Product Development · Manufacturing · Controls

ECOFIL Filament Recycler

A three-machine line that turns failed 3D prints into reusable filament. I lead mechanical design from CAD and analysis through fabrication, sensing, and system integration.

Co-founder / Mechanical Engineer · ECOFIL Team, Aggies Create · Aug 2025–May 2026 · College Station, TX

ECOFIL dehydrator chamber opened to show the internal brushless-fan array and shelf — Dehydrator chamber held open, showing the 2×2 brushless-fan array and aluminum shelf inside the sheet-metal housing.

3 stagesOne recycling line

Closed loopThermal and diameter control

CAD → buildMechanical ownership

On budgetFunded prototype

The system

Recycling filament is not one mechanism. Waste must be reduced to consistent flake, dried before heating, and extruded at a controlled diameter. Each stage creates the input conditions for the next.

Shred

Convert failed prints into uniform feedstock with a fabricated cutter stack and frame.

Dry

Use heat, airflow, temperature, and humidity feedback to remove moisture before extrusion.

Extrude

Melt, draw, measure, and spool filament while controlling its final diameter.

Stage 1 · Shredder

I designed the cutter stack and machine frame in SolidWorks, then carried the design from full-assembly CAD into a built machine with its control electronics. The engineering goal was repeatable flake size and a structure that could carry the cutter loads.

Full-assembly hidden-line CAD of the ECOFIL shredder with hopper, cutter, and control bays — Full-assembly CAD: hopper, cutter, and control bays on the frame.

Exploded SolidWorks view of the ECOFIL shredder cutter stack and frame — Exploded CAD: cutter stack, shafting, and frame interfaces.

Built ECOFIL shredder in a gray frame: clear hopper on top, cutter in the middle, and a clear bin of shredded multi-color flake below — Built shredder: material drops from the clear hopper through the cutter, and shredded multi-color flake collects in the bin below.

Benchtop bring-up of the ECOFIL shredder controls with Arduino Uno, breadboard, relay modules, and power board — Controls bring-up: Arduino Uno, breadboard, relay modules, switch/LED board, and power board.

SolidWorksGD&TCNC millingLaser cuttingMIG welding

Stage 2 · Dehydrator

Moisture creates poor extrusion quality. I used SolidWorks thermal analysis to develop the heated airflow path, then integrated PTC heaters, fans, thermistors, and hygrometers for closed-loop drying.

Input

Wet plastic flake

Material enters with uncontrolled moisture that would create bubbles and inconsistent filament.

Control

Heat + airflow

PTC elements and fans move controlled thermal energy through the feedstock.

Feedback

Temperature + humidity

Thermistors and hygrometers close the loop instead of relying on a fixed timer.

Thermal and airflow simulation of the ECOFIL dehydrator showing a heat contour over the four-fan shelf array — Thermal/airflow simulation: heat and flow contour across the four-fan shelf array.

Exploded full-assembly CAD of the ECOFIL dehydrator — Exploded full-assembly CAD of the dehydrator.

Water-jet-cut sheet-metal dehydrator panels with fan bores and slots on the machine bed — Manufacturing: water-jet-cut sheet-metal panels with fan bores and slots.

Welded ECOFIL dehydrator housing clamped on a Fireball welding fixture table — Welding: sheet-metal housing clamped on a fixture table, weld bead visible.

Built black powder-coated ECOFIL dehydrator chamber with the front open showing the internal fan array — Built powder-coated chamber, front open to the internal fan array.

Stage 3 · Extruder

The extruder combines a high-voltage AC drive, controlled heating, stepper-driven spooling, and linear Hall-effect sensing. The design problem is maintaining a repeatable material flow and final diameter across connected subsystems.

ECOFIL extruder assembly in SolidWorks: motor and gearbox driving a vertical barrel on an extruded-frame stand — System assembly: motor and gearbox driving a vertical barrel/hopper on an extruded-frame stand.

Prototype CAD of the ECOFIL extruder from an alternate angle — Prototype CAD from an alternate angle.

The control workflow ties the stage together: a 24 V supply feeds buck converters for the logic and fan rails, an ESP32 coordinates a TMC2208-driven NEMA 17 for spooling, and a MOSFET switches the cartridge heater against thermistor feedback.

Extruder control schematic: 24 V supply, buck converters, ESP32, TMC2208 stepper driver, NEMA 17, and MOSFET-switched heater — Extruder control and power workflow.

The team

None of this happened alone. ECOFIL is the work of a team I could not be luckier to build with. We met through Aggies Create and split the load across mechanical design, electronics, and operations, and every stage of this machine carries their work. A huge shoutout to these guys.

The five-person ECOFIL founding team in suits — The ECOFIL team.

Delivered within budget

ECOFIL secured support from Aggies Create, Tyrex, and the TAMU Meloy program. The recycler combined mechanical fabrication, embedded control, and operations into one working development effort.

SolidWorksThermal FEAArduinoSensorsDFMBOM management

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