I am currently developing a third iteration of the WorkHorse 3D Printer.

In this revision, I am placing a special emphasis on building an industry grade machine. NO MORE DUCT TAPE! I am still working on the new design, but I am quite happy with how I simplified many of the components.

To pay for the high quality machine, I am hoping to be able to use the Hackaday Funding.

So if I am lucky enough to have a judge read this post, I implore them to consider the below details while selecting the top 20 candidates.

• Is this a unique solution to a particular challenge facing the world today?
  • 3D Printers have the potential to democratize manufacturing. Currently, mass production technology is only within the reach of large factories and businesses. Most hackers/makers lack the financial means and technological aptitude to use automation machinery. 3D printers are inexpensive and easy to use. Providing 3D printers with the ability to automatically eject/start print jobs would allow anyone to setup a small scale factory. Empowering tinkerers with this ability is sure to generate exciting and innovative hacks.
• How thoroughly documented were the design process & design decisions?
  • I understand that this project is more likely to succeed with the help of the hacker community. Therefore, I am being completely transparent during project development. I am posting all notes, designs, and software online so that others can critique and improve my work.
• How easily can this design be implemented by other people in future projects?
  • The project is completely open source. This will make it easy for others to incorporate my automatic print job ejection mechanism into other 3D printers. Furthermore, I am committed to making my automatic print job ejection mechanism into a single modular unit that can be easily attached to any 3D printer.
• How complete is the project?
• At this point, I have completed two successful prototypes of the WorkHorse 3D Printer and a robust software application. Both prototypes were able eject a consistent stream of print jobs automatically. My software application provides users with a simple interface to send print jobs to the printer. By my no means is this project complete, but I am satisfied by my progress to date. I strongly believe that my next prototype will exhibit the drastic usefulness of automatic 3D print job ejectors. Being a university engineering student, I do not have the largest budget to spend on this project. I am hoping to use the Hackaday Prize money to pay for expenses. I would know exactly how to spend the prize money, since I already have a refined parts list for building Mk. 3. 

Also, I would like to thank everyone that liked my Hackaday entry for helping support this project.

During the robotics module contest, I will attempt to turn my mechanism into an independent module.

My next post will be on the CAD and design changes for Mk. 3.