SphereBot - Full Project

thingiverse

This project enables you to draw on spherical surfaces such as Christmas balls or eggs, commonly known as Eggbots or Spherebots. It features a larger "print area" for drawing on Christmas balls with a diameter of 7/8 inches. The mechanical part consists of 3D-printed components, threaded rods, and bearings. You can download and modify Sketchup files to customize the size. The software utilizes Gcode, which can be handled by usable software with an intuitive user interface, downloadable from here or Github. To create your design or text in Gcode, use a free software like INKSCAPE, which can be modified through Python scripts and has an extension to export vector images as Gcode. Installation is simple; copy files under the SRC folder into the Inkscape extensions folder. To transform a written text into Gcode, select the object path and save it with a *.Gcode extension. The spherebot is equipped with two stepper motors (for rotating the ball and moving the marker) and a servo (for raising/lowering the pen). It also uses an Arduino-based board from the 3Drag printer for easy software editing. The firmware manages the motors according to Gcode commands via USB, allowing you to write on the ball without issues. More info can be found at http://www.open-electronics.org/spherebot-reloaded-customize-your-xmas/.