GoKawiil
Tech News
Bambu Lab has released the R1, its second laser product, this time as a standalone 55W CO2 cutter and engraver rather than one built into a 3D printer. It offers a 600 x 300mm work area, expandable to 3000mm with an optional conveyor, along with an overhead camera for positioning and Bambu's own software suite. The 70-plus pound machine costs $2,499 and can cut and engrave wood, acrylic, glass and other materials.
Bambu Lab has released the R1, its first standalone CO2 laser engraver, priced at $2,500 and built to fit into the same ecosystem as its 3D printers. The device borrows acceleration algorithms and vision-encoder camera technology from Bambu's printer lineup to reduce cutting artifacts and improve accuracy when aligning material on the bed.
A Texas jury ruled that Bambu Lab's X1, P1, and A1 printer lines infringe two Stratasys patents covering prime tower purging and bed-leveling force-sensor methods, ordering Bambu Lab to pay $27.6 million in damages. No injunction was issued against the affected machines, all part of Bambu's first-generation lineup. Bambu Lab's newer H2 and X2 series use dual-nozzle and optical-sensor designs that reportedly sidestep the disputed patents.
A hands-on review of Bambu Lab's new P2S 3D printer finds it builds on the P1S and A1 with an enclosed chamber and an airflow system that switches between cooling PLA prints and retaining heat for tougher filaments like ASA and ABS. The reviewer notes that despite this design, fumes from ASA prints leaked around the door and seams rather than being fully filtered through the built-in carbon filter, requiring extra ventilation.
Bambu Lab is discounting its P1S 3D printer to $349, a $50 cut from its previous $399 price and a new all-time low for the model. The enclosed, beginner-friendly printer ships semi-assembled, sets up in about 15 minutes, and includes automatic bed leveling, a built-in camera, and an LCD control panel.
Software engineer Hank built a system letting him model a 3D object on his computer, then physically throw it toward his Bambu Lab P2S printer using a Meta Quest 3 headset to trigger the print. The workflow was built with help from an OpenAI GPT model and connects an Android app to a PC web server that talks to the printer's local API. Hank hasn't published the code yet but says he'll share it if there's enough interest.
At FOSSY 2026, Software Freedom Conservancy members Bradley Kühn, Karen Sandler, and Denver Gingerich detailed an unresolved license violation involving Bambu Lab's 3D-printer software, which is licensed under the AGPLv3. They explained that the company's method of restricting user control over the software is exactly the kind of network-based circumvention the AGPL was designed to block, and described SFC's outreach to build alternatives for affected users.