Escher Is a Cloud-Controlled Etch A Sketch

Remember many years ago, when if you wanted to play with an Etch A Sketch, you did so with your own two hands. Well times have changed, and with the advent of easily-available automation hardware plus digital manufacturing methods like 3D printers and laser cutters, automated versions of these drawing toys are easy enough to find with a quick web search.

Engineer Matt Welsh, however, takes things to a new level, claiming his auto-'Sketch "Escher" to be the world’s first cloud-controlled device of this type. Hardware for the project consists of an Adafruit Feather HUZZAH32 board, which allows it to connect up to a local network via WiFi. It can then be operated from someone’s phone, tablet, or computer via a normal website, using Google Firebase to provide the go-between for data exchange.

Escher's web interface can be found here, though the intention is that people nearby will control it, so you’ll need an access code to get in.

Mechanically, Escher uses new 3D-printed gear knobs along with a pair of stepper motors. Cleverly, the device is designed in such a way that when you do want to draw manually, the Etch A Sketch can simply be picked up off it’s base and used normally (though with more gear-like knobs). If you’d like to know more, everything is nicely outlined in Welsh’s write-up, including a section on the lessons he learned through the build process.