Penshield

Birobot

(as in Biro + Robot...the name is not finalized, let me know if you have a catchy suggestion)

Birobot is a delta-configuration pen plotter designed to be easy to build and easy to program. It can be programmed like a standard Arduino project, or you can control it by giving it a series of coordinates in an easy-to-read plain text format.

This project is developed and maintained by Sam Ettinger, an associate at Robot Sapience, Ltd., Hong Kong. This documentation is, like the project, in its infancy. Please report any questions or problems you encounter!

Setting up the software

The Arduino code can be uploaded to Birobot from any computer with the Arduino IDE. To use the plaintext-coordinate uploader, some additional files are required.

Arduino Installation

• Install the Arduino IDE.
• Create an Arduino project called "Birobot." Copy the files Birobot.ino, helperfxn.ino, constants.ino, and path.ino. Make sure the capitalization of the folder matches the capitalization of Birobot.ino (the rest don't matter).
• The file constants.ino contains a list of variables that correspond to physical dimensions of Birobot. These should be as accurate as possible for smooth, linear motion of the end effector.
• The file path.ino contains a list of waypoints that Birobot will visit in succession. These can be edited by hand, or by using upload.bat (see below).

Uploading plaintext coordinates (Windows)

• Ensure you have the Arduino IDE version 1.5.6 or newer.
• Copy the file upload.bat to the same folder as the Arduino project.
• Create a text file named path.txt in the same folder as upload.bat. Fill it with coordinates (one coordinate per line). Take a look at the demo files for examples.
• Run upload.bat. This will look for a file called path.txt, convert the plaintext coordinates to something Arduino-readable, and upload it to the Arduino controlling Birobot.
• TODO: write the rest of this

Simulator Installation

• Install Python, numpy, and matplotlib.
• TODO: write the rest of this

Setting up the hardware

The Birobot design is still in progress. You can take a look at the CAD folder for a sense of how it's put together. A small shield for the Arduino UNO is included in the KiCad folder.

TODO: write the rest of this