Noble & Gavia // Knolling a Scanner

Here's an image of our knolled scanner.  We were able to harvest several useful components from it, including a motor, gears, buttons, on/off switch and a couple computer boards.  We learned how light is used to reflect, capture, and store documents, and about different varieties of light bulbs (as well as how extremely delicate those in a scanner are!). We also discussed different types of motors/steppers – yes, even a scanner has a motor – that are used for different types of machines. Ultimately, we gained a greater understanding of some basic ways that components connect to each other and how every complex process can be understood when looked at closely.

In addition to the excitement and gratification of taking apart an unknown object, we enjoyed hypothesizing as to the process an image or document goes through when it’s scanned, captured, translated into data, and transferred to a person’s computer or printer. The next step for us with this dismantled scanner is to cut, strip, and connect our newly gathered components with the arduino board to see what we can create.