There’s something about art. Cavemen drew on walls. People keep programming drawing robots. One we’ve seen recently is [Andy’s] Drawbot that uses WiFi and WebSockets to draw on just about any flat surface. What’s more, the Johnson County Library has a great write-up about how they built one and if you want a go at it, you’ll find their instructions very helpful. The video below is pretty inspirational, too.
What makes this build especially interesting is that it uses a drive system with two fixed points attached with suction cups. There are a variety of 3D printed parts — some just for the build and some are older parts repurposed.
Since the device is made to move to different surfaces, the software needs to know the distance between the spools and also the position of the pen (the gondola). Once you have that set, an SVG file can start the drawing process. How far we’ve come since the caveman days.
The drive mechanism reminded us of some cable bots we’ve seen. We also recently saw a drawbot badge (no relation).