Persistence of vision (POV) is the illusion of a solid image where there is none. It’s a task for which LEDs and microcontrollers are a natural fit. Many of our kits and guides have visited this topic before.
Poi is a performance art of spinning tethered weights. Some of the most dramatic performances use fire poi! We sought to create something with that level of wow, but safer and usable indoors or out. And so these “Genesis” POV-poi were born…high tech, all-season, water- and playa-resistant poi that you can build and customize yourself!
I’ve wanted to make this as a DIY project since roughly forever ago, but only recently did all the pieces fall into place: our new DotStar LED strips are THE thing for persistence-of-vision effects, the Adafruit Trinket microcontroller is tiny and affordable, 3D printing is more accessible than ever…the “aha!” moment was buying some plastic tubes as a small-parts storage idea and recognizing them as the missing piece.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: New Python Releases, an ESP32+MicroPython IDE and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
