G-Code Controlled 2D Robotic Plotter

Abstract

2D Robotic Plotter is implemented based on the principle of Computer Numeric Control (CNC). Normally,Computer Aided Design software (CAD) can be used as the replacement for manual drafting with an automated process. A 2D Robotic Plotter basically works with two stepped motors and a Servo motor with the control of ATMEGA168p Microcontroller. In our proposed methodology an ARDUINO IDE platform controls the Motor Driver Shield (L293D) for the movement of the pen in the x and y direction to the rotation in stepper motors. The servo motor is used for raising and lowering the pen in vertical directions. Ink-scape and G-Code is used for converting the drawing into control signals used by Microcontroller. In Ink-scape (0.48.5)is an open source software that binds the program along with the diagram for the efficient plotting. Also G-code is a numeric control programming language which is used mainly in computer aided manufacturing to control automated machine tools. The2D robotic plotter is a low cost embedded equivalent CNC controller and can be widely used in areas where the accuracy is considered.