Kidoodle MiniBox A1 by SUNLU: A Child’s Toy Manufacturing facility

The Kidoodle MiniBox A1 is designed for youthful kids. It contains a chilled-safe enclosed body with minimal uncovered components and might be managed remotely through a pill or smartphone. It comes with pre-loaded mannequin recordsdata and entry to a cloud library to print toys, doll home furnishings, numbers, and lots of different cool issues out of the field. And most significantly, it makes use of environmentally pleasant and non-toxic printing supplies.

Apart from the enjoyable of creating toys, studying to make use of 3D printers gives quite a few advantages for youths. It fosters a spread of expertise and offers worthwhile academic experiences. From a younger age, they’ll deliver their concepts to life, from conceptualization to creation, encouraging them to assume exterior the field. The design and meeting of 3D-printed fashions introduce primary engineering ideas and assist perceive fashionable manufacturing applied sciences.

Engaged on 3D-printing faculty tasks usually entails collaboration and instructing kids to work successfully in groups. College students can create their fashions and share them with pals. If their design pursuits schoolmates, they be taught concerning the potential for creating and promoting 3D-printed merchandise and introduce primary enterprise ideas.

Kidoodle MiniBox A1 Youngsters 3D Printer assessment

Disclosure: I acquired this field 3D printer for a product assessment collaboration with SUNLU. Product specs and high quality might fluctuate in keeping with the producer’s reliability, so I can not assure that you’re going to get merchandise that carry out the identical as in my article.

SUNLU is understood for its reasonably priced printing supplies (filaments and resins), however its product vary consists of far more, from filament dryers to hoover luggage and enclosures for 3D machines. Its latest product, the Kidoodle MiniBox A1, is a compact and easy-to-use printer designed for youngsters.

The 3D printer was despatched from China as an alternative of a European warehouse, and I had some points with customs clearance, particularly since they mistakenly despatched two packages. I acquired a white model, however orange, blue, and black are additionally accessible.

SUNLU Kidoodle: Unboxing

The SUNLU Kidoodle comes well-packed with protecting foam inside and out of doors. The field consists of the next equipment: 24V AC/DC energy adapter, spare PEI sheet, 250g check filament, platform glue, Hex Wrench package, tweezer, and USB flash drive. The whistle-like micro USB features a product handbook, how-to movies, a slicer program, and demo g-code recordsdata (in the event you lose it, the content material might be downloaded from right here).

When it comes to design, the MiniBox A1 appears to be like like an old-school moveable CRT tv. The unit measures 312x312x352mm and weighs round 2.5kg. It comes totally assembled. You will need to connect the filament rack on the again and set up the PTFE tube between the print head and filament run-out sensor. Passing the tube by way of the slot within the prime cowl is necessary, as proven within the image beneath. The inventory spool holder is appropriate for 250-gram filaments, however in the event you plan to make use of 1KG filament, there’s a preloaded g-code filament for printing the suitable holder.

A small drawer collects the purged filament and different residues on the left aspect. The USB ports (Sort-B for PC connection and Sort-A for exterior reminiscence) are reverse. A detachable service window is on the again, together with the DC plug and energy change.

The fantastic thing about this youngsters’ 3D printer is within the entrance, a big colour contact display screen show. Along with the inner LED that illuminates the print mannequin, it has three LEDs across the LCD, that are extra for design than to assist with something. The LEDs might be turned ON/OFF from the settings menu.

Underneath the LCD is the principle “door” by way of which you could have entry to take away the printed fashions. The 100x100mm unheated print mattress makes use of a magnetic PEI sheet. It’s geared up with a direct drive extruder that enables versatile supplies corresponding to TPU for use. The 0.4mm nozzle’s temperature might be set between 190-250°C.

Safety for tiny fingers

The new nozzle and fast-moving components could cause nasty accidents if a curious youngster tries to place his fingers within the system whereas it really works. If the entrance door is opened, the printer stops as a precaution however not immediately, so it’s not 100% “injury-proof.” An audio alarm can be heard if the entrance flap is opened throughout printing. After closing the door, the printer continues the job.

One other security measure is that settings menus might be password protected, limiting entry for youths.

