The MakerBot® Automated Build Platform is truly a revolution in 3D printing, it allows you to have a print queue where your machine will clear the build surface between builds by printing, then ejecting, this is completely automated: you hit print, and the machine does all the work. 


MakerBot Industries truly building open source robot kits that allow you to do rapid prototyping and 3D Printing at home. MakerBot completely overhauled the drive system to give the optimum positioning accuracy also switched to self-aligning, sintered brass bearings. These are very forgiving to DIY assembly and provide a nice, smooth motion on the steel shafts. They've completely replaced the Z axis with a stepper driven, cantilevered stage. Guided by two of the linear shafts, this completely eliminates any Z wobble and results in nicely aligned layers.

Connect to the MakerBot Thing-O-Matic® 3D printer over USB and hit print—the machine will self-detect its position and start printing!


The new MakerBot® Gen4 Electronics have been designed to make the printing experience easier than ever. The motherboard now sports an integrated USB port, so you simply plug the MakerBot® in with a standard USB cable. We've also added full endstop support so that you never need to touch the XYZ axes ever again. When you hit print, the MakerBot Thing-O-Matic® 3D printer will automatically home itself, heat up, and begin printing. All you have to do is sit back and relax while your MakerBot® does all the work. 
Some tech specs on the Thing-O-Matic®:
  •  Interface: Print through USB or print from SD card
  •  Size: 300 x 300 x 410 mm (12″ W x 12″ D x 16″ H)
  •  Build Area: 96 x 108 mm
  •  Build Height: 115 mm
  •  Generation 4 Electronics
  •  Supports up to 5 stepper drivers (XYZ + A/B)
  •  Connect over USB (no more FTDI cable)
  •  Optional LCD interface support (Not included)
  •  Full mechanical endstop support
  •  High current mosfets to drive heated build platform and extruder heater
  •  Thermocouple support for more accurate temperature sensing
  •  Upgraded, extra strength ATX power supply
  •  Works with both 110v and 220v power
  •  Theoretical XY Positioning resolution of 0.02mm (20 microns or 0.0008″)
  •  Theoretical XY Maximum Feedrate of up to 5000mm/minute (roughly 200 IPM)
  •  Theoretical Z Positioning resolution of 0.005mm (5 microns / or 0.0002″)
  •  Theoretical Z Positioning Feedrate of up to 1000mm/minutes (roughly 40 IPM)
  •  Capable of printing with ABS and PLA

Full documentation and assembly instructions are available here