Persistence of vision displays are always cool, although we must admit this one looks like it could very well explode at high speeds…
Safety concerns aside, this desk fan based display provides a great starting point for learning about making POV displays. It makes use of an old cellphone battery, an ATmega8, some LEDs, Veroboard, assorted wires and solder and of course, a high-speed desk fan.
[shparvez001] also provides the full code on his blog for the project, making it very easy to replicate. Though we might also suggest you keep it small enough that the original fan cage still fits on top.
From an aesthetic point of view, the display looks fine in the dark — but when the lights are on you might get some odd looks. We can see this project being greatly improved by mounting the LEDs through one of the fan blades, and the control electronics on the back side of the other blades. Maybe throw in some wireless charging for the battery while the fan is off too?
Anyway, stick around after the break to see the display in action. If you want a more permanent fan POV try adding display hardware to a ceiling unit.
I’m not sure if it’s “Politically Correct” to use the word ghetto today, but this must be the most jury-rigged ghetto POV I’ve seen in a long time. Cool project anyways and I’m amazed that it doesn’t shake itself to pieces due to the unbalance.
You guys/girls at Hackaday really must send him some kind of gift for winning the Most-Ghetto-Hack-2013 (non-existent) competition. :-)
A BL-5C battery? Really? I had a few of these in my Nokia 6230i since 2005. I wouldn’t recommend them as they tend to inflate after a few years of normal use. One series of them was notorious for their proclinity to explode, However, they’re dirt cheap now (~5$).
Sounds like it might be from India, where health and safety are unheard of, driving at night on the wrong side of the road with no headlights, where electricity cables hang overhead in rats nest shapes. Hardly surprising this hack looks like that.
Don’t do it kids! ALWAYS pay very close attention to how your hacks might hurt others. There are so many things this chap could have done from the get go that would be so much safer, and probably simpler and easier because it would be smaller and less powerful.
There’s just no excuse for very poor design.
Sure there is: fun
If it’s fun to make and use, being dangerous can be a bonus. Especially when your friends are dumber than you are, and can be talked into doing things you wouldn’t do yourself. :D
Just FYI if the fan blades aren’t balanced, it’d make a lot of noise and vibration and eventually fly apart. A quick and cheap way to check it is to mount the whole fan blade and assembly on a thin but sturdy rod mounted horizontally. Give the blade a gentle spin, if it tended to favor one side, the bottom blade is likely too heavy. Add a bit of weight on other side until the fan spins freely and not favor any side.
Worked with industrial balancing machines for various big names like Honda and Borg-Warner (mostly car parts like crankshafts and wheels)
We need some REAL hardcore POV, an angle-grinder based POV display. :)
I checked on youtube and it hasn’t been done yet, although.. perhaps I should have checked liveleak instead.
Try to see this from the emergency room doctor’s point of view.
I joke too, but realistically, I never walked into my fans, although I did have objects touch the cage, so it’s more a risk for damage to the electronics/fanblades than damage to people really.I think.
Unless you have small children maybe? Pets meanwhile tend to stay far away from fans so those are not an issue.