Category Archives: CNC

Stroboscopic patterns for Easter eggs

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Jiri Zemanek from Prague sent in this fabulous video of eggs decorated using the EggBot, some with markers, and some with the Electro-Kistka.

Various patterns are generated in Matlab using mathematical equations similar to ones describing Spirograph (or harmonograph) and Phyllotaxis. The patterns are calculated in such a way that when rotated under a stroboscopic light of suitable frequency or when recorded by a camera, they start to animate. It is kind of zoetrope— early device for animation. … Eggs are rotated at a constant speed, special for each pattern, by a brushless motor. No computer graphics tricks are used in the video.

Additional information is available at their site.

This entry was posted in CNC, Eggbot, Mathematics. Bookmark the Permalink.

Introducing the AxiDraw

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AxiDraw drawing machine

We are very pleased to introduce our newest art robot: the AxiDraw.

The AxiDraw is a simple, modern, precise, and versatile pen plotter, capable of writing or drawing on almost any flat surface. It can write with your favorite fountain pens, permanent markers, and other writing implements to handle an endless variety of applications. Its unique design features a writing head that extends beyond the machine, making it possible to draw on objects bigger than the machine itself.

AxiDraw drawing machine

The AxiDraw is a fantastic machine for making art — along with all those other things that you might use a pen-wielding robot for: Making “hand written” invitations, signing forms, or making neater whiteboard art than one might otherwise be able to.

AxiDraw is available to order today, and begins shipping next week. See it in action and learn more on the product page.

This entry was posted in CNC, EMSL Projects, Engineering, Evil Mad Scientist Shop, Robotics and tagged . Bookmark the Permalink.

EggBots in Library Makerspaces

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The New Sarepta Library in Alberta, Canada posted this video on twitter saying:

Our new EggBot is up and running! Come check it out!

We’re super happy to see libraries including our tools in their makerspaces.

This entry was posted in Art, CNC, Education, Eggbot. Bookmark the Permalink.

Stippled Utah Teapot

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Untitled

A Utah Teapot is an ideal design for a geeky ornament. For this one, I generated a vector stipple drawing from a photograph of the source object for this digital design icon. There are certainly many other ways to create a Utah Teapot ornament, including, of course, 3D printing.

utah contrasty

In this case, I took our photo of our teapot, adjusted it to give it slightly higher contrast, and loaded it into StippleGen 2.

utahstipple

I removed any background stipples and plotted it on an ornament. The ornament is 2.6 inches in diameter and I used a 0.2 tip Copic Multiliner SP. I have posted the design on thingiverse.

This entry was posted in Art, CNC, Eggbot and tagged . Bookmark the Permalink.

Star Wars Holiday Ornaments

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Imperial crest & Rebel Alliance Ornaments

We’re getting into the spirit with a couple of seasonally appropriate decorations. The Rebel Alliance Ornament and the Imperial Crest Ornament for EggBot are both available on thingiverse. Our guide to printing ornaments with the EggBot may be helpful, too.

Both designs are derived from a set of silhouettes from vecteezy.com.

This entry was posted in Art, CNC, Eggbot, EMSL Projects and tagged , . Bookmark the Permalink.

A Lego Mosaic Printer

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JK Brickworks made this amazing “pick and place” style Lego Mosaic Printer:

It is built entirely using LEGO parts. It first uses the EV3 colour sensor to scan the source image and save the data on the Mindstorms unit. It can then print multiple copies from the saved image data. The 1×1 plates used for ‘printing’ the mosaic are supplied using a gravity feed system and the printing head is simply a 1×1 round plate that can pick up and place the 1×1 plates.

More information about this project can be found at JK Brickworks.

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WaterColorBot and BeetleBlocks

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The Tinkering Studio posted on twitter:

BeetleBlocks is a system for enabling people to explore algorithmic 3D geometry by snapping together Scratch-like programming blocks.

BeetleBlocks block programming example

They posted a picture of the finished painting, which looks awesome.

Painted output in the WaterColorBot

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Fab Academy CNC Workstation Cart

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CNC Workstation cart from Fab Academy
Erin posted on the Make blog about large scale CNC projects at Fab Academy, including a CNC workstation cart based on our design made by Lina Monaco. Lina goes into more details in her post here.

To design it I started from the Evil Mad Scientist’s CNC Workstation Cart redrawing to adapted it to our necessity as an horizontal PC, cables space inside, and last but not least without any screw or glue.

No screw no glue drawers

She posts about her design process, including prototyping using a laser cutter to make a scale model. It looks great—we especially like the cutout drawer handle design.

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