Created November 9, 2015

Homework 04 Drawing Machines

Drawing machines

Showcase (no instructions)16

Things used in this project

Hardware components

acrylic

pens or highlighters

stepper motor

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Laser cutter (generic)

3D Printer (generic)

Story

Ideation

I wanted to make something that would draw concentric circles in different sizes and colors in order to make colorful circle art. I also wanted to use a stepper motor which we learned about in class, so below are some of the ideas in sketches.

1 / 2 • Initial ideas

I decided to go in the direction of the final sketch and went about figuring out how to make it.

Execution

After much thought, I sketched a final breakdown of what my machine would look like.

Exploded sketch of parts needed

My drawing machine incorporates turntables and a propellor holding 3 markers. The propellor spins because of the stepper motor and the markers go around drawing circles on the bottom turntable. I created the components I needed on Adobe Illustrator before heading to the laser cutter. I also 3D printed the d-shaft turntable in order to fit the stepper motor's shaft. Here's the thingiverse link.

The orange d-shaft turntable

Side view of the d-shaft turntable, drawing plate, and stepper motor

With my parts cut out, I began putting the machine together. This is when problems started happening. Mainly, the propellor measurements and hole measurements weren't entirely well-planned. The markers I used had varying widths along them and some holes that were supposed to contain them were too far and didn't even reach the turntable. I ended up having to switch to highlighters and actually measured and re-designed my propellor a few times.

Propellor and attached parts: looks almost exactly like the exploded sketch above!

In the end, my machine works and draws circles like I intended from the start.

Assembled drawing machine. You can see what ends up being drawn on the plate.

Lessons

I need to know exactly what I'm designing. I felt like, whereas in the automata project I went through a lot of trial and error getting it to work, I was thinking too much and not doing enough this time. I created only one prototype during this process, and it wasn't purposeful. I tried to go for the finish and along the way had trouble asking for help because I couldn't speak what I was thinking. Communicating with sketches only went so far and I was jumbled everywhere. In the end, it worked out, but the process was very disorganized and messy. Also, I kept spending money and wasting materials because I didn't have correct measurements. In the end, rushing took me much longer time than if I had trusted the process.

Code

Stepper Motor Test

// very simple stepper motor test program
// for L298 type 
// each input controls one output
//
// Change log
// Michael Shiloh 10/5/15 - created
// Michael Shiloh 10/12/15 - corrected for crossed wires
//
// Licensing:
// This program is in the public domain 
//
// for the stepper motors with wires
// coming directly out of the motor,
// connect the wires like this:
// grey: OUT1
// green: OUT2
// yellow: OUT3
// red: OUT4

// for the stepper motors with small
// plastic connectors on the side,
// connect the wires like this:
// red: OUT1
// grey: OUT2
// yellow: OUT3
// green: OUT4

// these four Arduino outputs connect to the 
// L298 inputs which correspond to the L298
// outputs attached to the motor wires as 
// above 
const int OUT1 = 4;
const int OUT2 = 5;
const int OUT3 = 6;
const int OUT4 = 7;

void setup()  {
  pinMode(OUT1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(OUT2, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(OUT3, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(OUT4, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
    digitalWrite(OUT1, LOW);
    digitalWrite(OUT2, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(OUT3, LOW);
    digitalWrite(OUT4, HIGH);
    delay(100);
    
    digitalWrite(OUT1, LOW);
    digitalWrite(OUT2, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(OUT3, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(OUT4, LOW);
    delay(100);
    
    digitalWrite(OUT1, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(OUT2, LOW);
    digitalWrite(OUT3, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(OUT4, LOW);
    delay(100);
    
    digitalWrite(OUT1, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(OUT2, LOW);
    digitalWrite(OUT3, LOW);
    digitalWrite(OUT4, HIGH);
    delay(100);
}

Credits

Matthew Chiang

16 projects • 9 followers

Homework 04 Drawing Machines

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Ideation

Execution

Lessons

Schematics

Drawing Machine AI File

Drawing Machine AI File

Code

Stepper Motor Test

Credits

Matthew Chiang

Comments

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Homework 04 Drawing Machines

Homework 04 Drawing Machines

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Ideation

Execution

Lessons

Schematics

Drawing Machine AI File

Drawing Machine AI File

Code

Stepper Motor Test

Credits

Matthew Chiang

Comments