Developed as a part of my thesis for the University of Colorado Boulder, this robot uses principles of physical computing and digital art to bridge the gap between digital and physical creations.

The power of digital art tools is an undeniable force, but some works are better suited for traditional media. I found that my process usually started on my iPad, but when it came time to transition to physical media like paper or canvas, that some of the line drawing had lost its personality from the digital sketch.

This machine will take the line drawing from a digital source and convert it to a scalable vector drawing. Accompanying software accepts any physical dimensions for the target substrate, and will break the image down to smaller grid sections, allowing the image to be perfectly translated onto any size surface without loss of quality. A flexible “hand” on the robot will allow use of anything from a pencil to a sharpie for the initial transfer. After just a few minutes, your digital drawing will be perfectly translated to traditional media.