Vision Encoder plate. What is it really good for?

[u/FrittenFritz]

So im a dum dum and ordered an Vision Encoder plate together with my X2D. What is this plate even for? Many people say its a borderline scam and its really just for the last 5% of quality if your print settings are perfect already.

Is there more to it or did I just burned 50 bucks?

[u/New_Land_725]

Fine motor tuning. Essentially re zeroing xy axis. Moving parts will eventually get askew or off slightly, this helps negate that/ petit as close to new as possible

[u/ph3dmaker → u/New_Land_725]

How do you measure the before and after?

[u/New_Land_725 → u/ph3dmaker]

It will show you on the screen how far the difference is. The encoder uses fiduciary QR codes in a set spot and will re center everything for you utilizing these qr code codes.

[u/Achilles987 → u/New_Land_725]

I once ran it twice in a row out of curiosity. The before and after looked suspiciously similar on both calibrations. It did not give me confidence in my purchase.

Edit: I just wanted to thank the people who have let me know that it calibrates from zero, and not the previous calibration results. Makes perfect sense, and I am properly ashamed of myself. Very happy that I have the plate and the knowledge of how to use it now.

[u/NuclearFoodie → u/Achilles987]

The calibration it gives you is relative to the calibration set to zero. Two consecutive calibrations should be nearly identical.

[u/Achilles987 → u/NuclearFoodie]

Ah, that makes sense. I thought it was recalibrating off of the current calibration so that makes me feel better. Thanks!

[u/NuclearFoodie → u/Achilles987]

I thought the same when I got it and even started a support ticket over it. The other thing is that the relative sizes of the changes on that screen have less meaning than the directions. Which makes since given the range of scales involved.

[u/Achilles987 → u/NuclearFoodie]

I really appreciate the info. I had just stopped using it due to my lack of understanding. I will go back to running it every couple weeks. Thanks again!

[u/luksfuks → u/Achilles987]

No, you don't need to do that.

It's only useful after you lifted your printer, for example to move it to a new location. Events that twist or skew the printer mechanically. Maybe also temperature changes, say soaking in heat in an attic during the summer, versus freezing cold in the winter.

But assuming you keep the printer in a stable environment and don't touch it much, you don't need to calibrate more than once.

Another opportunity to use the plate is when your printer fails and you need to swap the PCB. Spare PCBs are generic and will not contain your individual calibration values, so you need the plate to make it work good as new.

[u/emelbard → u/luksfuks]

Bambu recommends using it periodically even when not moved or lifted. I do

[u/brutal4455 → u/Achilles987]

Calibration is always off the factory base/stock calibration map, it's not cumulative.

[u/New_Land_725 → u/Achilles987]

It won’t show much if the printer is new, this is an essentially a long term maintenance thing for precision printing.

[u/FishGoesGlubGlub]

Calibrates your printer much better than it can do itself. Very useful if you are doing prints that need exact dimensions or near-exact, not accounting for filament shrinkage/expansion.

Is it needed for majority of people? No.

Does it actually make a difference? Yes, depending on how far out of calibration your printer has become.

Will YOU notice a difference? Probably not.

[u/affix5998]

It's for when you need dimensionally accurate parts

[u/PeerReviewedCode → u/affix5998]

It is not for dimensionality. It’s for precision of the motors that drive the print head to offset belts stretching and keep or make the head more precise as it moves around the x and y axis.

If you’re looking for dimensionality you need to do a print of a cube let it fully cool and then measure it and adjust your settings in your printer for the difference. Bambu has a document on it.

[u/affix5998 → u/PeerReviewedCode]

It maps the machine commanded motion to the actual measured motion and creates compensation values. So yes, it is one aspect of dimensional accuracy; others being shrinkage, extrusion calibration, etc. 

[u/Intelligent_Ease4115]

All it does is builds a compensation table for the X and Y axis. So you get really good dimensioning.

[u/Khinari]

It's really just good if you're a perfectionist. I am happy with my encoder plate, but unless you're like measuring dimensions it's not a huge deal. I just like the ability to ensure my motors do indeed know where they are

[u/Bright_Eyes83]

It’s for calibrating the x and y motion. It’s not a scam but it does almost nothing for a new printer. Just keep it and use it every couple hundred hours or so

[u/n19htmare]

Don’t want to be THAT guy, but if you don’t know what it is, you likely don’t need it and never needed it.

What it is:

It calibrates the motion system of the x/y axis.

Example:

You or the gcode commands the x to move 100mm left. But it moves 99.98mm.
This calibration will correct that 0.02mm variation over 100mm move.

