We know some of you are getting sick of POV projects, but this one was just so cool, we couldn’t resist. [UncleBone] thought POVs were pretty cool, and wondered if he could use one on his ceiling fan. It would have been a breeze just to toss something like the RGBike POV on there and call it finished, but he designed his own. Opting to blow away the norm of using a single row of LEDs, he chose to do 5 different rows of LEDs, one for each blade. The whole thing is controlled by an Arduino, with a spreadsheet for image manipulating. Unfortunately, we don’t see any source files for the project available. Maybe he’ll put them on there if we ask really nicely. If he could get it playing animations, we would just chill and watch it for hours.
POV projects do seem to be over-saturated, but I agree this is a pretty clever implementation…
EPO in Houston has had one of these for quite a few years. Still cool though.
no video?
that will freak out the cat
Sick of POV projects? Never! It’s the damn tv-b-gone projects I’d be happy not to hear about.
I second pelrun’s statement.
Wait until you guys see my servo-drive-tv-b gone hack! :D
this pov hack is definitvly nice! hope theres gona be source code soon!
Hmmm this looks cool, wish there was a video!
It would make an awesome ceiling visualization if you used rgb leds.
POV + Arduino!!! OMG HAD-GASM!!!
I had this idea for couple years but was too lazy to implement
I’ll get the Arduino sketch posted soon. The spread sheet and vba as well. I promise its not elegant code though…
love the project, hate the instructables website :/
too *cool*…. *blow* away…. a *breeze*…
nice. I hope that was on purpose.
lol i thought of this like 3 weeks ago, someone always beats me to it
Offset the placement of the rows of LEDs on each blade, and you’ll fill in the gaps between the rows, and also be able to display higher resolution images.
Arduino sketch, spread sheet, CB image and new photo added. I’m trying to put a video up but the video frame rates make it look like its full of gaps…
what the fuck does pov mean? if you write a blog and expect new people to become readers you need to define some terms that to you may be obvious but to others certainly are not.
Wow Kelly, Harsh. POV = Persistence of vision. Wikipedia, first entry. google is your friend too.
Can’t get enough of those POV projects. Keep them coming.
B.T.W.: What is the point of making a video if its a static display?…
We are not fed up with POV projects, we love POV projects!
@ kelly – lol you spent more energy posted that msg than you would have spent googling. If you are reading a hack/project site and fail to grasp the concept of research, you’re probably in the wrong place to begin with.
This is pretty cool. I have a little pocket fan that does this, but a ceiling fan I would have never considered. I’d be afraid of an imbalance.
And, pov can mean a lot of things, such as point of view. all kelly seems to be asking is to define pov for less-informed readers. it’s 3 extra words.
Has anybody done a pov with ir leds? it would be interesting. or maybe a servo-driven pov with a tv-b-gone controlled by an arduino?
Wow, I could just lay back in my Lay-Z-Boy and stare at something like that for hours. I wonder if there need to be changes for fan speed and number of blades. I’ve never had the urge to make a POV project before, but this seems to be pulling me by the leash.
brc666 – Yes, for number of blades. The hall effect does a pretty good job once the speed settles but still needs to be tweaked. If you have a three speed fan the code could check the speed and “tweaks” preset for each. FYI low speed looks lousy and I’m not comfortable enough to run it on high. The disclaimer “death or serious injury” comes to mind…
Josh – If your ceiling is a little out of level (uhh, like mine) a balancer is built in. Probably smarter to mount it sideways till done though. no problem with kelly’s questions. Just a little rough on the delivery, lol
What if one used RGB LEDs, and offset the boards (as [chalkbored] suggested) and displayed color video on your fan… hmmmmmmm… (Well… maybe that’s a *bit* far fetched…)
If #2 ever happens RGB would be the first choice. I’m not sure about driving 3X as many outputs and having enough time to execute the code between angles. Testing! There are plenty of other lessons learned from this and changes. chalkbored’s idea would work at higher fan speeds. currently each blades “persistence” overlaps the next by only about halfway. Right now the kids are tasked with coming up with some .gif like animations
So, who’s gonna do a controller for this that allows live TV display? I’d love a TV on my bedroom ceiling…
Idea:
1) More magnets, and coils to use the fan’s motion as a generator for each blade, no batteries needed.
2) Some kind of wireless transmission to change the picture, if it is fast enough on transmission, easy way to do animation.
3) Make each blade a discrete unit, so no need for wiring harness.
i’ve been wanting to do a pov project for a while now, and this one really gets me itching!
question for anyone who’s dealt with “superflux” leds – are they noticeably brighter/better than regular ones? I want to order 50-100 rgb leds off ebay, and i obviously want to go as cheap as possible, but i’m wondering if i’ll regret it if i don’t splurge for the superflux ones (which are about 40% more expensive). thoughts?
Fans are usually long lasting. Make sure you buy a fan with max motor guarantee