Shakespere: the Little Robot That Prints

Meet Shakespere

Shakespere is a small robot with one very big dream: to become the greatest writer who ever lived.

He was built on a workbench from spare parts, and the first thing he ever saw (through his one camera eye) was a battered copy of the complete works of a certain playwright. He decided on the spot that he would be a writer too. He even took the name. He just never quite got the spelling right, and he would rather you didn't mention it.

Since then Shakespere has written thousands of works, each exactly 58 mm wide: shopping lists, weather reports, to-do lists, reminders, the occasional love letter and, when nobody is looking, sonnets. He is still waiting for a publisher. Until then, he prints them himself.

What it is

Shakespere is an enclosure that turns a GP-58 panel-mount thermal printer, a Raspberry Pi and a Pi Camera v2.1 into one little desk companion. The printer slides into his belly from the front, the Pi sits on a plate in his head, and the camera looks out through one of his eyes. Hook him up to Home Assistant (or anything that can talk to a Pi) and he prints whatever you want.

• Prints without supports: 4 plates, about 6 hours and 241 g of PLA on a Bambu Lab A1.

• Panel-mount printer fit: the printer body slides through the front and its front plate stops flush against the belly. A 15-minute fit test plate is included so you can check yours first.

• Camera behind the eye: the camera screws onto a small sled that slides into a slot behind his eye, lens lined up with the eye hole.

• Nothing glued shut: the head is held on by two long M3 screws from underneath, so he opens again in a minute.

• Full illustrated guide: a 23-page print and assembly PDF with parts list, an actual-size hardware chart and a 1:1 camera template (shakespere_guide.pdf in the files).

What you need

Electronics

• GP-58 panel-mount thermal printer (76 x 54 mm body, 82 x 56 mm front plate)

• Raspberry Pi 3, 4 or 5

• Raspberry Pi Camera Module v2.1 with a 15 cm ribbon cable

• Printer USB and power cables, Pi power cable

Hardware

• 2 x M3 x 70 socket head screws (they close him up from underneath)

• 4 x M2 x 6 screws (camera)

• Superglue (ears, tail and legs)

• Dowels: printed on plate 4, or cut from 1.75 mm filament

Tools: 2.5 mm hex key, small screwdriver, craft knife.

Printing

• Plate 1, fit test (optional): 15 min, 7 g. Push your printer into it before printing the belly.

• Plate 2, belly, Pi plate and legs: 2 h 8 min, 84 g

• Plate 3, head, ears and tail: 3 h 40 min, 147 g. The head prints upside down.

• Plate 4, camera sled and dowels: 10 min, 3 g

PLA, 0.2 mm layers, 2 walls, 15% infill. Supports off. Brim set to outer only, because an inner brim can close the small holes on the bed side.

Tips

• Print the fit test first. If your printer is a slightly different size, the belly opening may need adjusting.

• Before assembling, open the leg holes and the mouths of the dowel holes with a knife tip: the first layer tends to squash them.

• Do a dry run without glue first.

• The camera mounts with its ribbon connector at the top. Fold the ribbon flat over the top edge and down the back.

Designed in build123d (Python CAD). If you print a Shakespere, post a make: he would love to see what your one writes.