Skip to main content

Stringent, the $15 Wall Plotter via Arduino Project Hub

By
An amazingly detailed story about this Arduino project including multiple generations of the device and what they learned with each iteration. — Douglas

High accuracy wall plotting at minimal cost, enrich all the whiteboards around you with surprising artwork! 
Background 
I don't quite remember when it started, but I think around 1999 or so. Me and a friend that was into everything robotics and electronics was discussing building a robot for drawing on whiteboards. Of course we never had time to do anything serious back then, the ecosystem for hobbyist micro controllers was not what it is today. 
In 2002 my friend showed me the awesome work of Jürg Lehni and Uli Franke - Hektor. I was very pleased to see something similar to what we had been dreaming to build actually be constructed and shared with the world! I was at peace. 
Some time later I remember showing the Hektor project website to someone presenting how fantastic I thought it was. This time though I started looking more at the details realising it lacked one property I had initially envisioned a wall plotter to have. I wanted it to be self-contained, everything in one unit with just wires connecting it to the wall. If I recall it correctly, I looked into stepper motor weights at this point realising that my idea was not going to fly. 
Time passed and things happened in the space of hobbyist robotics. It was 2014 and I had been using Arduinos and RC-servos for various camera control projects, I had access to 3D-printing and actually some spare time (!?!). After stumbling over the dirt cheap 28BYJ-48 stepper motor I knew exactly what I was going to build:
The cheapest possible minimalistic wall plotter.
Read Stringent, the $15 Wall Plotter via Arduino Project Hub

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library
An interesting link found among my daily reading
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Microsoft release Outlook.com email services to replace Hotmail

By
Today Microsoft released its new email service Outlook.com to replace its Hotmail brand. This new streamlined Metro interface design looks good and functions well so far. You can use your existing Microsoft account to log in and then choose an email alias (i.e. douglaswelch@outlook.com) for your new email address. Here are several articles that discuss Outlook.com... Goodbye, Hotmail; Hello, Outlook.com [REVIEW]  Outlook Is a Completely New, Feature-Filled Webmail Service from Microsoft Go Get Your @Outlook Email Address Quick Before Someone Else Does I will post links to more articles and reviews as they appear.
Post a Comment
Read more

Shared calendars are one part of an organized family

By
by Douglas E. Welch , techiq@welchwrite.com 206-338-5832 Reader/Listener Line As a parent with a school-age child, I often hear other parents bemoaning their disorganized existence. Along with the busy schedules of two working parents you might have art classes, karate classes, Little League, soccer and more. Add in more than one kid and organizing your life can quickly become a nightmare. This is exactly why one of my most important organizing devices is a shared calendar that reflects all the activities and events for everyone in the household...and I do mean everything. If someone -- is required to be somewhere -- at sometime, it goes into the calendar. If we are given a calendar that reflects all the events for a particular activity (say, Little League), all these events immediately go into the calendar, along with notations on whether we are providing the team snack, working in the snack bar, etc. Even events that occur anytime during the day, like family birthdays, and other rem
Post a Comment
Read more

TechIQ Gift Guide #15: Sams Teach Yourself Wordpress 3 in 10 minutes

By
#15 Sams Teach Yourself Wordpress 3 in 10 minutes Chuck Tomasi , fellow Friends in Tech member and co-author of Podcasting for Dummies , along with another Friends in Tech member and podcasting partner, Kreg Steppe , have a new book out that would be a great gift for anyone interested in blogging and New Media. Wordpress is my first recommendation when someone wants to get started with blogging, but it can be a little intimidating. It is very powerful and with power comes complexity. That said, this book can help to jumpstart your Wordpress knowledge and help you be productive. There is also a companion podcast to the book, Wordpress in 10, available from the author's web site. From Amazon.com... "Sams Teach Yourself WordPress in 10 Minutes gives you straightforward, practical answers when you need fast results. By working through its 10-minute lessons, you’ll learn everything you need to build great blogs with WordPress and WordPress.org, and reach any audience by web brows
Post a Comment
Read more