[cyclestart]

I built one of these kinetic things in 2009. Back then there wasn't much in the way of a roadmap other than Bruce Shapiro's public (museum ?) installations. The parts used were expensive overkill and eventually were removed for use in other projects. The table itself has been sitting in a corner for 8 years or more.
A link to that thread for the curious:
https://www.cnczone.com/forums/machi...sandtable.html

Fast forward to 2020 and Bruce Shapiro is selling sand tables to the public. It looks like a quality product and is priced accordingly.
https://sisyphus-industries.com/
And there's the zenxy for DIY types
https://www.v1engineering.com/zenxy/

Those projects have resulted in sand-track patterns available on many websites and even an online generator "Sandify"
This has motivated me to get the table moving again using electonics usually associated with 3D printers, and some motion parts usually associated with recycle bins.

Next post I hope to have a tidy belted motion system to display and some tips on how build a similar set-up for little more than $100US (with a bit of resourceful scrounging)
Meanwhile pics of a quick pattern from Sandify and the arduino/sheild electronics
Attachment 433892