Elegoo Unleashes the Centauri Carbon at Rapid + TCT
Launching sometime before September, Elegoo's shiny new "flagship" Centauri Carbon 3D printer could be exactly what fans of the company's Neptune series filament 3D printers have been waiting for, with kinematics conducive to higher speed printing and–something that's been missing from Elegoo's FDM line up–assembly-free setup.
The company is going all in on that last aspect, lauding its work with the Centauri Carbon as a liberation of ease of use, with the printer setting "a new industry standard by being incredibly beginner-friendly and accessible to everyone."
Speaking with All3DP at Rapid + TCT, where an engineering demonstration unit of the Centauri Carbon can be seen, Elegoo co-founder and vice president Kevin Wang explained a little more about the positioning and what we should expect of the printer's capabilities, starting with the fact that, despite the messaging so far being about beginners, "the Centauri Carbon is not only for hobbyists, but also for professionals."
Though cagey with the details, Wang indicated enough to suggest that the printer Elegoo is aiming to release ticks all the boxes for the printing of tricker desktop class materials that require active heating and hotter print temperatures. Ease of use in the printing may come by way of magnetically attached nozzles, letting the user make quick swaps for a cleaner and more effortless experience jumping between such material types.
The underlying firmware is Klipper, and a fork of Orca Slicer is in the works. The company is placing emphasis on printing quality profiles and presets to help new users of the printer and, following complaints with recent releases, investing in additional software development engineers to ensure a better marriage between the firmware and hardware. "Particularly with the Centauri, it has to be stable."
Those waiting with bated breath for any indication of multicolor or multi-material systems to accompany the Centauri can exhale. It isn't likely to happen. Refreshingly, Elegoo isn't in a rush to offer such a product. "We want to make sure [the Centauri] is stable and works really well… We have a model working internally, but the performance is not as good as we expected. So we're seeing that maybe we'll have to wait for the second generation."
The printer draws inspiration, a release says, from Liu Cixin's Three-Body Problem, a sci-fi trilogy of novels that depicts conquesting interstellar visitors attempting to claim Earth as their own. We're hoping the influence on the Centauri Carbon ends at the name. No gruesome nanofiber shenanigans here, no thank you.
The look is spacey, though, with Elegoo's characteristic gun-metal grey color scheme and decals like PCB traces keeping things on brand and a natural progression in the company's lineup. The company intends to further distinguish the Centauri Carbon from the competition with an all-metal construction, stressing its aim for stability use of a metal chassis to help achieve this.
From what we've heard, the device will be finalized in August, meaning that things could be subject to change between now and then. When it does launch, "you will notice the price" Wang adds. Judging by the low prices characteristic of Elegoo's other hardware launches (prime example: the new Mars 5 has launched at $179) the Centauri Carbon will not carry a premium price tag. We'll have to wait until August to find out for sure, though.
Audrey Chen is a female interior designer who received her BFA from The Art Institute of Atlanta. She is skilled in creating functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces that reflect the needs and personalities of her clients.
