DIY Arduino Drawing Machine
Wed, 18 Nov 2015
As part of my preparation for workshops that will accompany the Computer Drawing: DP Henry and Beyond exhibition in December I've been building a number of drawing machines.
The latest to roll off of my 3D printer is a small Arduino powered "Tiny CNC" machine. This device, designed by MakerBlock, is effectively an XY plotter that you can construct yourself using an Arduino, two motors and six 3D printed parts. I built the 0.18 version, which you can find described in detail on the creator's website here. The 3D printed parts can be found on Thingiverse.
Once I'd printed the parts (they took my 3D printer about 3 hours) it was simply a case of attaching the motors, snapping the bits together and attaching a pen. To control the machine I used a pack of Dagu DC motors and a Dagu Arduino Mini Driver MkII that I purchased from Dawn Robotics in their closing down sale for around £12. Almost any type of Arduino and servo/motor combination can be used.
I then had to write a bit of software to drive the machine. As a test I programmed it to draw concentric squares. Despite the drawing area being small (about the size of a mobile phone screen), the machine is surprisingly good! It whirs away following your instructions just like a full-size plotter, albeit less accurately due to the slack in the gears and motors and generates quite pleasing results. I've put a short video of the machine in action here on YouTube.
My next job is to build the updated version of the project (version 0.29) that uses a third motor to allow you to move the pen up and down. Both machines (together with my computer controlled Etch-a-sketch and full-size MakeBlock XY Plotter) will be on show during the workshops on the 5th and 12th December at the LCB Depot. Feel free to come along and have a play.
