Developer PizzAndy presents a prototype that integrates Bitcoin mining with 3D printing. The system reuses the heat generated by ASIC mining chips to heat the bed of a Voron printer. This solution is aimed at print farms that operate continuously, where residual heat can offset part of the energy cost of heating the bed. 🔥
Technical integration and modular vision ⚙️
The current prototype uses the aluminum plate of the print bed as a heatsink for four ASIC chips, achieving a performance of 500 GH/s while maintaining a stable temperature of 75°C. The future plan is to create a modular system based on tiles, each with 16 chips. This scalable design aims to reach between 10 and 30 TH/s, and would allow zonal heating of the bed for precise control with different materials.
When your printer pays for the filament (in satoshis) 💡
It's every maker's dream: that the machine not only consumes electricity, but tries to contribute to the expense. While printing a lampshade holder, the mining printer is busy generating cents in cryptocurrency. That said, the performance probably won't cover the PLA roll, but at least the electricity bill hurts a little less. One more step toward workshop self-sufficiency, a giant leap for justifying projects to those who share the home.