Thanks to David Kaplan for writing in to share his awesome project! Check out the full build here.
I have been experimenting with 3D printing pulsar data from the NRAO 20m telescope (see Thingiverse page). I wanted to make another view of the data. I tried laser-cutting individual pulses out of first cardboard and then acrylic:
This looked good, and I could stack many pulses together to make a coherent data-set. But then I got the question
Which way does time go?
So I built pulse-o-matic to show that.
Details:
- Controlled by an Arduino Mega (with protoshield) and using a 32×64 3mm RGB LED Matrix (luckily, the 3mm LED pitch was just about the same as the thicknes of the acrylic sheets I was using), I could illuminate under the stacked pulses to show how time runs across each pulse and then on to the next pulse. The pulses just sit on top of the LED matrix, held together by 1/4-20 threaded rod.
- Because I was experimenting with Arduino programming, I put in a 3-position switch so that two other modes would be possible, changing colors as the lights swept through the matrix.
- I also put in adjustable speed via a potentiometer (so the speed can match the actual pulsar whose data are used), and sound effects via a piezo buzzer and another potentiometer. Parts were a combination of Adafruit and American Science and Surplus.
- All together it came out quite well. I designed an acrylic case to hold everything together (based on MakerCase).
- My Arduino code and case design are on my Github page. I am happy to share additional construction info and wiring if you ask.
- Currently the case is held together with electrical tape, but I’m working on 3D printed connectors to make it look nicer. I don’t want to glue it together because I might still want to reprogram the Arduino.
All power is supplied by the 5V supply needed for the LED. I feed this through the switch to the Arduino as well
Featured Adafruit Products!
Mega protoshield for Arduino: This is an extra large proto-shield, specifically designed for the Mega! It comes with PCB, two buttons and a full set of stacking headers. You can stack this shield easily since it comes with extra long female headers. Read more.
64×32 RGB LED Matrix – 3mm pitch: Bring a little bit of Times Square into your home with this sweet 64 x 32 square RGB LED matrix panel. These panels are normally used to make video walls, here in New York we see them on the sides of busses and bus stops, to display animations or short video clips. We thought they looked really cool so we picked up a few boxes of them from a factory. Read more.
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