In the midst of striking for climate change awareness, you may need some extra hands. That’s what [Anred Zynch] thought when they built Strettexter, the text-spraying writing robot that sprays onto streets.
The machine is loaded with 8 spray cans placed into a wooden box (a stop line with a wooden ledge to prevent the cans from falling out) and is fixed on top of a skateboard. It uses a PWN/Servo shield soldered onto an Arduino Uno connected to 8 servo motors (TowerPro SG90s) to control each of the spray bottles. A table converts every character into 5×8 bit fonts to fit the size of the spraying module. The device also includes a safety switch, as well as an encoder for measuring the horizontal distance traveled.
The Strettexter is activated by pulling on the skateboard once it’s been set up and connected to power (for portability, it uses a 8000mAh power bank). In its current configuration, the words stretch out pretty long, but some additional testing will probably lead to better results depending on the constraints of your canvas. The shorter the words, the more difficult it is for the white text to be legible, since there is significant spacing between printed bits.
We don’t condone public vandalism, so use this hack at your own discretion.
[Thanks neiß for the tip!]
One reason I loved https://hackaday.com/2014/08/29/the-chalkjet-an-ink-jet-printer-for-the-streets/ so much was precisely because since it’s chalk, it washes away.
Project: now dangle this linear spray system below a quadcopter, and suddenly you open up entirely new possibilities of getting your message out. I’ve built a very small demo version but my quadcopter skills aren’t sufficient to keep it level, and I don’t have the money for a big quad that’d make legible messages.
Simple water spots are actually pretty readable (in dry weather).
Thanks. The Calkjet is new for me.
Can I use this to paint giant penises around all the potholes in my town? Uh asking for a friend
Nope you need to build a huge Delta on a bottomless trailer for that sort of serious work.
The town I live in would need 55 gallon drums of paint to get all the potholes.
Looks like one disadvantage of using spray paint is that you need to factor in amount of paint used in each line. If you had a chalk system you could keep an eye on the chalk levels.
You look at the weight of the can for the same purpose.
Thats right, but more complex. This was build with stuff laying in our garage. And we want build it as cheap as we can. The weight is no problem.
I’m sure this was done years ago and implemented better too, perhaps even mentioned on HAD.
Possible but not relevant to us.
PWN?! Pulse Width Nodulation?
pulse with noodlelation
or something. no seriously, don’t your proofread your articles before posting them?
good, banging out those articles without spell-checking or refencing previous art featured here.
Yes, prior art. ( https://hackaday.com/2008/05/24/pic-controlled-spray-paint/ )
Now consider yourself prior art and allow new generations their hacks ( or go f… yourself )
I’m sure the cleanup process will have zero impact on the climate what with the solvents and trucks driving around doing the work…
It’s chalk. Water is the solvent and rain is the delivery mechanism (solar powered).
Also ChalkJET (2009) > https://hackaday.com/2014/08/29/the-chalkjet-an-ink-jet-printer-for-the-streets/
Vandalism is a common element of protesting. It’s sure to get TV media coverage, and usually last longer than crowds chanting obscenities and waving signs. The aerosol cans are a hold over from the 70s, when we had a different climate catastrophe, global cooling (Ice Age). Basically, it’s fighting global warming, by destroying the ozone layer, cooling the planet, again. Of course, there wasn’t any impending ice age, just like we aren’t going to scorch the earth.
If this happens just call Nicolas so he can come with his Karcher…
(only for people knowing french politics)
scnr – i do agree, please don’t give this thing to anybody.
So… climate change awareness through spam vandalism(that will require additional resources for cleanup) using unrecyclable aerosol cans? Kinda hypocritical. Do you transport the thing on its own private jet? Power it with a TEC generator using burning tires as fuel?
The ends justify the means. What’s a little pollution and a few dead animals if it means moar powah to the gubmint.
I’m pretty sure the protest is inherently anti-government.
The US government (among many others) is pro-pollution and anti-sustainability, with a strategy of maximizing short-term profit without considering the economic impact that will be felt a few decades later.
Environmentalism is inherently Capitalist, Libertarian approach, since it ensures there will be resources and economic stability for generations to come, and opposes big government measures like subsidizing pollution and waste while taxing sustainable technologies.
climate change awareness through spam vandalism? Yes! If the rules do not change, very big problems comming. It’s time to do something fast. Depending on less time we have, the higher our pressure will be and the heavier our protest will become. We dont have to be perfect to build things.
I wonder if I could mount this to the bottom of my jeep?