Complete novice here, but I’ve become obsessed with trying to create this project and would love some advice from more experienced users.
So i’m trying to make a drawing machine/table similar to the one in this video.
So what I need is to be able to have three simultaneously controlled, slowly rotating points (one for the spinning drawing surface, two for the base points of the arms). I think running three stepper motors is the way to go (correct me if there’s a better way) and I have some questions regarding this.
Can I run 3 motors simultaneously through the same arduino uno?
Do I need to power them all separately/is there a way to power them from a wall socket instead of battery power?
I’m sorry if these questions are stupid, but I’m jumping into something completely new and am trying to learn what I can.
Steppers is one option, but unless you care about exact positioning and exact speed control a geared down DC motor will work just as well. Can't see how the table in the video is done, can be a single DC motor with a set of gears to keep the two sides perfectly in sync. The alternative would be two stepper motors, as it's nigh impossible to keep two DC motors perfectly in sync. But then maybe you want them to run out of sync?
Easy to run three steppers from one Arduino.
Of course can be powered from wall power. Just use a power adapter. 19V (laptop supply) or a 12V or 24V supply (common voltages) will do great. One stepper driver per motor. Add either a buck converter (5V output) or old mobile phone charger to power the Arduino (of course you use the 5V pin with 5V, not the Vin).
soracheski:
So what I need is to be able to have three simultaneously controlled, slowly rotating points (one for the spinning drawing surface, two for the base points of the arms).
The drawing surface is not moving in your video.
I don't know if that machine can repeat drawings or if it always just makes random shapes. I suspect they are just random. To repeat a drawing it would have to be possible to set all the parts to a pre-determined start position and operate at pre-determined speeds.
I would be very tempted to make a quick demo machine using 4 continuous rotation servos to drive the 4 disks. The Arduino could control their speeds but not their positions.
If you need position control then stepper motors are the way to go - but you will need some sort of detectors to identify when each motor is at the HOME or ZERO position. Beam-break optical detectors would probably be suitable. An Arduino could also easily control the stepper motors.
That machine looks cool, but there are much easier (and quicker) ways to produce diagrams like that with a PC, some software and an ink-jet printer
