If you want to create your own laser engraver or pen plotter, your first instinct may be to research what can be done with the Grbl Arduino CNC package. This is a great start, and can power all kinds of g-code based equipment; you’ll just need to figure out the details of what stepper driver to connect where, and how to power your laser, if that’s the marking method you’re using.
Or, for a ready-made solution, there’s Bart Dring’s Pen/Laser Bot Controller. As he puts it, “I make a lot of projects that need a controller like this and there is nothing on the market that is as easy to use and connect as this controller.” To that end, he created this board that features a power connector, footprints for an Arduino Nano and two stepper drivers, as well as connectors for other accessories, including X and Y limit switches. What’s more, it can be used as a Raspberry Pi HAT by soldering in an included connector.
The device looks extremely useful for pen and laser devices as envisioned, but given its ability to interpret g-code, I could certainly see something like this applied in many other creative ways. You can find more details on the build via his blog post, and as for what he’s done in the laser and pen plotter arena to warrant such a device, his Coasty coaster engraver and Polar Coaster plotter shown in the videos below should explain things nicely:
[H/T: Makezine]
