bambu lab

Bambu Lab pushes a “control system” for 3D printers, and boy, did it not go well

3D printing, APIs, bambu lab, big tree technology, jeff geerling, mqtt, panda touch, Tech / Kelly Newman / January 21, 2025

Bambu Lab, a major maker of 3D printers for home users and commercial “farms,” is pushing an update to its devices that it claims will improve security while still offering third-party tools “authorized” access. Some in the user community—and 3D printing advocates broadly—are pushing back, suggesting the firm has other, more controlling motives.

As is perhaps appropriate for 3D printing, this matter has many layers, some long-standing arguments about freedom and rights baked in, and a good deal of heat.

Bambu Lab’s image marketing Bambu Handy, its cloud service that allows you to “Control your printer anytime anywhere, also we support SD card and local network to print the projects.” Credit: Bambu Lab

Printing more, tweaking less

Bambu Lab, launched in 2022, has stood out in the burgeoning consumer 3D printing market because of its printers’ capacity for printing at high speeds without excessive tinkering or maintenance. The product page for the X1 series, the printer first targeted for new security, starts with the credo, “We hated 3D printing as much as we loved it.” Bambu’s faster, less fussy multicolor printers garnered attention—including an ongoing patent lawsuit from established commercial printer Stratasys.

Part of Bambu’s “just works” nature relies on a relatively more closed system than its often open-minded counterparts. Sending a print to most Bambu printers typically requires either Bambu’s cloud service, or, in “LAN mode,” a manual “sneakernet” transfer through SD cards. Cloud connections also grant perks like remote monitoring, and many customers have accepted the trade-off.

However, other customers, eager to tinker with third-party software and accessories, along with those fearing a subscription-based future for 3D printing, see Bambu Lab’s purported security concerns as something else. And Bambu acknowledges that its messaging on its upcoming change came out in rough shape.

Authorized access and operations

“Firmware Update Introducing New Authorization Control System,” posted by Bambu Lab on January 16 (and since updated twice), states that Bambu’s printers—starting with its popular X series, then the P and A lines—will receive a “significant security enhancement to ensure only authorized access and operations are permitted.” This would, Bambu suggested, mitigate risks of “remote hacks or printer exposure issues” and lower the risk of “abnormal traffic or attacks.”

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Stratasys sues Bambu Lab over patents used widely by consumer 3D printers

Patent protections pushed for proprietary processes —

Heated platforms and purge towers are among Stratasys’ infringement claims.

Kevin Purdy – Aug 12, 2024 5: 59 pm UTC

Bambu Lab A1, with three filament spools connected by circular loops off to the right. — Enlarge / The Bambu Lab A1, complete with heated build platform.

Bambu Lab

A patent lawsuit filed by one of 3D printing’s most established firms against a consumer-focused upstart could have a big impact on the wider 3D-printing scene.

In two complaints, (1, 2, PDF) filed in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, against six entities related to Bambu Lab, Stratasys alleges that Bambu Lab infringed upon 10 patents that it owns, some through subsidiaries like Makerbot (acquired in 2013). Among the patents cited are US9421713B2, “Additive manufacturing method for printing three-dimensional parts with purge towers,” and US9592660B2, “Heated build platform and system for three-dimensional printing methods.”

There are not many, if any, 3D printers sold to consumers that do not have a heated bed, which prevents the first layers of a model from cooling during printing and potentially shrinking and warping the model. “Purge towers” (or “prime towers” in Bambu’s parlance) allow for multicolor printing by providing a place for the filament remaining in a nozzle to be extracted and prevent bleed-over between colors. Stratasys’ infringement claims also target some fundamental technologies around force detection and fused deposition modeling (FDM) that, like purge towers, are used by other 3D-printer makers that target entry-level and intermediate 3D-printing enthusiasts.

Bambu Lab launched onto the 3D-printing scene in 2022, quickly picking up market share in the entry-level and enthusiast space, in part due to its relatively fast multicolor printing. It hasn’t had an entirely smooth path to its market share, with a cloud-based force printing fiasco in the summer of 2023 and a recall of its popular A1 printer for heat issues earlier this year.

Stratasys, by contrast, has been working in 3D printing since 1988, and its products are used more often in manufacturing and commercial prototyping. Its 3D printers were part of how General Motors pivoted to making face shields and ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its acquisition of MakerBot led to layoffs two years in and eventually a spin-off merger with Ultimaker, but Stratasys retained MakerBot’s patents.

Another patent lawsuit filed by a larger prototyping firm against a smaller semi-competitor was settled in 2014. 3D Systems sued Formlabs in 2012 over patents regarding laser-based stereolithography. That suit ended with Formlabs agreeing to pay an 8 percent royalty on all sales to 3D Systems. Stratasys had also previously sued another smaller-scale printing firm, Afinia, in 2013, although that case eventually failed.

Listing image by Bambu Lab