Overview:
The DrawBot was designed like a plotter with one motor moving the paper in one axis and the other moving the pen in the other axis. These two motions combined could span the entire page and make any arbitrary shape.
Design:
Gear and Rack: Behold the meshing!
Actual Device:
Our DrawBot worked:
Issues:
The motors were low resolution; they were 24 steps each. They also required a lot of power, drawing 1.3 A each at 24 V.
Moving Forward:
Most of the problems arose from hardware compatibility issues. If the project were to be done again, either motors that draw less current or motor drivers that can source higher currents would have been used. Additionally, using finer resolution motors would make any shape easier to make.