[kbob]

> when was the last time the community (or another manufacturer) actually contributed anything useful to the core HW and electronics design?

E3D has driven the majority of hotend innovation, not Prusa. Ultimaker's Cura and PrusaSlicer cross pollinate regularly. Grégoire Saunier created the Bear frame. Numerous other nonprofessionals are creating small and not-so-small improvements which haven't become well known.

But yes, the bedflinger FDM architecture is mature. Innovation is incremental now, not radical.