Pavement Printer Testing

Testing has begun on the Pavement Printer.

Some unexpected results:

Water consumption can be quite high, however when testing random water jets, many are often on at the same time, and at a much higher frequency than when writing characters; so I'm optimistic that water consumption will be less of a concern
The pressure needed for the water to fan out from the nozzles at the expected 15 degrees is much higher than I want to run. While getting those larger pixels would be nice, water consumption would go way up, as well as the volume of CO2. Surprisingly, it takes very little pressure to lay down dots, so that is the way i'll run the machine, to extend the consumables
Even at low pressures, the water splashes back up soaking the bottom of the frame...so I'll need to get the wood frame painted before I use this too much, so the frame doesn't start warping or rotting

Here is the character set I've come up with for the machine:

The wood frame will be painted black.

Comments

Event Preparation

I've been working on the machine for this Friday's STEM+Families event at Van Buren Elementary. Looking forward to inspiring the children! My wife helped out and made vinyl letters: Paint is curing:

The Pavement Printer is an Arduino powered printer that produces temporary words and images using water. The machine was built to inspire people in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math), particularly with younger individuals. 9 electrically controlled nozzles are actuated by an Arduino Nano to create the images. The water is pressurized and pushed thorough the nozzles using compressed CO2, the same gas that is used in draft beer systems. Speed, and hence spray duration, is calculated by detecting the magnetic field of 6 magnets bonded to one of the wheels; a hall effect sensor detects these magnetic fields as the wheel rotates. The machine has progressed since it's inception one month ago to a rolling platform, and will begin testing very soon! This project was inspired by Nicholas Hanna, the creator of the Trike Writer. You can learn more about him and his machine here: http://nicholashanna.net/

Mechanical Music

I'm inching closer to the test run, remaining items are finishing the speed sensor, installing the spray nozzles in the valves, and rigging up a water tank. Yesterday my wife made a vinyl template so I could electro-etch my name into the machine. The valves have been wired and the machine is almost ready for a test run! Check out a brief video here: Pavement Printer Valve Cycling

Pavement Printer

Search This Blog