Comments on: Real Pen Etch-A-Sketch with Stepper Motors

By: Construir una impresora 2D con un arduino y lectores de CD | El rincón de Zerial

Mon, 02 Dec 2013 18:20:49 +0000

[…] Son muchas las cosas que se han construído con un Arduino y motores Steppers: Real Pen Etch-A-Sketch […]

By: Greg Borenstein

Greg Borenstein — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:04:10 +0000

Patrick — I was thinking about doing just that. I think in combination with Devin’s spring suggestion, it might make a big difference.

By: Patrick IV

Patrick IV — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:57:25 +0000

How about stacking an extra fork on each of the existing ones, but an inch higher, with a weight attached to the lower part of the pen?

By: devin

devin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:14:04 +0000

I wonder if the pen wants to be in a sleeve with a spring. That could give it nice steady pressure against the paper, and the sleeve could help it stay straight up-and-down.
Great to hear about your ITP adventures!

By: Greg Borenstein

Greg Borenstein — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:19:32 +0000

There are washers attached to the pen holding it in place. If you look at the first photo of the machine I posted above, you can see a red ring around the pen. There’s one underneath it as well. The trick is that if the pen pushes against the paper too hard, it torques into a funny angle and the motor can’t move it. If it’s not tight enough against the paper, it doesn’t make dark or consistent enough lines.
As far as size goes, most of the drawings I’ve posted take advantage of the full range of motion available, the full 1.75″ by 1.75″. So those drawings should give you a pretty good sense, but I can see the value of making the simple rectangle you’re describing.
For the web interface, you’ll have to wait for my final project for pcomp this semster…

By: Mikey

Mikey — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:10:16 +0000

Could you attach washer to the pen to keep it more stable?
I’d like to see you draw the outline of the square… just to get a sense of the size of the thing and how much motor control you have.
And then of course, you have to make a web-interface for those controls so I can use it from here. 🙂

By: Greg Borenstein

Greg Borenstein — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:08:05 +0000

Thanks, Sarah! I used two pots. One to control each axis: up/down, left/right. Just like a real etch-a-sketch.

By: Sarah Jenny

Sarah Jenny — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:59:57 +0000

this is so rad!! did you control it using just one potentiometer?