Prusa launches Original Prusa MINI
Prusa Research, the Prague-based 3D printer manufacturer behind the popular Prusa desktop 3D printer line, has introduced its latest and smallest machine to date; the Original Prusa MINI.
Promising “all the bells and whistles you’re accustomed to” with any other Prusa printer, the MINI offers a print volume of 18 x 18 x 18 cm at half the price of Original Prusa i3 MK3S kit.
In a blog post announcing the MINI, the company’s founder, Josef Prusa said the goal was “to make an ideal mix of streamlined and simple, compact and capable” and create a printer that the team “wanted and needed” for themselves.
The 349 USD/379 EUR MINI is aimed at various types of users from cosplayers to designers but Prusa says it could make an ideal first printer for newcomers while also offering a good option for building a low-cost print farm. Prusa is said to be introducing print farm management software to support this.
Packaged inside a 33 × 37 x 38 cm frame, key features include removable spring steel sheets, ethernet connectivity (optional Wi-Fi), all controlled by a new custom 32-bit Buddy mainboard with silent 2209 Trinamic drivers. There is also a new full colour LCD display, “One-Click Printing” capability, mesh bed levelling, E3D nozzles support (it comes with a 0.4mm nozzle as standard), and built-in firmware updater.
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It also has a number of safety features on board including three thermistors and power panic setting that will later be made available as a free software update. To keep costs down, the filament sensor doesn’t come as standard and the Wi-Fi will use a small cheap ESP board that can be sourced separately, but it is completely open source and Prusa says he “can’t wait to see what our community will do with it.”
The MINI kit also has a much simpler setup process consisting of three pieces that Prusa believes will enable users to get setup in less than 30 minutes.
While Prusa acknowledges that many of customers have been demanding a bigger machine, their requests haven’t been forgotten; the company is also working on a 40 x 40 x 40 cm build system called the Prusa XL.
The Original Prusa MINI is scheduled to start shipping at the end of November.