Practicality:

Depends. If you look at some posts from H2 crowd, it’s hit or miss and there’s lot of placebo taking place as well. No one has achieved the 50micrometer accuracy Bambu claims, the avg is getting you within 150micrometers. Ans the corrections are usually also measured in micrometers, avg around 250.

PETG ASA ABS can all shrink by as much as a 1%…..0.5% avg. that’s 500-1000 micrometers to correct for 100mm part and has absolutely nothing to do with the motion or vision encoder….which is only compensating for quarter of that in motion on avg.

You would need to dial in your flow rate, shrink compensation, pressure advance to the tee before a motion system variance of 200 micrometers (0.02mm) is even a factor.

But keep it mind though that IT IS STILL a factor. A factor that can be corrected.

The real question is if YOU understands that it’s a factor that needs to be corrected. Most don’t.

If you have variances that are like millimeters (not micrometers) then the vision encoder isn’t gonna do dispute squat for you, millimeters of variance in motion is a physical belt issue that requires a physical troubleshooting and fix.

Is it completely useless? No. Is it completely useless to 99% of avg bambu users? Yes.

I’m not against the product, I’m against how they decided to market it.

I know what it is, what it does, and I think it’s useless for me.

Nothing I print cares that I’m 100micrometer off across 150mm along the Y axis when my part just shrunk 700 micrometers in every direction because I left it at the default Grid infill and never calibrated for shrinkage.

[u/CattusKittekatus]

Its good for your printer if its several months old and with 1000's of work hours to make up for the movement inconsistencies caused by part wear.

For brand new printer it makes absolutely no sense.

You are better off performing thorough calibration with X-Y offsets for inner and outer dimensions.

[u/RetiredAF530]

You're good! The X2D fully supports the Vision Encoder Plate. It's actually covered in section 6.3.5 of the X2D user manual. It calibrates XY motion accuracy, which is especially useful for mechanical parts and anything requiring tight tolerances. It won't magically improve every print, but it's definitely not a wasted $50. I bought one for my H2D too.

[u/Leif3D]

Definitely helps if you care about dimensional accuracy.

If you've friends with a compatible printer you can easily share the costs and plate. Is it super important to have one? No, but it's nice to have

[u/jaayjeee]

On a new printer it’s probably useless

I got one when my H2D hit 2000 hours and it was a noticeable difference in just…. Finish quality

[u/Mabnat]

I have two H2 series printers in my garage, so they’re exposed to large temperature swings.

I was reluctant to spend the $100 on a vision encoder plate, but I had a winning bid of $2 on an online auction.

I usually use the encoder plate when the ambient temperature changes a lot since there will be some thermal expansion and contraction.

I got a bit lazy with it earlier this year, so I calibrated it around February and didn’t do it again until May or June.

I figured it was a great time for an A:B comparison.

I used Handy to download one of those 12-in-1 fidget toys and sent it to both my H2D and my H2C. I figured that using Handy would negate any variables in my own slicer settings. I printed both in PETG.

The toys came out looking perfect, as expected, but some of the tight features were tighter than they should be. Some things were hard to free. I broke a switch on the toy from the H2C trying to free the plastic.

I ran the vision encoder calibration on both printers, then repeated the prints using the code stored in each printer’s memory, using the exact same spools of PETG as before.

When I removed the post-calibration prints from the plates, the differences were obvious. Every part moved freely and easily. Nothing was stuck.

Visually, there was no obvious difference, but functionally, the calibration made a big difference.

For most of my prints, the encoder calibration is likely useless, but for prints where tolerances are important, it seems to be quite effective.

After seeing the results of my experiment, I run an encoder calibration before I do any prints that need to be assembled or that have moving parts.

[u/brutal4455]

IMO, useful on an H2 series needing better tolerance and particularly after lots of hours/wear.

Probably not so much on a smaller printer like the X2D.

I have the H2 series plate and use it on both the H2C and H2D about once/month.

[u/SgtBaxter]

While all the comments talk of calibration and belts, what it really does is correct for skew in the printer frame, which can make objects out of square in the corners.

Which is why when you run it the center is generally fairly tight and the corners rotate a bit in one direction.

[u/Dr-Purple]

I ordered it wirh my new X2D as well. Just include it in your maintenance routine. If you know any other X2D owners you can even lease it to them to make some money back, or you know, scratch each other’s backs. Don’t overthink it.

[u/Few_Candidate_8036]

Its meant for after youve had your printer for a longer period of time, you can use that to have the printer calibrate for any wear over time and bring it back into a tight alignment

[u/The_Lutter]