This is a mini hovercraft, probably electrically powered, with a stylus beneath it that can be raised or lowered on command. An accompanying phone app lets you convert a picture to a black-and-white vector image (basically a line drawing) and set the scale you want to reproduce it at. Once uploaded, the picture is replicated on a suitably sized area of wet sand.
GPS is preferred for positioning; alternatively a pair of beacons, placed on the sand, could define two opposite corners of the print space, allowing the printer to orient itself and to scale the picture.-- david_scothern, Sep 15 2012 Buddhist Sand Printer Buddhist_20Sand_20Printerrelated [csea, Sep 15 2012] Beach Printer Beach_20PrinterDot-matrix style [csea, Sep 15 2012] Sand printer http://www.markuska.../work/solar-sinter/Solar powered and 3D too. But you can't reuse the sand afterwards... [mitxela, Sep 18 2012] Potential Beach Printer Customer http://www.flickr.c...reylloyd/857403988/This guy needs one desperately! [Canuck, Sep 20 2012] Technically fascinating, but completely pointless.
We would buy this. [+]
Care would be needed in coding the software so that the craft never crosses its track, thus erasing part of the image.-- 8th of 7, Sep 15 2012 Just might work. And it would be very, very cool. +-- blissmiss, Sep 15 2012 Can't you just use your phone to pilot the craft, dropping the beacons by remote control? The machine would retrieve them automatically after finishing the picture.-- pocmloc, Sep 15 2012 I regret that I have but one bun to bestow.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 15 2012 [+]-- Voice, Sep 15 2012 There is one overooked weakness in your proposal. Hovercraft, of necessity emit a fearful amount of down draft. This might obliterate any line drawing with the exception of one made in invisible ink. but keep up the good work..... Just had a thought. Have you considered using trained crabs?-- Lesser Spotted Kiwi, Sep 16 2012 All printer ideas are good. This one is excellent, though quite similar to the Beach Printer +-- xenzag, Sep 18 2012 You know how a hovercraft works, don't you? And you know what happens to sand when you blow it?
Is there a "too-stupid-for-words" deletion category?-- DrCurry, Sep 19 2012 Have none of you ever seen a beach with moist sand halfway through an ebb tide? Or do you all live on the shores of the Med (or on Venus) where there are no tides?-- pocmloc, Sep 19 2012 How come I have never heard of this hilarious Solar Sinter, I love it !-- PainOCommonSense, Sep 19 2012 Tom Hanks could be the spokesman for the TV ads. (see link)-- Canuck, Sep 20 2012 random, halfbakery