AxiDraw and TouchDesigner

By on

We’ve noticed a few artists on twitter and instagram using TouchDesigner as a tool in their workflow toward creating output with AxiDraw.


David Braun has been posting beautiful, and sometimes mindbending artwork on twitter.


Chris Hall posted this piece using sound waves to create scenes.

Some like it plot . . . . . #inktober #axidraw #touchdesigner

A post shared by Hard Work Party (@hardworkparty) on


Noah Norman has been posting geometric plotting videos.

#axidraw #touchdesigner

A post shared by Matthew Ragan (@raganmd) on


Matthew Ragan has been taking advantage AxiDraw’s ability to draw on just about anything, and plotting over already printed materials. He also has published his tools on github for getting vectors out of TouchDesign. He describes it as:

A pipeline for handling the SOP to SVG pipeline. This is especially handy for using procedurally generated geometry for paths to be cut or plotted.

We’ve added a link to his repository on the AxiDraw documentation wiki. We love it when folks share their tools and would love to hear what tools and processes people are using or creating for working with our plotters.

This entry was posted in Art, CNC, Software and tagged . Bookmark the Permalink.

Lady Ada Lovelace Day 2017

By on

For Lady Ada Day, we like to highlight some of the women we know who are doing amazing work in that group of fields bundled into the term STEAM. Here are a few:

Please join us today in celebrating the women in your lives who are building the world into something better, whether through science, technology, engineering, art or mathematics.

This entry was posted in Everything Else. Bookmark the Permalink.

Shopwarming Open House and Sale

By on

Evil Mad Scientist Sign

You’re invited to our open house and shopwarming!

When: Saturday, October 7, 4 pm to 8 pm
Where: Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories
1285 Forgewood Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089

Our annual open house is also a shopwarming party this year! You can tour our new location, see the MOnSter 6502 in action, check out an AxiDraw demonstration, maybe meet Zener the cat (she’s not fond of parties), do some shopping if the mood strikes, and share in food and conversation.

We’re also having a sale, so you can celebrate with us whether or not you can make it to the event!  During our sale this week (October 2-7), use checkout coupon code CELEBRATE to save 10% sitewide at our store.

With Halloween approaching, it’s a great time to stock up on Snap-O-Lantern kits, Larson Scanner kits for your Cylon (or Kraftwerk) costume, and Flickery Flame kits to put in your Jack-O-Lanterns. Or maybe you just need some candle flicker LEDs for that finishing touch on your costumes and props.

AxiDraw V3, our beloved pen plotter is also currently shipping from stock and 10% off (with that coupon code) during the sale.

This entry was posted in Evil Mad Scientist Shop, General News. Bookmark the Permalink.

Linkdump: September 2017

By on

Compound camera: an inflatable camera obscura

This entry was posted in Everything Else and tagged . Bookmark the Permalink.

Maker Faire New York 2017 Highlights

By on

Maker Faire New York was wonderful, the MOnSter 6502 got an editor’s choice ribbon, and we took a few pictures that give a taste of the faire.

Maker Faire NY 2017

In perhaps the most perfect Maker Faire spirit, the Fixers Collective brought broken things for people to fix. Broken 3D printer, anyone?

Maker Faire NY 2017

Sam Zeloof brought examples of his homemade integrated circuits along with documentation of his processes. He even made a small demo vacuum chamber to bring to the faire since the one he made and uses at home was heavier than he wanted to lug to the faire.

Maker Faire NY 2017

This great display project by Taezoo Park in front of the great hall utilized vintage portable televisions.

There are more photos up in our flickr album and there were many more wonderful things we didn’t get pictures of.

This entry was posted in Field Trips. Bookmark the Permalink.

AYAB v0.90 is here!

By on

AYAB (all yarns are beautiful) Logo

The All Yarns Are Beautiful project has just released a new version of the AYAB software, v0.90!

It’s a bugfix-release, that means it fixes mostly known issues and no additional features are introduced. This is necessary to get more stability in the software and to have solid foundation for future developments.

If you’re using our AYAB Interface, we’d encourage you to upgrade. If you want to contribute to this project that brings new life to old Brother knitting machines, head over to the announcement to read more.

This entry was posted in Electronics, EMSL Projects, Software, Vintage Technology and tagged . Bookmark the Permalink.

MOnSter 6502 at Maker Faire NY

By on

We’re excited to be bringing the MOnSter 6502 out to Maker Faire New York for its east coast debut. Maker Faire is September 23 and 24 at the New York Hall of Science.

See how microcontrollers and computers work at the most basic level! We built a functional transistor-scale model of the famous 6502 microprocessor. In this larger than life model, you can visualize internal states and the flow of data.

So dust off your BASIC skills, or visit the Vintage Computer Federation’s BASIC classroom at Maker Faire and then come try it out on the MOnSter 6502.

This entry was posted in Field Trips, General News. Bookmark the Permalink.