The World's Most Expensive Etch A Sketch?

A $3,399 portable multi-channel data recorder converted into a digital Etch A Sketch with two potentiometers.

Jeremy Cook
4 years ago

Late last year, Gough Lui was tasked with doing a road test of the DAS240-BAT portable multi-channel data recorder by BK Precision. At the same time, he realized that the deadline for the element14 Holiday Special 19 was coming up, so he decided to combine the two pursuits into “A Modern Digital Etch A Sketch.”

His project employs a pair of 500 ohm knob-style potentiometers as X and Y inputs. The DAS240-BAT records resistance directly, so plotting was simply a matter of connecting the leads into the 20-channel input module via pluggable terminal blocks. The pots were then secured to a table with Blu Tack adhesive so they could be turned.

As seen in the video below, he was able to form a heart, then spell out his name. While not perfect images, Lui is quick to note that he didn’t have an Etch A Sketch growing up, and doesn’t consider himself artistic. The jerkiness of the output, however, could be improved by using 10-turn potentiometers, rather than the 270-degree range of the dials that are employed here.

It’s a rather expensive way to build an Etch A Sketch — which are available for $20 — but as a fun way to test out a data recorder, it's a perfect solution. As one commenter mentioned, now it’s just a matter of adding an accelerometer to erase the screen when it detects shaking!

Jeremy Cook
Engineer, maker of random contraptions, love learning about tech. Write for various publications, including Hackster!
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