A Scaled-up Form 2 Print Engine, Using Giant Galvanometers

This is an ongoing project! This, and future posts will all be linked on the Project Page (once I create it) Some time after finding the camera from my last post, I found myself again at the MIT Swapfest, amongst yet more relics from the labs and basements of the greater Boston area. I wasn't … Continue reading A Scaled-up Form 2 Print Engine, Using Giant Galvanometers

What’s the point? Getting over a robot’s mid-life crisis

In a way, this post is part of the TigerBug project, which was a robot hardware platform I worked  on for use at RIT for research and as a fundraising tool . However, it will probably not be going under that name anymore, as I want to take the project in a different direction. Take a look at the project hub for past progress on different components of this project. 

Introducing N.C. Sketcher

I'm working on N.C Sketcher for my final robotics class at RIT. See other posts about this system on the project hub. While I have been sinking some time into exploring computer vision processes, I have also been working hard on coming up with an actual hardware platform.  While benchmarking existing drawing machines, I made … Continue reading Introducing N.C. Sketcher

Detecting Edges of Objects using OpenCV

I've been starting to explore different methods for figuring out the location of drawing surfaces for my yet-to-be-named Drawing Robot. I have a few options available to me for use, which mainly include OpenCV, for both C++ and Python, and the imaging processing tools within MATlab. There are a few differences between these methods, and I've … Continue reading Detecting Edges of Objects using OpenCV

Drawing Machine, with a Brain

Drawing machines are a decent project to build from scratch, but they are not complex robots by today's standards. They use open loop motors, and the kinematic model is relatively simple and well-understood. Open-source firmware like Marlin  can be used to control the robot like a 3D printer using G and M commands, and is easily … Continue reading Drawing Machine, with a Brain

Sketch Robot: Eyeing the Competition

I've been spending most of my free time these past few days researching existing concepts for drawing robots, exploring different unique methods, and narrowing down the scope of my project to something that could actually be realized. I've found quite a few different ideas floating around out there, some with obvious design issues, but many … Continue reading Sketch Robot: Eyeing the Competition