Pen Plotter Art and Algorithms
mattdesl.svbtle.com
Pen Plotter Art and Algorithms
1–10 of 14 posts
Re: Pen Plotter Art and Algorithms
#2I've been doing this stuff for awhile now using the same plotter (an Axidraw). Its great fun, and I used it to make christmas presents this year (eg: https://twitter.com/josephgentle/status/947820082218000384 ). I find it really satisfying to be able to make beautiful art despite having rubbish drawing skills.
There's a whole community of us on twitter sharing our weird creations. Join us at #plottertwitter if you're curious: https://twitter.com/hashtag/plottertwitter?src=hash
Re: Pen Plotter Art and Algorithms
#3You may also find this interesting: https://github.com/fogleman/ln
You can turn 3D scenes into 2D vectors.
Re: Pen Plotter Art and Algorithms
#4Traditional pen plotters usually don't take ordinary pens and run on HPGL instead of G-Code (and I for one find HPGL a lot easier to generate and debug). The AxiDraw sure looks awesome, but you can probably pick up four working used HP 7475A pen plotters or similar on eBay for the AxiDraw's US$475 price.
There's an introduction to HPGL at http://www.tobiastoft.com/posts/an-intro-to-pen-plotters. It's really easy, and you can get started a lot more cheaply than with AxiDraw.
Don't get me wrong, EMSL makes really awesome stuff. You just don't need to go for that kind of premium cutting-edge engineering in order to play with a pen plotter.
Re: Pen Plotter Art and Algorithms
#5[deleted]
Re: Pen Plotter Art and Algorithms
#6You may also find this interesting: https://github.com/fogleman/ln You can turn 3D scenes into 2D vectors.
I have been following Anders Hoff [1][2]. He does some cool stuff with plotters.
I made an egg plotter back in the early 2000s based on The Art of Motion Control site [3], and then I went off to build CNC tables and do wood carvings in 3-axis, and then 4, and 5-axis machining. I am really interested in the community around making ceramic 3D printers where they mix their own clay. All creative and really cool stuff!
[1] http://inconvergent.net/
[2] https://twitter.com/inconvergent
[3] http://www.taomc.com/Re: Pen Plotter Art and Algorithms
#7Traditional pen plotters usually don't take ordinary pens and run on HPGL instead of G-Code (and I for one find HPGL a lot easier to generate and debug). The AxiDraw sure looks awesome, but you can probably pick up four working used HP 7475A pen plotters or similar on eBay for the AxiDraw's US$475 price. There's an introduction to HPGL at http://www.tobiastoft.com/posts/an-intro-to-pen-plotters . It's really easy, an…
That article is great. I'm going to add it to the blog post and mention the HP plotter.
Re: Pen Plotter Art and Algorithms
#8You may also find this interesting: https://github.com/fogleman/ln You can turn 3D scenes into 2D vectors.
I also wrote this: https://medium.com/@fogleman/pen-plotter-programming-the-bas...
Re: Pen Plotter Art and Algorithms
#9Loved the Natural System that looks like a mountain range, kind a want to see the code that produces that
Re: Pen Plotter Art and Algorithms
#10Traditional pen plotters usually don't take ordinary pens and run on HPGL instead of G-Code (and I for one find HPGL a lot easier to generate and debug). The AxiDraw sure looks awesome, but you can probably pick up four working used HP 7475A pen plotters or similar on eBay for the AxiDraw's US$475 price. There's an introduction to HPGL at http://www.tobiastoft.com/posts/an-intro-to-pen-plotters . It's really easy, an…
Maybe even more fun is to build one yourself. They are a great introduction to CNC hardware without some of the added mechanical complexity involved with something like a router or mill. The parts are fairly cheap because they don't have to be super rigid and the steppers don't need a lot of torque, plus there is quality open source software to run them on cheap microcontrollers (grbl on Arduino + a cheap motor shield from China). There's tons of videos on YouTube of how to build one from scrap DVD drives for instance, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PmR_1dx77s