SMART PEN / HOMEWORK

HERO
Equipment
Arduino Board (You already have it) – The brain of the machine to control
all the components

.Servo Motors or Stepper Motors – To move the pen along the X, Y, and
possibly Z axes for writing.Servo Motors are easy to control but are less
precise.Stepper Motors offer greater precision, making them ideal for
writing.

Motor Drivers (L293D or A4988) – These will help control the motors from
the Arduino.

Mechanical Arm or XY Plotter Frame – You can either build your own using
3D-printed parts or use an existing XY plotter kit

.Pen Holder – A mechanism that holds the pen and moves with the motors.

Microphone or Voice Module – To capture voice commands. You can use an

external microphone that works with the Arduino.

Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Module (HC-05 or ESP8266) – For wireless

communication if you want to control the machine from a distance.Power
Supply – To power the motors and the Arduino.

Paper and pen – Of course, to write on!

Steps to Build:
1. Design the Mechanical System:

Build the frame: Create an XY platform where the pen will move left,
right, up, and down. You can use materials like wood, metal rods, or
even LEGO parts for a basic structure.Attach the motors: Connect the
stepper or servo motors to the frame. Use belts or gears to control the
movement.

2. Arduino Motor Control:

Use motor drivers like L293D or A4988 to connect your motors to the
Arduino.Write code to control the movement of the motors using G-code
or simple coordinate-based commands. You can also use libraries like
AccelStepper for stepper motors.

3. Pen Control:
Create a pen holder attached to a servo motor. This will lift the pen up and
down to simulate writing.You can use another servo to control the
pressure of the pen on paper.

4. Voice Command System:

Option 1: Use a voice recognition module like the Elechouse Voice

Recognition Module that works directly with Arduino.Option 2: Use an
external system like a computer or phone to capture voice commands,
then send them to the Arduino using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.Write code to
translate voice commands into written words or actions that control the
machine’s movement.

5. Test and Calibrate:

Test the movement of the pen on the XY plane and ensure it can write on
paper.Fine-tune the pen pressure and movement speed for smooth
writing.

6. Integrate Voice Control:

Once the mechanical system works, integrate the voice commands to

instruct the machine on what to write. You could start with basic words or
sentences before moving on to more complex commands.

Example Arduino Code for Basic Motor Movement:

#include <AccelStepper.h>

AccelStepper stepperX(AccelStepper::DRIVER, 2, 3);

AccelStepper stepperY(AccelStepper::DRIVER, 4, 5);

Void setup() {

stepperX.setMaxSpeed(1000);

stepperY.setMaxSpeed(1000);

Void loop() {

stepperX.moveTo(200); // Move pen along the X-axis

stepperY.moveTo(100); // Move pen along the Y-axis

stepperX.run();
 stepperY.run();

Advanced Features
1. Multi-axis Control:

Z-Axis for 3D Movement: Add a third axis (Z-axis) to control not just up-
and-down movement, but also the depth or pressure of the pen on the
paper. This will help control line thickness and make writing smoother.Pen
Pressure Control: Using a servo to apply more or less pressure to the pen
while writing can simulate handwriting more realistically.

2. Touchscreen Display for Input:

Add an LCD touchscreen to display information or allow for manual input

of commands and settings, such as writing speed, style, or text size.You
could use a 2.8” TFT LCD with touch that connects to the Arduino.

3. Handwriting Styles:

Program different writing styles (like cursive, print, etc.) into the code. The
pen could be guided based on a pre-programmed writing style, making
the handwriting appear more natural or artistic.You could store different
fonts and styles in an SD card module attached to the Arduino.

4. Natural Language Processing (NLP):

Use more advanced voice recognition with NLP (Natural Language

Processing). Instead of simply writing what you say word-for-word, it could
understand full commands, such as:”Write my math homework.””Write a
200-word essay.”You could use a Raspberry Pi alongside the Arduino for
this, as it’s more powerful for handling AI tasks.

5. Mobile App Control:

Develop a simple mobile app to control the machine remotely over

Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. The app can have buttons to:Start/stop writing.Choose
pre-defined tasks like “Write Homework”, “Write Notes”, or custom
text.Use MIT App Inventor or Blynk for building the app interface without
much coding experience.

6. Optical Character Recognition (OCR):

Add a camera to scan written text and correct errors. The camera could
feed data back to a Raspberry Pi or PC, which could then guide the
machine to improve the accuracy of writing.This would also allow you to
add a feature where the machine can read handwritten notes and convert
them into digital text.

Advanced Equipment List:

Stepper Motors with Encoders: These motors provide better precision and
can ensure that each movement is tracked accurately.

Camera Module (e.g., Raspberry Pi Camera): For OCR and image

recognition if you want to correct written text or include more advanced AI
capabilities.

Touchscreen LCD (e.g., 2.8” TFT LCD): For displaying input/output data
and manual interaction with the machine.

MicroSD Card Module: To store writing styles or fonts that the machine can
use for handwriting.

Raspberry Pi (optional): To handle AI, NLP, and advanced text recognition

tasks.

Power Management Board: For safely controlling the power distribution

among various components (motors, screen, Arduino, etc.).

Advanced Coding Features

1. Handwriting Styles & Fonts:

You can load fonts from an SD card and instruct the pen to move in those
patterns. Here’s a snippet for loading font dat

#include <SD.h>

File fontFile;

void setup() {
 SD.begin(4); // Pin 4 for SD Card

fontFile = SD.open("font.txt");

if (fontFile) {

while (fontFile.available()) {

char c = fontFile.read();

// Process each character for the writing pattern

fontFile.close();

You could store coordinate data for different fonts/styles and have the
machine write in a custom way.

2. AI-Based Voice Commands:

Using Raspberry Pi or a cloud-based service for advanced voice

recognition with NLP (Natural Language Processing):

import speech_recognition as sr

from gtts import gTTS

import os

r = sr.Recognizer()

def listen():

with sr.Microphone() as source:

print("Listening...")

audio = r.listen(source)

try:

command = r.recognize_google(audio)

print(f"Command: {command}")
 return command

except sr.UnknownValueError:

print("Sorry, I didn't understand that.")

return None

def process_command(command):

if "homework" in command:

print("Writing homework...")

# Send command to Arduino via serial

command = listen()

process_command(command)

This would allow the machine to understand complex voice commands like
“Write my science notes.”

3. Mobile App with Bluetooth Control:

Here’s how you might handle Bluetooth input:

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

SoftwareSerial Bluetooth(10, 11); // RX, TX

Void setup() {

Serial.begin(9600);

Bluetooth.begin(9600);

Void loop() {

If (Bluetooth.available()) {

Char c = Bluetooth.read();
 // Process Bluetooth command

Serial.print©;

You can design an app interface with buttons like “Start Writing,” “Change
Font,” or “Stop Writing.”}

Final Notes
Test everything iteratively: Start with the basic mechanics, and once it
works, add the advanced features step by step.

Balance complexity: Adding too many features could complicate the

project. Prioritize the features that fit the competition’s timeframe and
your skillset