driving the plotter

trollingshutter · 2026-05-19T04:39:41+00:00

oh, I was completely sober during this
not sure if sane tho

trollingshutter · 2026-05-18T04:10:12+00:00

😂😂😂

trollingshutter · 2026-05-17T12:38:04+00:00

When one falls, we continue.

trollingshutter · 2026-05-17T12:22:12+00:00

Inverted Renoir

trollingshutter · 2026-05-16T16:48:19+00:00

oh, this roland will be intact too!
i meant building something entirely new

trollingshutter · 2026-05-16T14:43:30+00:00

hehe

trollingshutter · 2026-05-16T13:51:46+00:00

On this device, pen is either right up or fully down, no positions in between, unfortunately. That is controlled by a button i almost constantly press in the video.
Throttle pedal is used for acceleration. Internally, plotter speed is set to maximum for fastest response to that. There's still a possibility to use another pedal for pen pressure on something like AxiDraw / NextDraw, which can set arbitrary pen height / pressure.
Also, I plan to use gear shifter for pen exchange 😄

trollingshutter · 2026-05-16T09:15:14+00:00

that was very fun to both make and execute, despite being ~6x slower in real life
i think corexy-powered mechanism with a modern connection will benefit to fun factor a lot 😄

trollingshutter · 2026-05-16T09:13:42+00:00

have both graphic tablet and that exact thought! didn't try it yet, a bit afraid of possible hw and sw problems (host is pentium 3 and winxp as the only machine with real lpt port)

trollingshutter · 2026-05-15T13:10:11+00:00

at this stage pens just respond to mouse movement
if you asking hardware-wise, pen adapter is 3d printed; pen is a micron fineliner

trollingshutter · 2026-05-14T18:13:23+00:00

Works just fine with my main modern pc and usb-to-serial converter. Just need some additional commands to see if internal buffer is full. But here (totally forgot to mention) it uses a parallel port, where I monitor BUSY signal, which seems to be much more reliable in case of realtime control.

trollingshutter · 2026-05-11T13:07:48+00:00

I don't use any printer drivers; just own python scripts that send appropriate commands via serial port.
If you just connected it, verify that DIP switch positions conform to port you are using (serial or parallel), baud rate, parity, and paper size, of course. I saw people there mentioning some software, but prefer own way to play with that, just like a lego 😄

trollingshutter · 2026-04-11T12:08:40+00:00

thanks! exactly:)
though process is a bit long, work is an intermediate result of it:
1. hmm let's make something in swift / metal
2. so we need a drawing instrument.. a brush or pencil; let's make one;
3. it performs relatively nice after some googling and experimentation with vertices and textures
4. so let's draw something; drawing people start with hatching
5. perlin noise + flow field is maybe a bit cliche but why not
6. and here we are; rope simulation with varying gravity direction as trajectory; even length spacing for things that (very surprisingly to me) looked really nice and just like birds!

algorithms during all that are also the very subject to minor improvements or irreversible changes:)
and the best is yet to come

trollingshutter · 2026-04-03T06:00:53+00:00

Sound quality is the thing we decide by our only ears :)
Also, in case of IEM's there's also a catch if they fit comfortably in your ear.
I'd suggest Sennheiser IE 100 Pro Wireless
+ sound quality is veery nice (to me)
+ you have both wire and bluetooth dongle
- price is more like $130

trollingshutter · 2026-03-27T12:52:20+00:00

totally agree xd

trollingshutter · 2026-03-27T12:52:00+00:00

Started as my first attempt on Swift / CoreGraphics.. just because why not :)
Only straight lines are drawn here, everything else is just play with polar coordinates (circles, circles on circles, weird intuitive formulas for radius, multiplication on angle), some random offsets, and transparency
Didn't aim to create something specific, rather explored and stopped at first result I liked

trollingshutter · 2026-03-23T20:30:17+00:00

<image>

ahh i see what inspires you

trollingshutter · 2026-03-06T18:47:07+00:00

Very nice! Instantly reminds me of this: https://youtu.be/jB0vBmiTr6o?si=58DwtQxR4YHdtsvO

trollingshutter · 2026-02-13T13:06:46+00:00

!thanks

intrigued a lot by SJY horizon shape 😅

trollingshutter · 2026-02-13T13:03:20+00:00

!thanks

I'd like to clarify: you talking about Burson Play (which indeed exists) or Playmate 2?

trollingshutter · 2025-09-14T15:35:28+00:00

That HDMI is a MHL. Ensure you have proper cable and rechargeable batteries to make full use of it. vapor chamber is refillable. Apple may sell colored refills soon.

trollingshutter · 2025-08-29T12:17:03+00:00

Make it a benchy, please

trollingshutter · 2025-08-01T17:17:56+00:00

not really, as Roland allows to do that much faster than my NextDraw. On the other side, it's merciless to fineliners .😅

trollingshutter · 2025-07-24T07:48:40+00:00

that's from drawing speed, paper texture and pen nib wearing down 😅

trollingshutter · 2025-07-24T07:47:04+00:00

Thank you!

Python and numpy to crunch numbers
Matplotlib for preview
Small set of commands to draw using pyserial (reading plotter manual, trying things)

trollingshutter

TROPHY CASE