Five-Axis Robot Photo Pumpkin Carving
Inventor Shane Wighton of “Stuff Made Here” of self-haircut barber robot created an interesting bot last Halloween, and it’s just as relevant in 2021. What is it? A five-axis robot capable of carving photos into pumpkins, but this creation is a lot more complex than it sounds. While it may use the same electronics as the barber robot, this one was mostly built from scratch, starting with the swiveling spindle with two sets of aluminum extrusions for vertical and horizontal movement.



The most challenging part of this build was the software, as it had to be programmed to accommodate the five-axis motion while mapping 2D images onto a spherical surface. The latter issue was solved with Mercator projection to solve the problem, as in a custom script that probes the surface of the pumpkin with a microswitch before cutting. After all was said and done, the machine is capable of carving profiles as well as variable depth lithophanes.

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