The Ostrich Egg-Bot Kit

The Ostrich Egg-Bot kit is a special version of The Original Egg-Bot kit with an extra-large chassis that fits larger objects, up to 6.25" in diameter.

Both models-- the original and this extra large one --are open-source art robots capable of drawing on the surfaces of spherical or egg-shaped objects. They are descendents of the very first Eggbot, designed by Bruce Shapiro, dating back to 1990.

An Eggbot is super adjustable, and is designed to draw on all kinds of things that are normally "impossible" to print on. Not just eggs but pool balls, light bulbs, mini pumpkins, and even things like wine glasses. In the photos, you can see just a few of the things that you can make with an Ostrich Eggbot: Incredible decorated glass balls, christmas ornaments, emu eggs, and even chicken eggs.

The Ostrich Eggbot ("The Ostrich Egg-Bot kit") differs from the standard Eggbot ("The Original Egg-Bot kit") mainly just in size.

The standard Eggbot (shown with the white chassis) fits objects from ping-pong ball size up through the size of a small grapefruit, roughly 1.25 to 4.25 inches in diameter (3 - 10 cm).

The Ostrich Eggbot chassis is much larger, and can only hold larger objects. It can print on egg-shaped objects from as small as a chicken egg up through small footballs and very large ostrich eggs, up to 6.25 inches (16 cm) in diameter. It also accommodates spherical objects in the range of roughly 2.25 to 6.25 inches in diameter (6 - 16 cm).

If you need to print on objects in both size ranges, or if you already have a standard-size Eggbot kit, the Ostrich Eggbot chassis is also available as an upgrade-only kit for The Original Egg-Bot kit.

The Ostrich Eggbot chassis is CNC-cut at our shop in California, out of hardwood plywood, with laser engraved calibration and assembly marks. The pen and egg motors are high-torque precision stepping motors, and the pen lift mechanism is a quiet and reliable servo motor. Brass thumbscrews are provided as standard hardware.

The kit is easy to assemble in a couple of hours, and only requires a couple of basic tools like miniature Phillips-head and flathead screwdrivers. You'll also need a recent-vintage computer with an available USB port (Mac, Windows or Linux), plus internet access to download assembly instructions and necessary software.

The Ostrich Eggbot kit comes complete with a fully assembled and tested EiBotBoard v2.0 (EBB) USB interface/motor driver board. No soldering or programming are required.

The EBB allows your computer to directly control the stepper and servo motors. The onboard 16X microstepping driver chips along with the 200 step/revolution stepper motors give a combined resolution of 3200 steps/revolution in both axes. A universal-input plug-in power supply (9 V 1.5 A) is included with the Eggbot kit, as is a USB cable. The Eggbot is normally controlled through a set of open-source extensions to Inkscape, the excellent, popular and free vector graphics program.

Basic operation is much like that of a printer driver: you import or make a drawing in Inkscape, and use the extensions to plot your drawing onto whatever object you've mounted in the Eggbot. It's all handled through an easy to use graphical user interface, and works cleanly on Mac, Windows and Linux.

The standard pen holder included with the EggBot kit is designed to fit various art pens including Sharpie Ultra Fine Point pens. However, it can actually fit almost any pen (or pencil, or crayon, or just about anything else) of similar size. If you want to use a pen that doesn't fit, the pen holder is made of wood and can be enlarged to suit your taste. (Extras and blanks can also be found here on our index of Egg-Bot accessories.)

You can even fit a lot of things that aren't pens. One example: We now offer a diamond point engraving tool for Eggbot, capable of etching and engraving hard materials like glass, stone, and ceramic. (The engraving tool comes with a cable to drive it from the standard-size Eggbot. If you are ordering one to go with your Ostrich Eggbot, you should also add a M-F servo extension cable so that it can reach.)

If you have additional questions about Eggbot kits, you may want to look at the Eggbot FAQ.

Ostrich Eggbot documentation is hosted at the Evil Mad Scientist Wiki, and you may also be interested to see the documentation there for the (standard size) Original Egg-Bot Kit.