Summary of POV Cylinder with Arduino Due
This project presents a Persistence of Vision (POV) display using a rotating styrofoam cylinder and off-the-shelf RGB LED strips controlled by an Arduino Due. The device displays animated GIFs stored in the Arduino's memory and communicates with a PC via Bluetooth. The cylinder has a 200 mm diameter and height, using four LPD8806-based RGB LED strips for a 151 x 40 pixel display. Mechanically, it features a chassis with plywood disks, ball bearings, a shaft driven by an electric motor through crown gears and a toothed belt, achieving up to 1300 RPM rotation speed.
Parts used in the POV Cylinder Project:
- Arduino Due
- HC06 Bluetooth module
- 4 RGB LED Strips based on LPD8806
- Styrofoam cylinder (200 mm diameter, 200 mm height)
- Plywood disks (two circular)
- Threaded bars (for chassis and shaft)
- Ball bearings (two)
- Electric motor
- Crown gears (two)
- Toothed belt
- Circular aluminium disks (two)
Story
Introduction
This is my first Arduino project. My work was inspired by several maker projects that created Persistence of Vision Displays [2,3,4].
Persistence of vision (POV) refers to the optical illusion whereby multiple discrete images blend into a single image in the human mind and believed to be the explanation for motion perception in cinema and animated films [1].
The projects [2,3,4] implement POV globe displays, using discrete LEDs and discrete shift registers. Instead my device is using a rotating cylinder and off-the-shelf RGB LED strips as POV Display.
The main features of my POV Cylinder are:
- POV (Persistence of Vision) Display
- Displays animated GIF pictures on a rotating cylinder
- The GIF pictures are stored in Arduino’s RAM or Flash
- Communication with PC via Bluetooth
- Cylinder Diameter: 200 mm
- Cylinder Height: 200 mm
- Cylinder material: Styrofoam
- Cylinder weight: 420 g
- 4 RGB LED Strips based on LPD8806
- Screen size 151 x 40 pixels
- Based on Arduino Due
- Includes HC06 Bluetooth module
- Controlled via Bluetooth from a PC
Mechanical Construction
The mechanical construction is shown in the drawing below.
The device comprises a chassis and a rotor. The chassis consists of two circular plywood disks which are connected via three threaded bars. The distance between the disks is 120 mm. In the middle there are two ball bearings and the shaft. For the shaft also a threaded bar is used. The shaft is driven by an electric motor via two crown gears and a toothed belt. The rotation speed is up to 1300 RPM (22 Hz).
The rotor consists of two styrofoam cylinders and two circular aluminium disks. The styrofoam cylinders are glued to the lower disk. The upper disk can be removed. It is used to attach the rotor to the shaft.
For more detail: POV Cylinder with Arduino Due
