enable_assist: False to your [AFC_BoxTurtle Turtle_(n)] or [AFC] or per [AFC_Stepper] config sections.

The following variables described in AFC_lane section are all the values that go into the print assist logic: enable_assist, enable_assist_weight, timer_delay, delta_movement, mm_movement, cycles_per_rotation, pwm_value, spoolrate.

With this functionality the following macros allow you to enable/disable and tweak the settings for print assist. SET_ESPOOLER_VALUES, ENABLE_ESPOOLER_ASSIST, DISABLE_ESPOOLER_ASSIST, TEST_ESPOOLER_ASSIST

If the default values for print assist is unspooling too much you can start off by changing either spoolrate or cycles_per_rotation to decrease the time that the N20 motors are active( aka cruise_time ). Spoolrate scales all variables by that amount and cycles_per_rotation controls how long in milliseconds it takes to spin the spool a full rotation.

Below is a chart with calculations that shows what cruise_time will end up being if either spoolrate or cycles_per_rotation is changed

Cruise time when changing spoolrate		Cruise time when changing cycles_per_rotation
spoolrate	cruise_time	cycles_per_rotation	cruise_time
1	0.4593	1275	0.4593
0.9	0.4134	1100	0.3963
0.8	0.3307	1000	0.3603
0.7	0.2315	900	0.3242
0.6	0.1389	800	0.2882
0.5	0.0694	700	0.2522
0.4	0.0277	600	0.2161
0.3	0.0083	500	0.1801
0.2	0.0016	400	0.1441
0.1	0.0001	300	0.1080

Formula to calculate cruise_time:

rotation = mm movement / spool circumference
correction_factor = 1.0 +  ( 1.68 * -rotations^5)
cruise_time = rotations * cycles_per_rotation * correction_factor

Note: Spool circumference is automatically calculated from spool_outer_diameter variable

Quiet Mode

AFC has the ability to run motors at slower speed when doing loads to reduce motor noise. This is helpful for those that may have a printer in their bedroom and would like to run multicolor prints overnight. To enabled quiet mode there is a filament switch under your filament sensor called Quiet Mode, once this is enabled AFC will do long moves at a slower speed(default: 50mm/s). Quiet mode speed does not apply to PTFE calibrations and lane resets.

Speed for quiet mode can be updated by setting quiet_moves_speed variable in either [AFC] section, or [AFC_stepper <name>] section (adding here override setting in [AFC] section).

Tracking Toolchange Statistics

AFC tracks all toolchanges, lane loading/unloading, number of changes since last load error, total number of cuts performed, number of cuts since blade last changed and how long N20 motors have been active if N20 are configured in your setup.

AFC will also start warning in console when your number of blade cuts is 1k less than the tool cut threshold letting you know that its getting close to change blade. Once number of cuts exceed threshold AFC start printing out error message in console. If blade is changed use AFC_CHANGE_BLADE macro to reset count and date blade was changed.

Use the following macros to print out statistics in console, update when blade has been changes and reset N20 active time:
- AFC_STATS - prints statistics to console
- AFC_CHANGE_BLADE - run macro when blade is changed, sets date that blade was changes and resets Total since changed count
- AFC_RESET_MOTOR_TIME - run macro when N20 motor has been swapped out in a lane

Both variables can be added/updated in [AFC] section :
- print_short_stats: Add/uncomment to have the statistics printout to be skinner. Useful for those that have consoles that are skinner( eg. Klipperscreen )
- tool_cut_threshold: Defaults to 10000 cuts, update to if you want threshold to be larger. This controls when AFC prints out warning/errors when number of cuts since changed reaches/exceeds this number.

Examples of what statistics printout looks like: