This is a prototype of an idea for a “portable pen plotter”. Instead of having a static desktop device, like a printer or an old-fashioned plotter, this plotter would be a lightweight, portable device that you could pick up and place on whatever surface you wanted to draw on. It removes the limitations of a normal, modern printer, by allowing you to create graphic content with any type of writing medium on any type of surface.

For example, you could precisely label a piece of cardboard with a Sharpie, or make marks on a piece of plywood, or even just include detailed, “handwritten” images or notes in your paper notebook. All of these are potential applications, and things that cannot be achieved by the normal means of desktop printing today.

Currently, the plotter uses a control board made by Synthetos.com called the TinyG, which provides to 4 axes of coordinated motion control (2 are used) and accepts standard G-Code as input. There are 2 stepper motors, for the X and Y axis, and a solenoid to lift the pen up and down. More information will be posted as the project progresses. I am currently working on a iOS app to wirelessly control the plotter and new versions of the hardware and electronics control. There is a video demo below.

Demo: