The Innovation Center MakerBot Platform (ICMP)

The Innovation Center MakerBot Platform is a browser-based software designed to control and track the 40 MakerBot Printers in the MIC. The website is accessible to staff at our shortlink, ter.ps/icmp.

The website has two primary toolbars. There is a toolbar on the left, each with its own categories accessible on the upper toolbar. Please follow along with this walkthrough in your own browser as it explains the usage of each category and subcategory.

A client visits ter.ps/papercut to submit an order for one or more prints on a MakerBot Replicator. You—the technician—discover the order and then input the appropriate information into a new “request” at the ICMP. A print request is much like a ticket: a discreet webpage that stores information about what 3D models the client is ordering, color, quantity, and more. The request is then broken up into one or more jobs. A job is a singular task for a 3D printer to perform, that task being to print an object. A printer can only print one job at a time. The technician selects a printer and directs it to complete the job. When every job within a request has been completed, the technician updates the appropriate ticket in Papercut to inform the client that their parts are ready for pickup.

Requests Tab

When you log in to the ICMP you will be directed to the first category: Requests. The Requests category is the primary access point for our ongoing projects in the lab.

Four main sections comprise the requests page.

NEEDS APPROVAL. At one point, when the IMCP was accessible to customers, new requests would remain here until a technician could review the request and verify that it can be fulfilled. Now that requests come through Papercut, this page does not notify clients of approval. When you create a new request, it will enter this category automatically.

NOT STARTED. Once you prepare the files for printing and approve the request, it will wait in this category until a technician can generate jobs to send to a printer.

IN PROGRESS. It is important to monitor this tab to ensure that no requests remain here without progress for more than three days. Check the page regularly and create or assign jobs as necessary.

HISTORY. The entire history of all completed requests is catalogued here.

A Request Page

When you click an in-progress request, you can find out what parts need to be printed and how many have printed thus far. From the request’s page, you can add a job or new parts.

When a client calls or visits the lab, it is often necessary to locate their print request. Search Papercut using the client’s email address. View the operator comments and find the link to the MIC request.

Never delete a request! It is possible for a request to remain in the In Progress section due to incomplete jobs, even when the request has already been fulfilled. This tends to happen when a technician accidentally creates too many jobs. Review the guide on artificial completion later on to learn how to resolve the request without deleting anything.

Jobs Tab

The Jobs tab functions much like the requests page, and can be a helpful reference when determining the statuses of ongoing projects. However, you should not use the jobs tab regularly, as jobs will often be represented inaccurately.

Similar to the Requests page, five self-explanatory tabs categorize the jobs created by technicians.

UNASSIGNED. This category displays jobs that aren’t currently assigned to a printer. There should almost never be jobs here; if you find a job, select a compatible printer to assign the job to it. A job may end up unassigned if you mark it as a failure during harvesting and don’t reassign it to the printer’s queue, or if you remove a job from a printer’s queue.

QUEUED. A job that is ready to print, but not currently printing, will appear here.

PRINTING. A job that is currently printing will appear here.

HARVESTING. The harvesting category displays jobs that have completed printing, but it shouldn’t be used to track progress on prints.

HISTORY. The entire history of all completed jobs is catalogued here.

If a job is removed from a printer’s queue, it is easiest to find it immediately in the unassigned section. Otherwise, visit the appropriate request page and click the name of the desired .makerbot file to view every job that has been created for that file.

Click the name of the file to see jobs associated with it.

Printers Tab

The printer tab is the site of most printer operations. Here, individual printer information is accessible, such as job queue, filament color, and status. The subsections are arranged by printer status, and individual information is accessed by clicking the printer from any tab in which it is present.

ALL. An easy place to access printer information if you cannot locate a printer in the other sections.

IDLE. Printers that are not currently operating should be periodically checked; if there is a job in their queue, start it if possible.

PRINTING. Active printers appear here.

HARVESTING. Use this to see when new jobs are ready to harvest. The green notification number will appear beside the tab’s name when a printer is done printing.

ATTENTION. Check this tab frequently. When a printer malfunctions, the red light surrounding the knob on the front panel will blink on and off and the printer will appear under this tab. Resolve malfunctions with extruder our printer repair procedures as soon as possible.

OFFLINE. Generally, a printer should not appear in this category. When a printer is off, or if it loses connection to the ICMP, it will appear here.

An individual Printer Page

Click anywhere on the printer’s respective row from “All” or the appropriate tab to see and edit the printer’s details and job queue.

FILAMENT. The filament type can be either PLA or tough PLA. The only variety of tough PLA in the MIC is Slate Gray.

COLOR. The color shown here should always match the one on the default filament color poster. If the printer is idle, replace the filament and update the filament color drop-down to match the default color. Note that the color of the spool holder on the printer matches the default filament color.

NOTES. The printer’s default filament color is usually listed in the notes.

QUEUE. Observe the queue to see what jobs will be printed next. If necessary, the order of the queue can be changed.

HISTORY. The entire history of all completed jobs for this particular printer is catalogued here.

Filament Color Poster