An Overview Of The Pyro Propeller Clock POV
This project pushed a few limits beyond a basic hobbyist project with complex software design (with priority interrupts) and demanding high speed timing requirements. The precise timing achieved by the microcontroller yields precise control over the led outputs at every angle. While this project only demanded 1° of accuracy, the 40 MHz clock speed could offer much more if we wanted it. The result of all this thinking and calculating is a the cool display of seemingly floating LEDs that can display the time, text or pretty much anything we want it to.
What To Do Now
If you read through this project write-up, then I'm sure that you have seen other propeller clock POV's in the wild that are much more complicated. Those should give you ideas for other routes to explore for what else you can do to improve the project; most notably is using RGB leds so that the output can be any color that you want. Other designs have used wireless power transfer to keep the design down to 1 core power supply. These other paths are all good places to explore to build an even better propeller clock POV.
Conclusion
As it is, this pyro propeller clock POV turned out exactly as I had hoped. It is just simple enough, that I feel people can duplicate it with much less perspiration than it took me to build it, yet it still achieves the desired POV effect that looks so cool. However, the simplistic design has its trade-offs; especially in terms of reliability. The system created here could only run for a few hours before the 9v battery died, making this more of a novelty project. But if you are trying to build your own propeller clock POV for fun, then novelty is what it is all about!
If you have any further questions, I implore you...don't be shy, take a look at the forums or ask a question there. I check them out regularly and love getting comments & questions.
This project pushed a few limits beyond a basic hobbyist project with complex software design (with priority interrupts) and demanding high speed timing requirements. The precise timing achieved by the microcontroller yields precise control over the led outputs at every angle. While this project only demanded 1° of accuracy, the 40 MHz clock speed could offer much more if we wanted it. The result of all this thinking and calculating is a the cool display of seemingly floating LEDs that can display the time, text or pretty much anything we want it to.
What To Do Now
If you read through this project write-up, then I'm sure that you have seen other propeller clock POV's in the wild that are much more complicated. Those should give you ideas for other routes to explore for what else you can do to improve the project; most notably is using RGB leds so that the output can be any color that you want. Other designs have used wireless power transfer to keep the design down to 1 core power supply. These other paths are all good places to explore to build an even better propeller clock POV.
Conclusion
As it is, this pyro propeller clock POV turned out exactly as I had hoped. It is just simple enough, that I feel people can duplicate it with much less perspiration than it took me to build it, yet it still achieves the desired POV effect that looks so cool. However, the simplistic design has its trade-offs; especially in terms of reliability. The system created here could only run for a few hours before the 9v battery died, making this more of a novelty project. But if you are trying to build your own propeller clock POV for fun, then novelty is what it is all about!
If you have any further questions, I implore you...don't be shy, take a look at the forums or ask a question there. I check them out regularly and love getting comments & questions.