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I have a project that has lots of parts to print. I want to pack as many as possible onto the build plate. Does anyone know of software that can do intelligent packing?

linuxdan
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    Consider not doing that ;-) If the printing fails midways you need to scrap all parts while the printing lead time will not be significantly faster if you print it in batches (certainly when a failure occurs you're better off with multiple batches). – 0scar Jan 23 '20 at 08:47
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    Any good slicer can do so... but I recommend against stacking parts to achieve more than 8 hours in FDM. HOWEVER, stacking as much as possible in SLA and SLS reduces the running costs as you distribute the running costs of spare parts and material on all the printed parts. – Trish Jan 23 '20 at 09:57
  • mathematician here: "packing problems" are largely unsolved. The best you'd ever get is by rolling your own recursive code. See "simulated annealing" for methodologies. – Carl Witthoft Jan 23 '20 at 18:28
  • @Trish not looking to stack parts, just fit more parts onto the build plate, 2 dimensional packing. – linuxdan Jan 23 '20 at 20:08
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    in SLS you pack 3D, in SLA you fill the platform as much as possible, in FDM, you don't want that. – Trish Jan 24 '20 at 00:31
  • @0scar: If you use fancy controller software over USB, some of the programs have support for cancelling just one object. You could still get damage to others from stray material if not caught quickly but apparently it still makes sense for some users... – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE Jan 25 '20 at 14:44

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