Maker Faire City of STEM + Los Angeles 2024
Super-simple drawing machines by Johan
Home: Western Cape, South Africa
Live demos of a tiny digital harmonograph and a painters tape label printer, both built with household items and very, very little software.
https://johan.beyers.co.za/
Makers
Johan Beyers
I am an electronic engineer turned software developer, and a maker at heart. I got back into electronics in 2012, building projects on and off for the past 12 years and occasionally hosting maker evenings in my garage in Stellenbosch, South Africa. I enjoy building simple projects that work surprisingly well despite the materials and workmanship.
https://johan.beyers.co.za/
Astrid Beyers
I am a Food Scientist turned business manager, but always a Food Scientist at heart. For the last 17+ years, I have been eating and drinking for money on various technical sensory panels in Stellenbosch, South Africa. That and making jams and preserves keeps me sane especially when I should be submitting paperwork and doing admin for my day job running a web development company.
What Inspired You to Make This?
Harmonograph: My dad built a harmonograph in the fifties from an old bicycle, and the drawings fascinated me. I decided to simulate this in a tiny form using very minimalist hardware and code, especially since the non-linear nature of the hobby servos would just add some charm to the harmonograph images. Label printer: I had an idea for building something like this since I had a lot of boxes in my garage that needed labelling. When the chance came up to participate in a weekend hackathon, I decided to build this proof of concept, and that turned out better than I anticipated.
