MicroPython based 3D printed drawing robot powered by a TTGO T-Display

[russ_h]

Here is my first MicroPython project, a MicroPython based 3D printed drawing robot powered by a TTGO T-Display ESP32 Module.



Here are a few links with more information, GitHub repo, Shaky cam video of it in action, and Documentation

[marfis]

just really impressed by how well you documented this project. Also you seem to have gone the extra mile with the ui/font and preloaded fat image to download.

[OutoftheBOTS_]

That's quite impressive, not an easy thing to achieve that accuracy.

I like how you stamp it rather than try to drag the pen, is this how you get better accuracy??

[russ_h]

just really impressed by how well you documented this project. Also you seem to have gone the extra mile with the ui/font and preloaded fat image to download.

Thank you. I was hoping the preloaded fat image would help beginners get started. I used an arduino version of the bot for classes I gave at our local makerspace but felt it would be nicer if people could show off their bot without having to learn how to program in C or C++.

Russ

[russ_h]

That's quite impressive, not an easy thing to achieve that accuracy.

I like how you stamp it rather than try to drag the pen, is this how you get better accuracy??

Since the bot turns pretty slowly, I lift the pen during rotations to avoid leaving a blob of ink.
Russ

[OutoftheBOTS_]

Did you design all the hardware yourself??

[russ_h]

Did you design all the hardware yourself??

Yes, but the idea is based on the Low-Cost, Arduino-Compatible Drawing Robot by MakersBox. After doing a class with MakersBox's design, that was scheduled for 2 hours but ended up running for 6, I wanted something easier and quicker to build for beginners. Cheap breadboards can be probmatic on moving robots.

I designed an arduino shield for the driver chips and once I discovered the Hershey fonts I added an EEPROM for font and program storage. I held another build a bot class and while it went well, people found using 'C' in the Arduino IDE difficult. I modified an Arduino tiny basic interpreter by adding additional commands to run the bot. I did a couple more classes then discovered the ESP8266 and MicroPython.

I redesigned again around an ESP8266 board but frequently ran into memory issues. When the ESP32 was released I did another redesign, adapted the original python turtle graphics module and created a user interface ending up with the TurtlePlotBot3. I'll be using this version in a new round of makerspace classes once it's safe to do again.

Russ

[OutoftheBOTS_]

Sounds like you have put a considerable amount of time and effort into developing this project. I notice you have also created great dos as well.

If you were to guess the total hours to get your design to this standard how many hours do you think you have spent??

[russ_h]

Sounds like you have put a considerable amount of time and effort into developing this project. I notice you have also created great dos as well.

If you were to guess the total hours to get your design to this standard how many hours do you think you have spent??

Thats hard to say. I wrote the first Micropython code a little over 2.5 years ago but it was pretty limited and not very pythonic. I've been working this version for about 9 months and would guess it's taken close to 1/4 of my spare time. That includes learning python, MicroPython, Sphinx, working with surface mount technology and trying to improve my whole documentation game.

Russ

[pythoncoder]

Most impressive