3D Printed Pi Stamping Machine Using Raspberry Pi Pico

Hello creative people! in this instructales i will show you how to make this pi stamping machine that is made using 3d printed parts and is powered by raspberry pi pico board.

To begin with, let me tell you what this machine does and what is the reason behind building this project, The first and foremost reason was to build something in honor for the pi day

The pi was one of the greatest inventions and it will always be honored for its discovery, the numbers never end and it is linked to the universe!

I wanted a machine that could make me remind of this very often so i thought of making a pi printer and i did that too and going to teach all of you guys.

This pi stamping or also called as pi printing machine will stamp pi on the surface of dough, paper and cloth.

I have tried this on cookie dough and after baking the cookie with this pi symbol the happiness of eating that is another level!

Like a actual printer all you have to do is place the dough below the stamping area and just wave your hand in front of the sensor and the machine will do rest of the job.

If you want prints on paper or cloth you need to add small layer of ink on the stamp surface below, but that is another story.

The other interesting part is i will be using raspberry pi pico to control this device and the pico will use simple python codes, everything is easy and i will make it even more easier with simple explanations.

With these things being told now let us build this project, i have made optmised design so that size will fit in anybody hands and it will easy for carrying.

Raspberry Pi Pico

IR Sensor

Jumper Cables

Micro Servo

3D Printer

Cura Slicer

Tinkercad if you want to edit the model

PLA filament

Thonny Programmer

USB Cable

Dough to print Pi(also you can use paper or cloth)

Screw Driver

The first step is to design the mechanism followed by the body and the stamp

I will start by printing the servo holder where the servo will be attached that in turn will run a slider with the help of gear mechanism, to print this frame you will need to export the model to slicer first and then enable supports

This will help to get you the parts in perfect condition after the print is complete you will need to clean this part using simple tools.

Later the other parts is very easy to print, i will print the gear followed by slider and the body.

The stamp you can customise as per your needs in my case it was a pi symbol, you can also experiment with digits or any other creative shapes

The other parts will not need any supports at the time of print, after the slicing is complete export the model to printer and with the pla filament color of your choice

It will not take too long to print the parts, you can see all the printed parts in the images given on this step.

Like i said you will need to post process the main frame since the supports are used at the time of printing

I will start by uploading the python code to raspberry pi with the help of thonny programmer, connect the raspberry pi board to computer with the help of USB and also pressing the boot button.

Open thonny and use the code given here and after installing micropython to board, run this and later save the program with the name .main.py and after this is done you can use the pi board like normal microcontroller.

After this is complete we can build the connections and to do that you can follow the instructions below.

Here is the circuit diagram for this Pi stamp machine, To make it even simpler i will be explaining the circuit connections

Servo connection to Raspberry Pi Pico

Servo motor signal to GP15 pin on the pico

Servo motor red wire to 5V or Vbus Pin

Servo motor Gnd to Gnd pin on the pico

Infrared sensor has 3 pins and the connections are as follows

IR Sensor Vcc to 3.3V and Gnd to Gnd of pico

The IR Sensor signal output to GP14 of the board

This is all about the connection, I will power the board and components using USB supply.

i will start by adding the gear to the horn of micro servo, you might need to add drop of superglue and also use screw to ensure that the gear is intact this is because the gear will undergo lot of load and it needs to be very intact to the shaft of servo.

Connect the slider to the mainframe and by hand move the slider back and forth to make sure there is no obstacle on the working path.

Now add the servo to the frame, use hot glue to attach it to the frame and allow to dry completely.

Test the mechanism by connecting the IR sensor, You may need to adjust the IR sensor sensitivity by adjusting the potentiometer.

If everything works fine attach the pi pico board to the mainframe using hot glue, followed by attaching the IR sensor to the frame.

Finally add the stamp(choose your own design) and add to the stamping area, allow to dry and now you are good to go.

Believe me using this device is so much fun! all you have to do is connect the pi board to USB source and allow it to reset for few seconds and then place the dough or paper or cloth below this device(pressing area)

When you get your hands in front of the IR sensor the stamping mechanism activates and in no time it will press the pi symbol on the dough and we have the pi ready.

I have tried adding ink to the stamp and then placed paper below the area and i was happy to see the pi prints on paper.

You can also simply use stamppad with the ink of your choice also, but i will recommend using this printer on dough that will be later used as cookies.

There is no limit to print the pi now like the actual numbers of pire itself!

Well for now this is all about this project, if you still have some suggestions for me ask me in the comments section and i will be happy to answer all of them

Here is the detailed working video of this project along with complete build instructions also a clip on uploading the program to raspberry pi pico board using thonny programmer.

i have also added tried printing on paper and other objects and the results were not up to the mark! You can try this and let me know how it went for you.

That is all about this pi printer machine, Let me know how this came for you and you can post your creation on the i made it section.

Thank you and have a happy pi day!