Our Task: Drawing is one of the most basic yet expressive mediums that form the basis of visual communication. Create a diverse drawing machine from concept to "final" iteration, utilizing class knowledge of laser-cutting, 3D modeling, 3D printing, soldering, basic circuits, Arduino microcontrollers, sensors, and actuators.

Our Timeframe: 2 weeks to iteratively prototype and refine the body and mechanism.

Our Concept: Drawing machine with two different components of motion to allow for unique drawings.

Result: Drawing machine with a rotating platform and hands-on interaction that played on popular toys from the 90s.

Watch The Game Sketch’s Journey in Action!

Final Prototype

Our final model began with a propped up box that concealed the mechanics below the canvas platform, while the interaction side provided handles for the user to hand-crank the arms atop the rotating platform. The hole design gave a clean, retro feel and reduced weight.

We re-designed the arms to allow for a wider range of motion and added a slot in the central piece in order for a pen holder to be securely placed. The back plate had a built in foundation to attach the canvas platform and a DC motor to plug in via Arduino and power the gears.

Our pen cartridge was designed to fit tightly into our machines arm mechanism, fastened together by rubber bands, allowing for adaptability by a variety of pen sizes.

See our sample renderings below!

Lo-Fi Iteration

This initial prototype allowed us to explore different ways to position the arms in order to allow easy movement across the canvas platform. Our initial concept was a fully-automated visual piece, but through this iteration, we came to the conclusion that having a hand-operable element (see hand cranks) would make the machine more interesting and interactive, and decided to just automate the canvas platform via a DC motor.

Reflection: When we first began designing our drawing machine, we knew that we wanted our machine to be moving from two different components of motion for diverse drawings -- linear motion from motorized arms, and radial motion from a separate rotating canvas platform.

Throughout the prototyping process, we stumbled upon several challenges, including figuring out ways for the arms to be properly secured without becoming dismantled during operation. Through many rounds of trial-and-error, we decided to elevate the arms onto dowels that would be attached to the rotating gears. This way, the arms would not get caught in the other parts of the model during use. We also had to reduce one of our gear sizes to achieve a proper speed on the canvas platform, also adding fasteners to the DC motor to keep it from spinning off the back plate when the machine was propped up.

In the end, we were satisfied with the overall function of our drawing machine. The combination of an automated rotating platform and hand-cranked arms ended up giving the device the ability to make a wide range of drawings.

In the future, we learned that it would be best to do more lower-fidelity prototyping before going to the lasercutter. Pressed for time, we decided to jump right into designing our final pieces, which ended up being a lot more work when we would have to change the design and re-cut pieces of plywood over and over. In further iterations, we would explore other, more durable, designs for our pen cartridge that keeps its adaptability to diverse pens. Additionally, we would increase the hole size on portions on the hole design, as well as program different rotation speeds of the canvas platform to make the drawing machine more modular and capable of even more renderings.