SquiggleCam/README.md

# Description

Web Based implementation of [SquiggleDraw algorithm](https://github.com/gwygonik/SquiggleDraw ), originally implemented by Gregg Wygonik.

The online version of this project takes a picture from your webcam and turns it into plotter-drawable, laser-engravable SVG file.

Here's an example of output image generated with this tool:

![Image of SquiggleCam in use](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/msurguy/SquiggleCam/master/examples/description.jpg "Image of SquiggleCam output")

And here's a video my plotter that uses this tool:

[![Video of SquiggleCam in use](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/msurguy/SquiggleCam/master/examples/botomazov.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abBnMcs58ds)

# Installation and running

Clone or download this repo, then run this command to get all dependencies installed locally:
```
npm install
```

Then, run this command to watch for changes and to launch the HTML page in the browser:
```
npm run dev
```

# Algorithm

The algorithm processes the image in the following way:

```
Retrieve photo as an array of pixels IMAGE
Set desired number of horizontal lines as LINE_COUNT
Set desired number of vertical spacing as SPACING
Set desired line amplitude as AMPLITUDE
Set desired line rotation frequency as FREQUENCY
For y :=0 to image height step image height / LINE_COUNT do
	Set startx := 0
	Set starty := y
	Create a set of coordinates as [startx, starty]
	For x := 1 to image width step SPACING do
		Get brightness br of the current pixel as average of r,g,b values
		Set r := (255 - br) / LINE_COUNT * AMPLITUDE
		Set a := (255 - br) / FREQUENCY
		Create a set of coordinates as [x, y + Math.sin(a) * r]
Pass the resulting array of coordinates to rendering application
```

# Using the output images

The output SVG file generated with this tool can be uploaded to SVG -> GCODE (or similar) converter in order to be plotted on a pen plotter or engraved on a laser cutter.

# Roadmap and todo list
- [ ] Ability to use image URL for input
- [ ] Ability to save settings in local storage as presets (and reuse them later)
- [ ] Ability to switch the squiggle mode (not just horizontal lines): spirals, vertical lines, loops, etc
- [ ] Ability to go back to the previous images from your current "session"
- [ ] Fix bug with the video size when the paper size is modified during video being on

If you want to implement any of these or contribute - please create an issue and feel free to submit a PR, I would appreciate that.

# License
MIT license