Arduino POV Display
How to Make a DIY Arduino POV LED Display using 8 LED’s and an arduino.
Introduction
What is POV or Persistence of Vision ?
Persistence of vision is a kind of optical illusion whereby multiple discrete images blend into a single image in the human mind giving the impression of an animation like any .GIF animated image you see
we will use this trick to make a DIY Arduino LED POV
How does it work ?
We will be drawing the alphanumeric letters in two dimensions using 8 LEDs. the Y axis has the LEDs row and the X axis is moving around the Y axis. so by blinking the led with the right frequency and position according to the letters pattern, we can draw the letters using persistence of vision.
For example to draw the letter B we will be flashing the led’s in 5 simultaneous raws making a matrix of 8×5 like the image on the right and the code in the arduino will be
B[] = {[1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1],[1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1],[1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1],
[1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1],[0,1,1,0,1,1,1,0]};
Making The DIY Arduino POV
Parts Needed :
- one small piece of plastic to hold the LED’s
- an arduino board
- 8 LED’s and 240Ω resistors
- a 9V Battery and Some wires
- a Rotary thing to make it spin Like a Fan but i used my drill
Follow the instructions it video you will also need to upload the code to arduino and use the schematic below :
One thing more use the last loop in the code to print the letters or numbers you want and tweak Letter Space and Dot-time in the code for the best settings cause it is different for the rotation speed your chosen as fast you go as much you can write
The Arduino Code To Upload :
int NUMBER9[]={1,1,1,1,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1};
int NUMBER8[]={0,1,1,0,1,1,1,0, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 0,1,1,0,1,1,1,0};
int NUMBER7[]={1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,0, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,0, 1,0,0,1,1,1,1,1, 1,1,1,0,1,0,0,0};
int NUMBER6[]={1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,1,1,1};
int NUMBER5[]={1,1,1,1,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,1,1,1};
int NUMBER2[]= {1,0,0,0,0,0,1,1, 1,0,0,0,0,1,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1};
int NUMBER1[]= {0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0, 0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0};
int NUMBER0[]= {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1};
int _[] = {0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0};
int A[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1};
int B[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 0,1,1,0,1,1,1,0};
int C[] = {0,0,1,1,1,1,0,0, 0,1,0,0,0,0,1,0, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1};
int D[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 0,1,0,0,0,0,1,0, 0,0,1,1,1,1,0,0};
int E[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1};
int F[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0};
int G[] = {0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,1,1,0};
int H[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1};
int I[] = {1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1};
int J[] = {0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0, 0,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0};
int K[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0, 0,0,1,0,0,1,0,0, 0,1,0,0,0,0,1,0, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1};
int L[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1};
int M[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0, 0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1};
int N[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1};
int O[] = {0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0};
int P[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0, 0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0};
int Q[] = {0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,0,1,0,1, 0,1,1,1,1,1,1,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1};
int R[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0, 1,0,0,1,0,1,0,0, 1,0,0,1,0,0,1,0, 0,1,1,0,0,0,0,1};
int S[] = {0,1,1,1,0,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,0,1,1,1,0};
int T[] = {1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0};
int U[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0};
int V[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0, 1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0};
int W[] = {1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0, 0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1};
int X[] = {1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1, 0,0,1,0,0,1,0,0, 0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0, 0,0,1,0,0,1,0,0, 1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1};
int Y[] = {1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1, 0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0, 1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0};
int Z[] = {1,0,0,0,0,1,1,1, 1,0,0,0,1,0,0,1, 1,0,0,1,0,0,0,1, 1,0,1,0,0,0,0,1, 1,1,0,0,0,0,0,1};
int* alpha[]= {A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N};//,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z};
int letterSpace;
int dotTime;
void setup()
{ Serial.begin(9600);
// setting the ports of the leds to OUTPUT
for( int i = 2; i<10 ;i++ )
{ pinMode(i, OUTPUT);
}
// defining the space between the letters (ms)
letterSpace = 2;
// defining the time dots appear (ms)
dotTime =1;
}
void printLetter(int letter[])
{
int y;
// printing the first y row of the letter
for (y=0; y<8; y++)
{
digitalWrite(y+2, letter[y]);
}
delay(dotTime);
// printing the second y row of the letter
for (y=0; y<8; y++)
{
digitalWrite(y+2, letter[y+8]);
}
delay(dotTime);
// printing the third y row of the letter
for (y=0; y<8; y++)
{
digitalWrite(y+2, letter[y+16]);
}
delay(dotTime);
for(y = 0; y<8; y++) {
digitalWrite(y+2, letter[y+24]);
}
delay(dotTime);
for(y = 0; y<8; y++) {
digitalWrite(y+2, letter[y+32]);
}
delay(dotTime);
// printing the space between the letters
for (y=0; y<8; y++)
{
digitalWrite(y+2, 0);
}
delay(letterSpace);
}
void loop()//write here =) enjoy subscribe to my channel if you like the project
{
printLetter (T);
printLetter (U);
printLetter (N);
printLetter (M);
printLetter (A);
printLetter (K);
printLetter (E);
printLetter (R);
printLetter (_);
}
The Schematic :
good job thanks for the code
pls wat programmer can one use to upload arduino code and what is the name of its editor?
hi like everyone else were using the arduino IDE which you can download from https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software you use it to make arduino microcontrollers based programs , to compile and upload it to the arduino board
Can anything be done to upload them in a string instead of one single letter at a time?
Please help me with it.
you could added a function that isolates each letter and added printLetter but keep in mind that it has a limit or the letters would appear on top of each other as it spins
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Did you leave out number 3 and 4 in the code for a reason? 🙂
good point i’ll try to update the code soon thx for pointing that out
Did you leave out number 3 and 4 in the code for a Reason? 🙂
would a 5V Stepper Motor work?
I didn’t measure how many turns per minute RPM it needs to display correctly but am sure a stepper motor won’t be able to reach such hi RPM
will a 5v dc motor be enough to make it spin?
if you use an Arduino nano and light battery so that everything is light i don’t see why not, if try it keep me posted