Projects/Miniplotter

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PCB mini plotter

This project is a simple arduino-driven miniplotter for making PDBs by martin_p. The main motivation was to create a little machine, capable of making simple shields for Arduino Nano, out of reused electronics. It does work, and I use it very often for hacking small electronics boards.

As I still actively use it, I keep on improving little bits and pieces on the original design. The plotter is my learning platform - when I started, I had no idea how stepper motors work, and I didn't design electronics or programmed Arduinos for many years. Please bear that in mind while reading this page :) .

All resources (mechanical parts, electronics design, Arduino and Linux C++ code) live on GitHub - feel free to use it, reuse it and hack it. If you substantially improve on anything, or if you build something similar-ish, I'd love to hear about it!

Version 1.0

The first working version, and a result of many iterations and failures. A presentation I made for the Arduino group can be seen here.

Version 2.0

Improved electronics design - using substepping and current-limiting drivers significantly improved performance, accuracy, and made the plotter much much quieter.