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Showing posts from March, 2019

Drawing from Inskcape using Bluetooth connection

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Some time ago I developed 4xiDraw , a 2D drawing machine using a single belt, a 3D printable clone of AxiDraw(tm) pen plotter. Instead of the EBB board they used, I opted for an Arduino-based solution, with a CNC shield and regular Pololu-like stepper motor drivers. Initially, I started using various Inkscape plug-ins that will convert the drawing into a G-code file. Once the G-code was created, I would use the UniversalGcodeSender program to stream it to the drawing machine. That worked ok, both wired and wirelessly (using Bluetooth). But later, a kind user named Torsten Martinsen migrated the existing AxiDraw plug-in to the 4xiDraw hardware controller. This way, plotting happened right inside Inkscape program without the need to messing with external files or other additional software. Very cool indeed! I left the project living its own life, with a lot of users creating their own version of it and doing all kinds of interesting hacks, till I received an awkward request fro