With all the security options, I don’t advocate letting your youngster function the printer alone. Supervision by an grownup is advisable for youths beneath the age of 14!

Pricing and availability

The MiniBox A1 is a brand new product; just a few check items have been despatched out worldwide. It’s listed on kidoodle3d.com, however there isn’t any value or risk to order it. In comparison with related youngsters’ 3D printers, I anticipate the value to be between $150 and $200.

Technical Specs

Kidoodle MiniBox A1: Preliminary setup

After unwrapping, it’s essential take away all of the protecting foams from contained in the 3D printer; solely then are you able to plug within the 24V AC/DC adapter.

The primary display screen prompts the person to decide on between English and Chinese language, and the second performs a self-check of the unit, together with testing the heating components and cooling followers. Within the subsequent step, it’s essential configure the Wi-Fi connectivity. After this, a QR code is prompted on the display screen, which permits the Kidoodle cellular app to be downloaded. In case you reach putting in the cellular APP, it’s essential create an account and add your printer by scanning a second QR code. After these steps, a affirmation PIN shall be proven on the printer’s display screen.

The subsequent step is to put in the PTFE tube between the print head and filament run-out sensor and fix the spool holder on the again. After these simple steps, the Kidoodle A1 is able to load the filament and print your first mannequin. For me, the machine labored with none further print-bed leveling.

Slicing program and cellular APP

The MiniBox A1 comes with the Cura Kidoodle Slicer (v1.3.20) program, accessible for Home windows and macOS. Initially, I believed it was an incompatibility drawback with my working system as a result of nothing occurred after I began the app. I discovered that it must be run in “Administrator” mode so as to work correctly (this can be a safety challenge).

The slicing program, designed with youngsters in thoughts, has a easy person interface with few functionalities—you possibly can solely set nozzle temperature and layer peak, allow helps, scale, duplicate, and rotate the mannequin. When sliced, the app offers a preview of the printing course of.

Because the cellular app obtain didn’t work by way of the QR code, I contacted SUNLU, they usually despatched me particulars on the place to search out the iOS model on the Apple App Retailer.

The cellular app provides you distant entry to all of the controls, simply as you’ll be in entrance of the 3D machine. You’ll be able to load g-code fashions from the library, begin printing, change the temperature, and activate/deactivate “Excessive Velocity” mode. The Kidoodle3D app permits you to handle a number of 3D printers and file all of your kids’s prints.

Consumer expertise

It took solely 10 minutes to unwrap and begin my first print job. The 3D machine comes prepared to make use of. The person interface could be very easy and straightforward to know for school-aged kids. There’s a dwell preview of all pre-loaded fashions, and in the event that they wish to be stunned, they’ll select “randomize” mode. Youngsters can select from six classes (quantity, animals, cartoons, site visitors, development, and toys) of practically 100 mannequin recordsdata able to print.

My first print, “quantity 8,” failed resulting from poor adhesion; that is regular, because the printer mattress doesn’t have a heating aspect. After I used the included paper glue, the issue by no means occurred once more.

In idle mode, the machine is usually quiet, however after a couple of minutes of printing, when the fan works at most pace, it turns into very noisy. You’ll be able to modify (decrease) fan pace “on the fly”, however it’s not advisable.

The print high quality is first rate. The filament residue might be eliminated with sandpaper and a hairdryer, making the mannequin’s floor smoother.

With the cellular app, you possibly can monitor the machine’s standing and put together the subsequent print. It has twin pace mode if you’re in a rush and wish the job completed sooner.

Resume print after filament runout and energy failure.

I used to be stunned that these two options can be found on this toy printer field. To check this function, I eliminated the facility wire at 32% of the job and plugged it in after just a few hours. The machine began, preloaded the final print job, and requested if I wished to renew. The remainder of the job was 68% completed with no drawback —there was no layer separation within the resume operation.

Alternate options: High 5 Greatest 3D Printers For Youngsters In 2024

Performing some analysis, I discovered just a few 3D printers supposed for youths. The most well-liked is the ToyBox, which has a barely smaller print quantity than the Kidoodle MiniBox A1. Then again, the daVinci miniMaker has a bigger print quantity (15x15x15cm) and a pleasant price ticket.