Ep. 39: Ankur Verma of 3DUnplugged + DAKSH: The ToolChangers Are Coming...

In this video we’re joined by Ankur Verma of 3DUnplugged and the DAKSH toolchanger project. Brought to you by PCBWay. Register at https://jle.vi/pcbway and get a $5 welcome bonus!

Starting off by building his (and India's first) Voron 2.4 printer in the pandemic days, Ankur has been involved in exploring multi-material 3D printing over the last few years. His first foray into this exciting and challenging world was the IDEX Switchwire printer with two independent heads in 2022 - the first one to bring Hybrid CoreXY/CoreXZ kinematics into Klipper.

Shifting his focus next to the multi-headed tool changer ecosystem, he designed and released the WP-DAKSH V1 Tool Changer with six independent tool heads. It utilized an innovative servo-based locking mechanism along with 3D printed parts to deliver a reliable and fast tool changer experience.

The latest release from him, DAKSH V2 Tool Changer, further brings down the tool change time from v1's 9 seconds to an ultra-fast sub-4 seconds, while adding to the reliability and fast printing aspects. DAKSH V2 Tool Changer is also fully mechanical without the need for a servo or motor-based locking mechanism and can be fully assembled using only 3D printed parts and off-the-shelf components, bypassing the need for machined parts.

A software engineer by training, he has also been working on incorporating intelligence into the multi-material printing workflow with predictive toolhead management and error detection systems built into the DAKSH Tool Changer.