Design of a 3D printer filament recycling system

Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is the most widely used technology within 3D printing. As part of the process of manufacture, various extrusions are made which do not form part of the finished part and are discarded as waste. These, in addition to failed parts, are recyclable and may be reformed into usable filament.

Various open and closed source projects exist for this purpose including those found at ARTME 3D. This project aims to replicate such a system, at low cost using components recycled from discontinued projects in the MechatronicSystems.Lab. This will include:

• Researching current solutions
• Detailed CAD design of the physical structure
• Manufacture and refinement of the system from 3D printed/laser cut parts
• Preliminary testing of the system

The ideal candidate(s) will have strong CAD and design ability, and ideally also have some exposure to 3D printing and motor control.

Supervisor: James Hepworth