Wall printer - from idea to implementation
Is there a connection between apartment renovation and IT innovation? Until this summer, I would say no, unless we are talking about some kind of nano-paint. But certain events pushed me to interesting thoughts and even made me write this article.
Last year I was repairing. Having painted most of the walls, it became clear that I wanted something more interesting than a smooth color or wallpaper in the flower. The bare wall looked at me with a call saying “Well, what are you capable of? What are your ideas? ”. It lasted for at least three months, during which I sadly looked at the beautiful illustrations on creative sites and on my hands, which are not able to give out anything more than a couple of emoticons. And when I almost gave up and was ready to paint the wall with white - the color of defeat, a case came to the rescue. The familiar artist, who had previously worked only in the genre of book illustration, agreed to try her hand in large format.
Below you can see the process:
')
The work took 4 weeks, but we got a result that exceeded expectations - now we have a real “PF of Art” in our house with an area of ​​10 square meters. But, it must be admitted that if it were not for a happy set of circumstances, then this is unlikely to become a reality. Three factors must coincide: performer, money and time. And each of them is a potential problem! Either there is no person, or it is very expensive, or ... In general, it is easier to glue the wallpaper.
It was then that the idea came up that surely you can make this method of decoration accessible to anyone who wants to see something beautiful around them. In this regard, only truck drivers succeeded - calendars and magazines supplied them with an incredible selection of beauties!
We have long been printing on almost any surface. So why not do it on the walls? So there is:
- the desire to decorate the walls of the apartment with various images at moderate cost
- Millions of ready-made and really cool illustrations that can make any apartment unique (which only DeviantArt + costs to this, many world museums have digitized in very high quality and shared the pictures of great masters)
- high cost of manual work
- advanced printing technology at very affordable prices
- lack of solutions on the market for such tasks
All this was enough for me to think about a startup in order to create a printer for wall printing. In this article I would like to discuss the project, hear the criticism and maybe find people who would like to participate in the implementation (allow a nod to the local public — there is little where you can find such a level of constructive and erudition).
So let's go! To start, set goals:
- printing on a vertical surface
- printing on any area (by summing printed fragments)
- printing images of any geometric parameters
- use of standard components and materials for printing in the framework of inkjet technology
- how to sell all this (but it seems to me that this is already a marketing topic, and it is worth discussing it as part of a separate topic)
At the moment there is a theoretical understanding of how to make a finished prototype. Below I will describe in detail the engineering concept of a vertical printer. The project is divided into two parts - iron and software. The tasks of the “iron” part include the creation of a printed block on the basis of the available technologies and finished components. The software part must coordinate the process, the location of the printing unit on the surface and the submission to print of the corresponding part of the image (since the whole is created by printing the parts).
So, how should a printer work in the hands of a user?
1. In the “Driver” (soft part) we set the dimensions of the real printed field.
2. Choose an image (I suppose it was bought from the author, now there are a lot of resources with a large selection and high quality of photos and illustrations) and load it into the “Driver”, where we also position this image within the printed field.
3. The “driver” logically divides the images into segments equal to the printed field of the printer (for example, A4 format) and determines the order of printing these segments.
Start printing process.
4. The operator applies the printer to the upper left corner of the printed field (the starting point of the print).
5. The print head makes a standard horizontal pass, after which it is shifted a “step” down the vertical runners. The process is repeated until the full coverage of the printed field.
6. The operator moves the printer to the next segment, which is indicated by the Driver. The positioning of the printer takes place with the help of laser pickups (the most important thing is to sustain the horizontal with respect to the previous printed segment and the junction with it). After placing the operator presses the start button to start printing.
7. The process is repeated until complete satisfaction!
Areas of use:
- interior decoration
Advantages (closest competitor - photo wallpaper)
- simplicity (in our case, you just need to bring the printer in place and you can work. In the case of photo wallpaper, the number of steps is more)
- no joints
- absence of classical problems of wallpaper sticking (bumps, bubbles, etc.)
- organic from an aesthetic point of view (on the example of my own repair, I can’t imagine how it would be possible to organically fit the photo wallpaper into the existing environment).
Possible difficulties:
- Printed surfaces / texture. Perhaps there will be some restrictions on printing on different surfaces. The quality of printing depends half on how the paint is laid on a specific surface - for this reason there is special paper for slender printers. But given that in decorative printing it is not necessary to have a clear image (as in the case of printing texts or graphics on paper) this factor is not so important.
- Printed surfaces / evenness. Not every wall can boast an ideal geometry, for this reason the printer should have a mechanical regulator of the distance from the print head to the surface (I suppose the print head should have a floating up and down stroke, which keeps a constant distance between the print nozzles and the surface ).
Printing cost:
- The average consumption of modern inkjet printers of the order of 10-20 ml of ink per square meter. The cost per square meter of printing at current prices (January 2015) is about 50 rubles (using non-OEM ink).
