Spirograph Theory: A Framework for Calculations on Digitized Straight Lines

Using diagrams called ``spirographs'' a general theory is developed with which one can easily perform calculations on various aspects of digitized straight lines. The mathematics of the theory establishes a link between digitized straight lines and the theory of numbers (Farey series, continued fractions). To show that spirograph theory is a useful unification, we derive two previously known advanced results within the framework of the theory, and new results concerning the accuracy in position of a digitized straight line as a function of its slope and length.