Our mechanical design consists of three major components: the box structure, the disk moving mechanism, and the pen moving mechanism.

The Box

Our record-player inspired box is made of laser cut ¼ in. plywood. We chose this method and material as it provided both efficiency and stability. An extra feature we added is a side that can slide out to reveal the electric components and circuitry that control our device.

The Disk

The disk, a large gear that is run by a smaller gear attached to a DC motor mounted to the box, holds the paper the pens draw on. Attached to the disk are small clips that hold the paper in place. The motor will spin the disk for the duration of a song as the pens draw on the paper. This is made of laser cut ¼ in. acrylic.

The Pens

Each of our three pens are run by a lead screw powered by a servo motor. A laser cut MDF plate is mounted on the side of the box and the other end plate is attached to a band sawed sheet metal bar run across the middle of the box. The pens are attached to the lead screws by 3D printed mounts screwed on to lead screw nuts. To keep the pen mounts upright, we fabricated sheet metal rails to also run parallel on either side of each lead screw.