Axidraw

We have an Axidraw!

It can draw on any flat surface using any sort of pen shaped writing implement!

It should live near the 3d printers and should be treated with care.

The Axidraw is controlled through a few custom Inkscape extensions. Full documentation can be found on the Evil Mad Scientist Wiki

Personal notes:

You'll need both the Axidraw control extension and the Hatch Fill extension. This will allow you to take SVG images with large color sections and turn them into a series of straight lines that the Axidraw can understand. With that you can choose the closeness of the lines to each other and to the edge (typically another drawn path) which are dependent on the thickness of the pen.

For multi-color drawings you can either wing it, and make sure not to bump the Axidraw or drawing surface, or draw a registration mark on the page, and use tracing paper to draw the mark for subsequent colors (to test alignment)