This week there was lots of trials, and quite a few errors… It did all come together though. This is now a “working” 3D Volumetric persistence of vision display. The videos don’t really do it justice due partially the framerate but more the way camera exposure works.
The assembly holds together surprisingly well while spinning and the zip ties fit perfectly between the LEDs keeping them stable without adding weight or complexity. A feature of this design is that when its spinning, most things become transparent, hiding any messy wiring that may or may not exist.
This video is from an early working run of a simple design I created. Everything I can display is coded in for loops, not any graphical editor, so I chose something fairly simple. I added a moving component of this one as a moving point that rotates a set amount around the center for each full rotation of the device.
The display only turns on when it senses a object near it and its side is relative to the direction of what it senses. The sensors range is quite limited, so you have to be very close to the rapidly spinning object which is not ideal.
Using any solid object allows for the device to be hands free (and keeps your fingers safe). The system looks simple, but there is lots of code going on behind the scenes which has some consequences. The battery I am using for the ESP and LEDs has a very limited lifetime of about 5 minutes. This is shorter than I wanted but is fine for this project.
The options for what this can display are limitless. Let me know if you have any ideas of what I should display next!
I am so incredibly impressed by this project. I can’t even start to wrap my head around where to begin let along completing it so well. I am super excited to see it in person especially since you say the videos don’t do it justice. I feel like some type of like “fairy” or other just little thing that flies around would be a really cool option for another simple design you could do. It could travel up and down while also having that 3D effect from the device. I can’t wait!
I can’t wait to see what this project looks in person! Are you still planning to make the snake game in 3D, or are you starting to run to low on time?