Update: Anycubic has now officially announced the Color Engine Pro and Kobra 3 as part of the company's 2024 roadmap.
Anycubic is teasing a new product on its socials, and despite a veil, the company isn’t exactly hiding that it’s a multi-material unit (MMU).
Below the words “big change”, the latter highlighted by four transitioning colors, Anycubic’s teaser depicts a partially translucent veil covering a short device holding what appears to be four spools of colorful filament. As if that didn’t give the game away, a comment by Anycubic on its Instagram post reads: “Is Anycubic about to unveil a multi-color 3D printing breakthrough?”
We should hope so, now that you’ve asked as much.
Kitsch aside, it’s exciting to see that Anycubic is likely releasing an MMU. The devices have been exceedingly popular since Prusa’s troublesome early units and have absolutely boomed in popularity since Bambu Lab’s AMS. But, despite that boom, there’s next to no competition that isn’t a labor-intensive DIY solution.
AnkerMake appeared ready to enter the market with its ambitious Color Engine V6 – an add-on to its 2022 M5 3D printer. But, it pulled the plug on the device just months after seeing early demos of the unit on the show floor at Formnext 2023. Phrozen is making a bid for the market, too, with Chroma Kit, an MMU that’s part of its ongoing Arco 3D printer Kickstarter campaign.
Aside from those, there are a handful of notable projects, including the Kickstarter-funded Co-Print ChromaSet and open-source SMuFF, but nothing has presented itself as a fully released and compelling alternative to Bambu Lab’s AMS so far.
Being a teaser, there’s not much to take away from Anycubic’s partial reveal, so we can’t say whether it will be a compelling alternative – let alone a breakthrough. Still, the competition is good to see.
There is some speculation to be had: there appears to be another product behind the MMU in the company’s teaser, which could mean a new printer has yet to be revealed. (The “3” peaking out could suggest a Kobra 3?). That would invite questions of the material-changer’s compatibility. Will it be limited to a new 3D printer, or compatible with Anycubic’s current lineup of FDM 3D printers? It seems like we’ll find out soon, but Anycubic hasn’t said when.
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License: The text of "Anycubic Teases ‘Multi-Color 3D Printing Breakthrough’" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.