OpenFarm

A scalable 3D print-farm platform for university makerspaces.
Role: Co-Founder • Lead Dev & UI/UX
Stack: C# (Avalonia), PostgreSQL, RabbitMQ, Docker
Timeline: January 2025 – Present
Desktop App Design System Real-time Messaging Scalable Infra
OpenFarm Logo

Overview

OpenFarm streamlines job submission, staff review, payment tracking, and maintenance for university print farms. I co-founded the project with three teammates and led the Avalonia desktop app UI/UX, ViewModel architecture, and user studies. I also produced the Figma prototypes and early wireframes that informed the final UI.

We are still in the final development of the system, thus we do not have a repo yet. Keep tuned for our final phase of OpenFarm.

SOON: Repo

UI Showcase

These six screens illustrate OpenFarm’s core workflow—from overview to queue triage, printer status, user administration, live stats, and email communications.

Dashboard overview with KPIs, quick links, and status widgets
Dashboard overview with KPIs, quick links, and status widgets
Print jobs queue with filters, statuses, and bulk actions
Print jobs queue with filters, statuses, and bulk actions
Staff review screen showing GCode preview and option to open PrusaSlicer
Staff review screen showing GCode preview and option to open PrusaSlicer
User management with suspend/unsuspend and org IDs
User management with suspend/unsuspend and org IDs
Statistics dashboard with completion rates and throughput
Statistics dashboard with completion rates and throughput
Email communication inbox grouped by sender with resolve action
Email communication inbox grouped by sender with resolve action

Design Process

Sketches & Wireframes

I started with paper sketches to align on core workflows, then produced grayscale wireframes before visual styling.

Early sketches Lo-fi wireframes Active UI

Figma Prototypes

Technical Architecture

  • Avalonia MVVM: ViewModels for Jobs, Users, Printers, and Stats; data-binding with observable collections.
  • DatabaseAccessHelper: typed helpers for clean DB boundaries.
  • RabbitMQ: pub/sub for job state updates and file ingestion events.
  • Docker: Postgres & RMQ containers for reproducible dev environments and campus deployment.
High-level architecture diagram

Impact

Queue Time ↓
Manual tracking reduced from ~15 min to < 1 min per job.
Staff Load ↓
Role-based screens simplified reviews & escalations.
Ready to Scale
Dockerized stack designed for adoption by other labs.

Project Documentation & Research Timeline

OpenFarm evolved through multiple research, design, and development stages over two semesters. Below is a summary timeline and selected documents from those milestones.

Discovery & Research

Intro & Background Requirements Analysis

Ideation & Design

Use Cases & UI Sketches User Study Report

Implementation & Beta

Software Engineering Tools & Techniques Beta Presentation Review

Finalization & Documentation

Final Design Document Formalized Team Project Doc

Reflection

Since I started working on this project in January of 2025, I have learned a lot of useful skills that I wish I could have incorporated into this project. For example, this semester(Fall 2025) I have started Human Centered Systems and have taken the Google UI/UX Certificate (3/8 completed). I wish I could have conducted even more user studies prior to coding, creating at least five sketches on paper to choose from, create more user stories, and more. I am excited to grow my skills and continue evolving.