Introduction and Project Summary

Leonardo Da Pinchy is a six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm designed to turn drawings made on a website into physical artwork. Unlike typical drawing machines, which work only on a fixed flat surface, our robot will be calibrated by touching three points (which form a plane) to find a sheet of paper that may be moved, rotated, or propped at an angle, then adjust its movements automatically. It will have a Sharpie marker, or pen, follow the submitted line drawing, maintain gentle and continuous contact with the paper through a spring-loaded, force-sensing holder, and replicate the user’s digital drawing on paper. A Raspberry Pi and external server will manage the website, drawing queue, and path planning, while a microcontroller controls the arm and monitors its sensors. Our goal is to create a safe, reliable, and approachable system that demonstrates how a highly flexible robot can perform the same delicate, precise hand movements people use to draw.