Hacking a eufyMake E1 to Improve Automation

The eufyMake E1 UV printer is genuinely one of the most compelling products to hit the market this year, because it brings UV printing to hobbyists at a relatively accessible price. And aside from maintenance headaches related to printhead clogging and the high cost of ink cartridges, it is perfect for makers. However, it doesn’t necessarily scale to production very well and that is a problem for anyone looking to produce hundreds or even thousands of identical items. Robin Reiter found himself in that situation when labeling SMD component cartridges, so he hacked a eufyMake E1 to improve automation.

While the eufyMake Studio software is far, far more intuitive and pleasant than conventional UV printing software, its workflow clearly wasn’t intended for high-volume production. Each time the user wants to print something, they have to start the job in the PC software (or smartphone app), wait a few minutes for the file transfer, and then go physically press the start button on the machine. It might not sound like much, but that time adds up fast when you’re repeating the same steps over and over all day.

There isn’t any published API documentation and so Reiter had to get his hands dirty to overcome the problem in a more roundabout fashion. That said, his “hack” doesn’t require any modification to the printer itself and should be completely safe — nothing here would void a warranty.

This hack has two parts: the hardware and the software. The hardware is pretty simple, with a unit on the eufyMake E1 that has two buttons and a second unit that contains a servo to tap the E1’s start button. The first unit contains a Solder Party RP2040 Stamp development board, an ESP32 acting as a WiFi adapter, two key switches for the buttons, and RGB LED status lights. Pressing one of the buttons starts a print job, then the software takes over. When the machine is ready, the servo taps the start button.

Reiter’s software is a bit like an advanced auto-clicker built with OpenCV and PyAutoGUI. Unlike a “dumb” auto-clicker, it can recognize what is on the screen and act accordingly. For instance, it can see when a job is ready to start and will tell the RP2040 to move the servo. The eufyMake Studio software runs in a virtual machine on a PC and Reiter’s software makes the necessary clicks to start a job.

The SMD cartridges fit into a 3D-printed jig and eufyMake Studio’s “zero point alignment” feature ensures that designs are printed in the right location every time. Now Reiter can label hundreds of SMD cartridges without much effort while working in his shop.

With Kickstarter backers just about to receive their eufyMake E1 machines, this hack will likely prove to be popular with others looking for similar automation.