Line-us SVG Plotter

emnullfuenf · December 30, 2018, 3:50pm

I wrote a simple SVG plotter for the LineUs drawbot made with Processing 2.2.1 and Geomerative Plugin.

Usage:
You can simply open the code in Processing 2.2.1, install the Geomerative plugin (via menu) and run the sketch. Since this plotter is dependent on the SVG functions of Geomerative (flattening and polygonizer) we are stuck with Processing version 2.2.1.

Alternatively you can run the applications for Mac OS and Windows.

Github code
Applications

https://media.giphy.com/media/mXSotgSiGCCGqda0qO/giphy.gif(image larger than 4096KB)

Application interface / keys / shortcuts:

drawbot address: a (usually lineus.local in wifi and 192.168.0.4 in setup mode)
open SVG: o
zoom: +/-
move: arrow keys <>
rotate: r
show lines: l
connect Line-Us: c
plot drawing: p
hide menu: h

Known bugs:

The image seems to be slightly skewed on my machine

rob · January 1, 2019, 12:12pm

Had a little play around with this and it it very nice! Thanks for sharing.

jongibson1 · February 5, 2019, 1:32am

Resolved - I finally got the connection made! Now to figure out why my svg file is filled in. Thanks again for this great plugin!

This is just what I’m looking for! However, I must be missing a step. I’ve downloaded processing, installed Geomerative and pasted the code into processing. I don’t know what the next step is to get it to work. When I run the processing code it says, “java.net.UnknownHostException: lineus.local”

rob · February 5, 2019, 9:07am

Are you running on Windows? If so you may need to install Bonjour from Apple it uses bonjour to connect to Line-us. Also, it’s using the default name so if you’d re-named your Line-us (in the app) that could also be the cause.

Just lastly, there are pre-packaged installers for mac and windows (the zip files rather than source) which will save you a bit of time if you just want to run the app rather than get the source.

emnullfuenf · February 5, 2019, 3:02pm

Otherwise you could simple set the IP of the Line-us without Bonjour to 192.168.4.1 in the code or via key ‘a’.

rob · February 5, 2019, 3:57pm

Yes, although you’d need to find the IP - 192.168.4.1 would be correct for ‘Red Mode’ but if it’s connected to your WiFi it would be different. You’d be able to get it by logging in to your router.

jongibson1 · February 5, 2019, 4:36pm

Thanks Rob! I ended up just using the IP address the device was assigned on my home network. Thanks for the other ideas too!

jongibson1 · February 5, 2019, 4:37pm

It seemed to work fine on my mac without the need for Bonjour - but that’s good to know for the future. thanks!

rob · February 5, 2019, 4:59pm

Yes, macs have bonjour installed as default, it’s just Windows that needs it. Using the IP address is fine too though.

pblanchard · September 12, 2019, 3:31pm

Hi! I am excited about the SVG Plotter but struggling to make it work. Wondering about system requirements/compatibility? Or maybe I’m doing this wrong.

Issue 1.

I connect my Line-us via iPhone app. Then I launch the SVG Plotter app on my Mac running 10.12.1 (Sierra).
Line-us is connected to wifi. Address is lineus.local
Hit C, text goes green
Hit P to draw default venn diagram, nothing happens. App is frozen.

Issue 2.

Wondering about the SVG format that is compatible with this app. It seems anything out of Illustrator doesn’t open.

Any help would be super appreciated!

emnullfuenf · September 13, 2019, 9:37am

Issue 1:
I suppose the address “lineus.local” might be not correctly resolved. Thus i’ve got several Line-us in class we are putting the drawbot in debug mode (red LED) and connect directly to the provided wifi network. The IP is 192.168.4.1. Maybe you could try that.
There are other discussions on this board regarding the address.

Issue 2:
The SVG interpreter is quite simple. Thus there may be some SVG commands or effects that might not work. Similar to other drawing programs like VisiCut.
You should try to avoid SVG effects and patterns. And please try to merge your paths and convert your fonts to path.
Illustrator provides several ways to export SVGs. There’s only one that flattens transforms. Unfortunately i don’t remember which one.

rob · September 13, 2019, 10:18am

Try line-us.local for the address (so hit ‘a’ and enter line-us.local). The default name has a hyphen.

jawgtf · November 25, 2019, 6:25pm

Hi everyone,

thanks for creating Line-us and the Line-us SVG plotter.

I really want to just draw out simple images from SVG files with Line-Us but I’m having real trouble with making it work.

I am unable to load my SVG files and then the programme freezes.
I’ve also connected to line us and the text foes green but when I press ‘p’ nothing happens and it freezes.
I’ve tried different addresses such as ‘line-us.local’, and ‘192.168.4.1’.

I’d really appreciate your help with this

emnullfuenf · November 25, 2019, 7:37pm

Hi jawgtf,
the SVG Plotter is far from perfect.
Please try to optimize the SVG before importing. Maybe my iterator does not interpret all layers and transforms perfectly.
You could merge layers and elements to a single one. And you could export it with merged transforms.

And please check if you are able to draw the drawing that’s there on startup (Venn diagram).

Greetings,
Michael

rob · November 25, 2019, 8:45pm

Hi. If you’re able to send me an example svg file I can try it here to try to narrow down the problem. I think you should be able to attach it to a post but I’d not then you can email to help@line-us.com

jawgtf · November 26, 2019, 9:50am

Thanks @emnullfuenf and @rob.

Unfortunately the Venn digram image did not work either which is why I was confused. But still hoping to persevere!

@rob I’ll send you an e-mail with the sag I’m trying to work with.

@emnullfuenf if you had any further tips on how to get the Venn diagram working that would be great!

Thank you both for your responses

rob · November 26, 2019, 11:12am

Thanks - I’ll let you know whether it draws ok for me. One other question, are you running in Mac or windows? On windows you may need to install Bonjour. You can download it from Apple (its confusingly called Bonjour print services) https://support.apple.com/kb/DL999?viewlocale=en_GB&locale=en_GB

jawgtf · November 26, 2019, 3:29pm

Hi @rob, thanks for your help.

I’m using Mac
Mac OS Sierra 10.12.6

Let me know how it goes

emnullfuenf · November 26, 2019, 4:37pm

If the Venn diagram doesn’t plot the main problem could be the connection or the OS.

Is the Line-us application working on this computer? Is the Line-us application closed?
And how is the drawbot connected? Via wifi network (blue LED) oder direct connection (red LED)?

Are you using the SVG-Plotter application or are you working in Processing?

rob · November 26, 2019, 6:38pm

Thanks for sending the example through. It looks like opening the SVG in Illustrator and doing a Save As… gives you a file that the SVG plotter can load. I’ll send you back the file so you can see if you can send it to your Line-us. It does draw quite slowly so you might want to reduce the number of points in the SVG Plotter (press l to show then and then click and drag the mouse moving up and down to decrease/increase).

What package did you create the SVG in? I’ve looked at the two SVG files and they are different - I’d have to dig a bit more into the SVG format to understand what the difference is but if you can let me know the package you used I can maybe try to create a simpler path to look at and see whether it can produce something that the plotter can read directly.

In the meantime though if you have some files you need converted then you’re welcome to send them over to me and I can just load/save in Illustrator for you if you don’t have it.