flora

This is a CNC pen plotter. The basic framework is built from a kit available from OpenBuilds (a fantastic resource and community for this sort of thing). The rest of the parts are sourced from Amazon or designed and built myself using CAD and a 3D printer. The dragchains and pen holder were adapted from existing open-source designs here and here. (thanks everyone!) To see way too many process pics of the build click here.

This plotter design allows for experimenting with multiple types of pens and media.

The forms are generated using a plugin called Grasshopper that allows one to “program” the CAD software Rhinoceros using a visual interface.

I built a tool with this software allowing me to tweak various parameters to create a huge variety of designs. The designs are then saved as SVG files for the next step.

The next step is bringing the image into Inkscape - a free vector graphics editing program with a built-in plugin that converts images to GCode. The images are arranged on a template which orients them on the page so they will draw properly on the plotter.

Once the images are arranged on the page they are converted to GCode - which is basically a text file with instructions for the CNC Plotter on what movements to make in order to reproduce the image. Sometimes I will generate multiple passes of different parts of an image so I can change pens between plots to get multi-color images.

Sample Gcode. Just a list of instructions for the plotter to follow. It takes this much code to describe a small fraction of the final image. This makes a single geometric shape and there are typically one to two thousand such shapes that make up a single composition.

Finally the image is ready to plot! Paper and pens are selected and inserted and the GCode is sent to the plotter. Check out the images and video below to see the work in progress…

A collection of various ‘flora’.