Drawing Robot

In this tutorial, we will learn how to build a plotter with similar mechanics to the Davinci Drawmaton, an automated drawing machine inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s mechanical designs. Using Arduino IDE, we will program it to draw a simple square on a sheet of paper. The plotter will utilize a 3D printed arm-like structure with servos adjusting the XYZ movement.

The SolidWorks CAD files are all attached. The motors, bearings, and screws are shown via their amazon pages.

Convert JPEG image in MATLAB- Load the image to process it into segments and generate drawing coordinates. Save the data as a TXT file to upload into Arduino.

Implement the segment matrices from Matlab to get the XYZ coordinate data in Arduino. Use equations to convert these to angular coordinates. Send the coordinates to the corresponding servo motor and run the script to test!

Wire the Arduino board as shown in the TinkerCad diagram.

Pin 9 is the small servo. This servo is powered directly by the board

Pin 10 is the 25kg servo attached to the arm. This servo is powered by one of the battery packs.

Pin 11 is the 25kg servo attached to the base. This servo is powered by one of the battery packs.

The photos above are in order with the steps below!

Step 1: Insert one 25 kg servo motor into the 3D printed part “DrawingRobot-ArmBase”. To secure it in place, M2/M3 screws will be used.

Step 2: Attach the 3D printed part “DrawingRobot-ServoHorn1” to the base servo motor using M2/M3 screws.

Step 3: Attach the one end of the second 25 kg servo to the other end of “DrawingRobot-ServoHorn1” using M2/M3 screws.

Step 4: Attach “DrawingRobot-LowerLinkage” to the other end of the motor in step 3.

Step 5: attach “DrawingRobot-ServoHorn2” to the top of the servo in step 3.

Step 6: Using a bearing and an M6/M8 bolt, attach the “DrawingRobot-ServoHorn2” and the “DrawingRobot-UpperLinkage”. The “DrawingRobot-UpperLinkage” should rest on top of “DrawingRobot-ServoHorn2”.

Step 7: Using one bearing and two bolts, attach “DrawingRobot-MainArm” to both the “DrawingRobot-UpperLinkage and “DrawingRobot-LowerLinkage”. The “DrawingRobot-UpperLinkage” should rest on top, using a nut to keep it in place, while the “DrawingRobot-LowerLinkage” should be fastened under the “DrawingRobot-MainArm”.

Step 8: Attach the 9 g servo to the end of the “DrawingRobot-MainArm”. Fasten a pen to said servo using zipties.

Upload your Arduino code to the robot and run an image through the MATLAB code and to Arduino. Watch the robot draw! In case of trouble, the Arduino motor code can be adjusted. Enjoy your new drawing robot!