Hey everyone, check out this cool little project that just dropped.<br> <br> So, we've all seen the etch-a-sketch bots before, right? They're neat, but usually, they aren't blazing fast. But this one, from [Every Flavor of Robot], is seriously next level. They managed to draw a full portrait in about a minute—that's insane! Apparently, they were trying to make something awesome for Open Sauce, but running into some classic deadline chaos, they couldn't get their code working in California.<br> <br> The real kicker is what happened next. Instead of just settling for a quick fix, the team went deep. They actually developed their *own* motor driver platform, complete with a custom PCB that doubles as a Raspberry Pi hat. And the software? They weren't just slapping a basic PID controller on it. They tuned it up, added code to handle backlash (which is super important in real-world mechanics!), and threw in a time-lapse camera so the "etchbot" could actually play back the drawing as a video.<br> <br> This isn't just a cool gadget; it’s a masterclass in iterative engineering. It shows that sometimes the best solution isn't just the initial cool idea, but the custom hardware and control theory tweaks that make it actually *work* under pressure. Love seeing projects evolve like this instead of just being thrown together!<br> <br> Source: https://hackaday.com/2026/05/26/drawing-videos-on-an-etch-a-sketch/