Using the Evil Mad Scientist AxiDraw V3 A3

We have a Evil Mad Scientist AxiDraw V3 A3 this machine can be used at no cost other than providing your own paper and pens.

You will need to install the AxiDraw software.

There are some other interfaces too:

• CLI API
• Python API
• Processing and Axidraw
• R Direct drive

Setup

Understanding the Layout

The top left-hand corner of the page you want to draw on should be aligned with the default position of the pen. The 'y-direction' is parallel to the arm that holds the pen; the x-direction is perpendicular to it. Here's a comparison of the output from the plotter vs what was on my computer:

To help yourself out with scale it's worth setting up Inkscape to use cm or mm by default, so you can get a sense for how large the output will be.

Workflow: Processing to Axidraw

In order for the plotter to draw a file, it needs to be in SVG format. For this, we can use the Processing SVG library -- it comes installed with Processing already, so you don't need to download anything to use it.

import processing.svg.*;

void setup() {

  // Starting up, 500px canvas
  size(500, 500);
  beginRecord(SVG, "svg/circle.svg");
  noLoop();
}
  
void draw() {
  //we only want an outline
  noFill();
  
  //draw a circle in the centre of the canvas
  circle(250, 250, 250);
  
  // save our SVG file
  endRecord();
}