1. Principles and Practices¶
Weekly Assignment:¶
- Plan and sketch a potential final project
This week I worked on defining my final project idea and started to getting used to the documentation process.
My Final Project: CNC Pen Plotter¶
My final project plan is a 3-axis CNC pen plotter. In addition to the machine, I will design the base to be height adjustable so that it is able to draw on surfaces that are not necessarily level and flat. There would also be a sliding panel on the upper frame so that the machine is still able to operate on flat surfaces.
I will customize it further by adding sound and visual aids. A section of the frame will be resin-filled and have LED lighting within to indicate when the working pen needs to be changed to a different color, and which color it needs to be changed to. The sound output device will give me alerts about the progress, whether it be the software encountering an issue or the print being completed.
Potentially, I want to try to make it connectable through Bluetooth and and add a pad or touchscreen component where I can directly control the G-Code remotely. There could also be an AI component using ChatGPT to generate G-Code.
Garrett Nelson suggested that I could add another dimension, literally, by making the machine capable of drawing on vertical surfaces, which I thought was really interesting and could challenge me.