Looking to get your message (way) out there, but don't exactly have the means to rig up, say, a van-sized
StreetWriter? Fret not, as a clever DIY'er has managed to craft a smallish printer that can blast largish text onto nearly any surface. By utilizing an
iRobot Create, an old dot-matrix printer, an eBox 2300 x86 PC, a counterweight and a good bit of Talcum powder, you too can be expressing yourself on football fields, sidewalks or street corners in no time. Best of all, you can control the thing from your high-rise thanks to the built-in wireless capabilities, but you may want to strap some
weaponry on it if you really plan on sending your own PrintBot out on a solo mission.
posted Dec 23rd 2007 9:41AM
Amazing to see some one's so creative...
3 n s l @ v 3 h u m @ n 1 t y . . .
Funny you should mention the StreetWriter project...too bad I can't comment on that old article because I can shine some light on the situation. The lead picture which does indeed read "NO MORE PRISONS" was painted on the rear lawn of the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, CT...while I watched! The van's interior was a fun mess!
It was a demonstration commissioned as part of the "Art on the Edge of the Law" series. Cool stuff, there was a moonshine still, almost-complete LSD, and a homemade wooden shotgun inside the museum. Lots more neat stuff, too.
Well all I have to say is "To Hell with Georgia!" GO JACKETS!!!!
apparently you had to say it three times, three different ways too!
To Hell with Georgia! GO JACKETS!!!
GO JACKETS!!! To Hell with Georgia!
What bowl game is Tech going to this year? I forget.
Oh that's right . . . the "Humanitarian Bowl." Nice.
The Dawgs will be in New Orleans while you bugs are freezing your asses off in Boise. Go Dawgs!
Sorry R, when I decided to go to GT how good the football team was really wasn't on my list of concerns.
Luckily all of my choices in employers could have cared less as well.
But enjoy your dogs, too bad they aren't even SEC champs, you would think they could get at least one thing right?
Nothing says team spirit like spelling your college's initials in talc. Manly!
I'll enjoy watching Hawaii give UGA a good "Vick"-ing!
I could see this thing being used at Nurburing.
Or the Nurburgring.
Someone's been playing with their "powder" candy for too long. They must've thought the razor wasn't fast enough. This should speed up the process quite a bit.
haha I was just about to say crack dealers are going to be buying these up!!! "hey what should we write today...snort here" hahhahahahaha
I think you meant "coke dealers." I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure you don't snort crack.
I was in the senior design class during the same semester these guys made the first iteration of this. It made my project look horrible, but congratulations guys.
Does it have to spray talc? You could lay down some mean lines with this thing.
I seem to recall a story, I believe during the 2004 US Presidential Elections, where a guy rigged up something like this on his bike. He would ride around town (I want to say it was in NYC) and people would send him SMS messages about political issues and they would be written on the sidewalk automatically.
He got fined or arrested for vandalism, as I recall. I'll see if I can find the exact story.
I don't know if it's the angle of the photography, or what, but it looks like as it moves forward (perhaps just when printing), it has a slight lean to the right (the top of the letters look narrower than the base, slightly, indicating that it turns toward the top of the letters a little on each pass).
Might be related to the fact that the print carriage is off-center. Or the big weigh at that end of the print carriage. Or both.
I think it's just too bad that they spent all that work to print something in Arial.
I'm a Times New Roman fanboi, I admit it. Frickin office 2007 standard is Courier, I feel so betrayed.
imagine the warchalking possibilities!
Unfortunately any time someone sees wires and white powder, somebody is going to prison for terrorist charges. How long would Chicago be in a hysteria with this thing going down the street writing "Jihad" out the back?
Boston would be the best choice.
But can it do comic sans????
So I guess Banksy now has a new way to display his urban art without annoying the local council...
My initials :)
I for one, welcome our new talcum wielding overlords.