BigTreeTech has announced the impending release of the Pad 7, an open-source control tablet for 3D printers and other unspecified hardware, that comes with Klipper preinstalled. It bears a resemblance to Creality’s Sonic Pad, but in social media posts, BigTreeTech has gone to lengths to point out it is more than just a Klipper controller for your 3D printer.
The Pad 7 will arrive with Klipper pre-installed and comes with an ADXL345 module to enable input shaping. This, BigTreeTech claims, will increase print speed and acceleration and reduce ringing, resulting in optimized overall print quality. An onboard board-to-board connector, meanwhile, is compatible with both BigTreeTech’s CB1 (also included) and Raspberry Pi’s CM4 core boards for further expandability.
The tablet will also feature a seven-inch touchscreen with a 60 Hz refresh rate and 1024 x 600 px resolution, haptic feedback, and auto-brightness by way of a light sensor. Should you not want to make use of the Pad 7’s dual stereo speakers, a 3.5 mm audio jack allows connection via headphones or external speakers.
Port-wise, the Pad 7 is looking good, with USB-A, USB-C, and TF card compatibility, as well as Ethernet (and Wi-Fi) support, a CAN bus, and an SPI interface. Rounding things off is a detachable magnetic holder that allows the tablet to be adjusted to different viewing angles.
There’s no word as to an exact release date yet, but from the looks of BigTreeTech’s announcement, we’re assuming it to be sooner rather than later. The same goes for pricing, although if the similarities to the Creality Sonic Pad keep up, you can expect somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 and beyond.
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License: The text of "BigTreeTech to Release Open-Source Klipper-Based Tablet" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.