Post : Center pivot pen plotter
URL : http://hackaday.com/2012/09/18/center-pivot-pen-plotter/
Posted : September 18, 2012 at 5:01 am
Author : Mike Szczys
Tags : marker, pivot, plotter, polar
Categories : cnc hacks

http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/center-pivot-pen-plotter.jpg

This center pivot pen plotter (http://dbynoe.blogspot.ca/2012/09/drawing-machine.html) is an interesting take on the idea, and manages to somewhat simplify the fabrication when compared to a gantry-style built.

Normally we'd see a gantry that travels on two rails, with a print head that moves along its length. Here the gantry is anchored on just one side, with a chain driven system to rotate it along the plotting surface. The print head uses a fine-point felt-tipped marker. It still travels along the arm as you would expect, and can be tilted away from the paper for repositioning.

What was made easier in hardware ends up adding to software complexity. The benefit of a traditional system is that it uses X and Y coordinates to plot a design. The pivot of this mechanism means that as the print head moves further from the center of the machine, the distance between each pixel is magnified. But the clip after the break proves that this issue has been solved.

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