String Plotter - Encoders

I bought this for myself, honestly, and the encoder wheel setup finally made the concept click after years of just nodding along. Watching the plotter draw based on precise rotations is weirdly satisfying, and the build quality held up through a few clumsy reassemblies.

My kid actually understood what encoders do after building this, which surprised me since he usually just wants to play with the finished thing. Watching the plotter draw based on the encoder feedback made the concept click for both of us.

The encoder wheel is the part I didn't expect to be so satisfying—watching the plotter correct itself in real time actually taught me how feedback loops work. I'm an adult and still spent an entire evening building and rebuilding.