From Idea to Innovation: How Carbon’s Hardware Team Designed the AO Backpack

Carbon knew its customers wanted automation options, so it formed a cross-functional team to figure out how to implement automation best. While the team had some ideas, they needed to know how automation would work practically in a lab. This new team, with representatives from electrical, hardware, and software engineering, toured select customers’ labs to find out their ideal automation solutions.

These customers were kind enough to walk the team through their workflow and talk about their pain points. The Carbon team was able to explain their goals and some of their automation ideas and get feedback on whether they would work. The presented goals were the following:

• Unattended, continuous printing for a minimum of 12 hours
• Pre-sorted parts straight from the printer
• Compatibility with existing post-processing equipment and workflow

While the team’s first design was the best received and the one that eventually became the AO Backpack, there were a few other designs they presented for feedback, with most of the variations involving the placement of the automated mechanism and its access to the cassette. While these options might have worked just as well, the larger, more irregular footprints, higher costs, and increased complexity made them less-than-ideal lab residents.

During these visits, customers expressed that one of the biggest challenges of automation was sorting the finished parts. If multiple prints piled up overnight, it could take lab technicians a long time to sort out which parts were which. The team was prepared with a few options to keep parts organized in the part basket. After getting feedback, a preference emerged to include a discardable grid in each print to keep the parts in place so they could be easily identified by matching to the print layout typically present on an existing paper traveler.

Encouraged by the customer responses, the team knew they were on the right track, but the biggest thing the team learned from this fact-finding mission was just how much Carbon customers wanted a consistent, high-quality automation solution as soon as possible.

With the concept and customer feedback in hand, Carbon’s hardware engineering team got to work. They knew the footprint and shape the backpack needed to fit within. In addition to the design and functionality goals, the team committed to an aggressive schedule to complete the project. Because of this, they tried to avoid over-complicating things and find the simplest mechanical solutions to get the job done. For example, using a mechanism that simply moved the collection basket forward and back was a lot simpler to design than one that also had to spin to the side for emptying.

The goal was to have a prototype available to show at Lab Day Chicago in February 2024. The team wanted to show what it would look like, demo how it would work, and get reactions from potential customers. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, motivating them to dig into the internal design and get it in customer labs.

After Lab Day, one of the remaining questions for the hardware team was how resin would be managed. The backpack needed to hold as much resin as possible to ensure prints could continue overnight, so they needed to design space for five gallons. Because customers wanted to be able to put the rear of the backpack against a wall, the resin container needed to be accessible from the side. The team recalled how closely some of the Carbon printers were placed together in labs and wanted to make sure nothing would come out too far. They came up with an elegant solution of a cabinet that swivels around toward the front of the printer to replenish resin, then swivels back and clicks into place in the backpack when needed.

Routing the resin to the cassette in the tight space of the backpack was another challenge to tackle. To do this, the team needed some uniquely shaped parts that did not exist. Because they’re Carbon engineers, they looked no further than Carbon’s own Idea-to-Production platform to design, prototype, and test the resin delivery assembly. They chose Carbon’s EPX 82 resin material for its durability and resin and solvent compatibility.

The hardest part of the backpack to get right was the mechanism to remove the parts from the build platform. The parts needed to adhere securely during printing, yet allow for damage-free removal without leaving residue. This action had to work consistently because the printer would be running unsupervised. Finding that sweet spot to place the blade was the tricky part. The solution was carefully engineering a blade mechanism so that its position could be software-tuned to ensure clean removal of parts, consistently.

Carbon has long championed its printers as conduits to creating what its customers want. AO Backpack takes that further by allowing them to automate that process. While it’s been a success, with 22,716 prints (and counting) since the first backpack was installed in October 2024, Carbon is still taking feedback from Backpack users and trying to make the functionality and experience even better for our customers.

One such request was for the ability to empty the basket while automated printing is in progress. To make this possible, a shorter basket was required to safely remove it over the top of the build bridge during the print. Way back in the design phase of the Backpack, the team planned for the possibility that a basket might need to be removed during the print. They just needed to execute on that foresight to design, prototype, validate, and produce the new Parts Retrieval Basket, which is now available.

The AO Backpack is a testament to Carbon’s customer-centered approach, demonstrating how direct collaboration leads to practical, high-impact solutions. But this philosophy extends beyond individual products—it’s embedded in Carbon’s subscription model. By continuously gathering feedback and iterating on designs, Carbon ensures that its technology evolves alongside customer needs, providing ongoing value. The success of the AO Backpack is just one example of how this approach enables Carbon to deliver cutting-edge solutions that not only enhance productivity today but also adapt to the challenges of tomorrow.