Ps. For those who read to the end. I am looking for people who have the knowledge necessary to bring the project to a working prototype. Ready to listen to any ideas and suggestions. I will be glad to new acquaintances that will grow into business results.
Last year I was repairing. Having painted most of the walls, it became clear that I wanted something more interesting than a smooth color or wallpaper in the flower. The bare wall looked at me with a call saying “Well, what are you capable of? What are your ideas? ”. It lasted for at least three months, during which I sadly looked at the beautiful illustrations on creative sites and on my hands, which are not able to give out anything more than a couple of emoticons. And when I almost gave up and was ready to paint the wall with white - the color of defeat, a case came to the rescue. The familiar artist, who had previously worked only in the genre of book illustration, agreed to try her hand in large format.
Below you can see the process:
')
The work took 4 weeks, but we got a result that exceeded expectations - now we have a real “PF of Art” in our house with an area of ​​10 square meters. But, it must be admitted that if it were not for a happy set of circumstances, then this is unlikely to become a reality. Three factors must coincide: performer, money and time. And each of them is a potential problem! Either there is no person, or it is very expensive, or ... In general, it is easier to glue the wallpaper.
It was then that the idea came up that surely you can make this method of decoration accessible to anyone who wants to see something beautiful around them. In this regard, only truck drivers succeeded - calendars and magazines supplied them with an incredible selection of beauties!
We have long been printing on almost any surface. So why not do it on the walls? So there is:
- the desire to decorate the walls of the apartment with various images at moderate cost
- Millions of ready-made and really cool illustrations that can make any apartment unique (which only DeviantArt + costs to this, many world museums have digitized in very high quality and shared the pictures of great masters)
- high cost of manual work
- advanced printing technology at very affordable prices
- lack of solutions on the market for such tasks
All this was enough for me to think about a startup in order to create a printer for wall printing. In this article I would like to discuss the project, hear the criticism and maybe find people who would like to participate in the implementation (allow a nod to the local public — there is little where you can find such a level of constructive and erudition).
So let's go! To start, set goals:
- printing on a vertical surface
- printing on any area (by summing printed fragments)
- printing images of any geometric parameters
- use of standard components and materials for printing in the framework of inkjet technology
- how to sell all this (but it seems to me that this is already a marketing topic, and it is worth discussing it as part of a separate topic)
At the moment there is a theoretical understanding of how to make a finished prototype. Below I will describe in detail the engineering concept of a vertical printer. The project is divided into two parts - iron and software. The tasks of the “iron” part include the creation of a printed block on the basis of the available technologies and finished components. The software part must coordinate the process, the location of the printing unit on the surface and the submission to print of the corresponding part of the image (since the whole is created by printing the parts).
So, how should a printer work in the hands of a user?
1. In the “Driver” (soft part) we set the dimensions of the real printed field.
2. Choose an image (I suppose it was bought from the author, now there are a lot of resources with a large selection and high quality of photos and illustrations) and load it into the “Driver”, where we also position this image within the printed field.
3. The “driver” logically divides the images into segments equal to the printed field of the printer (for example, A4 format) and determines the order of printing these segments.
Start printing process.
4. The operator applies the printer to the upper left corner of the printed field (the starting point of the print).
5. The print head makes a standard horizontal pass, after which it is shifted a “step” down the vertical runners. The process is repeated until the full coverage of the printed field.
6. The operator moves the printer to the next segment, which is indicated by the Driver. The positioning of the printer takes place with the help of laser pickups (the most important thing is to sustain the horizontal with respect to the previous printed segment and the junction with it). After placing the operator presses the start button to start printing.
7. The process is repeated until complete satisfaction!
Areas of use:
- interior decoration
Advantages (closest competitor - photo wallpaper)
- simplicity (in our case, you just need to bring the printer in place and you can work. In the case of photo wallpaper, the number of steps is more)
- no joints
- absence of classical problems of wallpaper sticking (bumps, bubbles, etc.)
- organic from an aesthetic point of view (on the example of my own repair, I can’t imagine how it would be possible to organically fit the photo wallpaper into the existing environment).
Possible difficulties:
- Printed surfaces / texture. Perhaps there will be some restrictions on printing on different surfaces. The quality of printing depends half on how the paint is laid on a specific surface - for this reason there is special paper for slender printers. But given that in decorative printing it is not necessary to have a clear image (as in the case of printing texts or graphics on paper) this factor is not so important.
- Printed surfaces / evenness. Not every wall can boast an ideal geometry, for this reason the printer should have a mechanical regulator of the distance from the print head to the surface (I suppose the print head should have a floating up and down stroke, which keeps a constant distance between the print nozzles and the surface ).
Printing cost:
- The average consumption of modern inkjet printers of the order of 10-20 ml of ink per square meter. The cost per square meter of printing at current prices (January 2015) is about 50 rubles (using non-OEM ink).
Ps. For those who read to the end. I am looking for people who have the knowledge necessary to bring the project to a working prototype. Ready to listen to any ideas and suggestions. I will be glad to new acquaintances that will grow into business results.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/375689/
All Articles