[FEATURE REQUEST] Modular Heat Bed Tile Control in Firmware

[costachedaniel]

Printer model

XL 5 Toolheads

Describe the feature

I propose the ability to individually address and control the temperatures of the modular heat bed tiles in the Prusa XL firmware, similar to how extruders can be individually controlled. This feature would be highly beneficial for advanced research and experimental purposes, particularly in setups requiring multiple materials with varying bed temperature requirements.

In addition, this would open up new possibilities for custom heat bed designs, enabling innovative configurations where different zones of the print bed can be maintained at different temperatures, enhancing material compatibility and workflow flexibility.

I currently manage Prusa XL printers for research and development purposes, and such a feature would provide invaluable support for experimental use cases.

Expected functionality

Enable GCODE commands to address individual heat bed tiles and set them to specific temperatures.
The firmware would include support for assigning temperatures to specific modular tiles via GCODE.
Example functionality:
M140 T1 S60 – Sets Tile 1 to 60°C.
M140 T2 S90 – Sets Tile 2 to 90°C.
The feature could also include feedback on which tiles are active and their current temperatures through firmware diagnostics or monitoring tools.

This would allow for multi-material printing with optimal bed adhesion for each material, using customised heat settings across the modular bed tiles.

[rcmaniac25]

There's an existing functionality for turning them on and off, but I think the entire bed is set to the same temperature.

M556 X0 Y0 A -- enable tile 0,0
M556 I1 D -- disable tile index 0

/**
 * M557: Set modular bed parameters
 *
 * ## Parameters
 *
 * - `C` - [float] Set gradient cutoff
 * - `E` - [float] Set gradient exponent
 * - `S` - [bool] Expand to sides
 */

Some math and you may be able to define tiles and temps and then have it generate a bed temp, gradients, and which tiles are on and off... and then it would let the gradient tiles be a lower temp then the bed temp. Not as graceful as specifying an amount, but a potential workaround.