These two beige behemoths formed the basis of the first proof of concept APRIL project. The background is made up from screen shots of the QBasic code.

The technology was current in the late 80s, and both pieces of equipment had been thrown out by educational institutions. This was premature, because they provided a steep learning curve as they were adapted to art in the mid 90s.

In many ways the star of the show has been the Connectix Quickcam, which was purchasws in 1996 shortly after its release in the UK. It was an expensive gamble at the time and it was a few years before it could be used as intended.

This prototype uses an A3 printer carriage and a Citroen car window winder mechanism to provide an r-theta motion. This was controlled by stepper motor controllers from Maplin kits and QuickBasic code.

Eventually, the hurdles it all presented seemed to put too much distance between the prototype and getting ink onto paper...