Formnext 2023 is just around the corner and we can’t miss the opportunity to be there and meet you. Since Formnext is an event focused on industrial additive manufacturing, we’re also bringing our industrial 3D printers which are developed and manufactured under a separate Prusa Pro brand. I’d like to take this opportunity to explain a bit more the relationship between Prusa Research and Prusa Pro and how it positively impacts our current and future machines.

To avoid any confusion about what the Prusa Pro means in terms of the heading of Prusa Research: I have no intention of making a sharp turn towards an industrial-only company, however, an expansion to another segment makes a lot of sense.

Developing the Future of Our Machines

The industrial machines under the Prusa Pro brand are full of our latest developed technologies, even if it means a higher price. Heated chamber, ultralight print heads made of duralumin, automated print collection, image recognition, high-pressure turbine cooling, 500 °C print heads, 48V motors, automatic resin handling… This is where we can implement it all. The advancements we make here, in the Prusa Pro line, shape the technology in our other products.

But the influence goes both ways. Our industrial machines benefit from the hundreds of thousands of Original Prusa printers around the world and the feedback from all their users. We aim for the same ease of use, with removable print sheets, fully automated calibrations, fine-tuned profiles in PrusaSlicer, and other features that make onboarding of new employees super-easy, barely an inconvenience 🙂. And of course, there is no vendor lock – everything is open for 3rd party materials.

The people working on our Prusa Pro product line form a completely separate, independent team, which has been in operation for over 4 years now. It started with new specialists we hired specifically for this new branch of our company and developers who joined our team when we acquired the FUTUR3D and TRILAB companies. They also have their own manufacturing capacity, whether it’s in a separate building or even in another town. We’ve spent the last ten years building a manufacturing process for our Original Prusa printers and we’re still hiring to cover the huge demand for the MK4, XL and even the MINI+. So slowing down this production with additional products was simply not an option.

What We’re Showing Off at Formnext

This year, we’re bringing three brand-new machines to Formnext from the Prusa Pro line – a new industrial FDM printer Prusa Pro HT90, a concept for our future SLA printers, called the Prusa Pro SLX, and the latest iteration of our Automatic Farm System (AFS).

The Prusa Pro HT90 is a large format, industrial delta kinematics 3D printer. I like to call the Prusa Pro HT90 “the only 3D printer an engineer needs” because it checks so many important boxes. It features an actively heated chamber capable of reaching up to 90 °C (hence HT90), closed-loop HEPA filtration, and nozzle temperature of up to 500 °C, so it’s a great choice for high-temp materials like PCCF or PA11CF.

The HT90 is also the most affordable way to print small-to-medium-sized models from PEI and PEKK-CF. On the other hand, when you decide to print PLA, PETG or ABS, it’s crazy fast – and you don’t even have to open the front door for ventilation like with many other printers. With the high-pressure built-in turbine cooling, it can be used for ultra-fast prototyping, effectively covering a wide range of industrial uses. The Prusa Pro HT90 can deposit 1 kg of PETG or ABS filament in under 8 hours. The unit we’re showing at Formnext is a production-ready prototype and we’re getting ready to start the full production.

If you visit our booth at Formnext, you will also get a sneak peek of our Prusament PEI filament, which we are currently developing and using on the HT90.

Gear shaft printed from Prusament PEI on the Prusa Pro HT90

The other machine is a concept of our next-generation MSLA 3D printer, codenamed Prusa Pro SLX. The team has been working on it ever since we released the SL1S Speed and it has several features not currently available on any other SLA printer on the market. While I don’t want to reveal those just yet, I can give you at least some specifics. The SLX uses a 12K MONO LCD panel for ultra-fine printing, our signature vat tilting mechanism for the fastest layer transitions, and automated material handling.

The same team is also responsible for the Prusa Pro Medical One, our certified SLA printer for biocompatible resins. We showed it at Formnext last year and it has been in production ever since. Plus, it is now integrated into Exocad – the industry-leading CAD software for digital dentistry.

Last, but not least: when you visit our booth at Formnext, you can also check out the latest iteration of the Prusa Pro AFS. We have showcased the AFS before, first as a concept at the Expo Dubai, then at Formnext 2022 as a developer prototype. This year, we‘re showing an actual production unit prototype, which has been expanded with new features. One of the best ones is the Intelligent Shelving System. Once a print is finished, the robotic arm moves the entire print sheet to a modular shelving system while keeping in mind the height of the print (enabling efficient storage). The system also ensures full print traceability via QR codes on the print sheets and features an optical monitoring system with image recognition for automatic print issue detection.

The AFS is powered by an internally-made farm management system and you can, in fact, use it right now. It’s Prusa Connect, of course, and the AFS is where it began.

You can find our booth at Formnext in the hall 12.1, booth G39.

If you’re interested in the Prusa Pro HT90, the AFS, Medical One or the SLX concept, and can’t make it to Formnext in person, you can schedule a call with our sales team.

You can also reach our sales via email [email protected].

If you’re planning to visit Formnext, me and my team can’t wait to show you both new printers. It is very exciting as we have never before introduced two at the same time and on top of that both are the most advanced we’ve ever made. Plus, we’ll be showing the XL, including a prototype of the enclosure for it, the MK4, MINI+, 4 new recycled Prusament colors and more! PS: We will have beer 😉