A mechatronics professor is refining a sand plotter—a device that uses magnets and a metal ball to draw shapes in sand—that one of his pre-pandemic classes built.

Professor Tim Callinan said the project could increase interest in the mechatronics program.

“[When people] see what we’re making, what our students are capable of … people will walk in and be like, ‘Oh, I want to make one of those,’” laboratory technician Syl Merello, an AACC alumnus who works with Callinan, said.

The mechatronic device uses a specialized microprocessor and is programmed to read XY coordinates, calculate how much the metal ball needs to move along these coordinates, and manipulate magnets to make sure that the object moves.

According to Merello, the project started in 2018, when five students worked with Merello and Callinan to complete the first version of the sand plotter.

The pandemic paused the project for three years.

Callinan said he was inspired by puffer fish to create the device.

Male puffer fish create immaculate patterns in the sand to attract mates, according to Callinan.

“It’s really, really complicated … [and] it’s really interesting,” Callinan said.

Callinan also cited Japanese sand gardens as another inspiration for the project.

The sand plotter is displayed on the second floor of CALT.