Open source hardware logo on a bike wheel with open source hardware SpokePOV via the Adafruit forums

Full-color video on spinning POV display via HaD.

This project was made by 3 students of Télécom ParisTech as part of the Embedded Systems course (ELECINF344/ELECINF381 aka ROSE). At the beginning in February 2012 our initial goal was to create a display device using persistence of vision. The main interest of this type of device is that we obtain images carved in our retina but the device is moving so quickly that we cannot see it. Thus our images seem to float in the air.

Many POV devices already exist but they are often limited to simple display patterns, such as clocks or moving text. Some of them can display pictures or videos but these media often have to be preregistered in a memory on the device. We wanted to create a universal device able to display whatever you want whenever you want.

Spoke POV number 2 by Joey Emanuel– thumbs up back atchya!

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Interview with Todd Harrison @ EEWeb. SpokePOV!

I’m working on several projects almost perpetually. Getting the time to complete one project before being distracted by another is the real trick. My most current project which is almost done is running my bicycle tire in a test rig using a scavenged AC motor. The test rig is so my daughter can work on her SpokePOV kit from Adafruit at the lab bench and the motor will make it easy to spin up the wheel to check the image and/or animation. It takes longer for these projects because I document it all and shoot video for my ToddFun blog. This build includes welding, repairing the scavenged motor and building a 120v AC to 15v DC power source to run a cooling fan to cool the AC motor. The cool part is I built the 15v DC source using only a light bulb, diode and capacitor and showed the viewers how to correctly calculate the required wattage light bulb and what is important to get it right without getting into too much engineering.

Read more…

Spoke POV with LiPo Battery… Waterproofed and Secure… From the forums! dt1000 writes -

LiPo Battery
Each SpokePOV is drawing its power from a LiPo Battery.
These are 1/3 the weight of the standard AAs (based on using three of them).
Also, they are rechargable, and keep their juice for ages.
They plug into the board via a little connector soldered to the board at J1.
These are attached to the board with velcro pads and a cable tie through the holes for the AA battery clips.
I wanted to go with just velcro, so I could pop the batteries off for recharging, but it didn’t feel secure enough.

Waterproofing
I applied several coats of Silicone Conformal coating to seal the board, and checked it with a UV lamp.
Hopefully this should be OK to protect my SpokePOVs from Vancouver’s not-so-dry climate.
I also covered the LiPo Batteries in heat-shrink tubing and closed-off the ends with silicone sealant (the stuff you’d use for a bathroom).
Where the LiPos plug into the board, I made a little jacket out of heat-shrink that slides over the connector (I can post more pictures if anyone is interested).
Finally, I bought connectors to cover the I/O ports and plugged any gaps in them with the sealant.

Security
After all that work, I didn’t want my SpokePOVs nicked, so I tried my best to make it difficult for them to be removed.
At the top connector, where the spoke is a little fatter, I bolted the SpokePOV to the wheel with a nylon cable clamp.
Then, at two of the other connections I used metal wire and threaded it around the spoke using a technique similar to one I found via the Monkelectric website.
Now thieves will at least need a screwdriver, scissors, pliers and a lot more time to relieve me of my goods.
Let’s hope they don’t just decide to cut my spokes…

SpokePOV mounted in fan…

What did I spy at my hackerspace, Pumping Station: One, in Chicago at our weekly meeting last night? Nothing other than a blue SpokePOV kit mounted in a box fan lookin’ all awesome!

Our most excellent member, Crimson, decided to take the SpokePOV from one wheel of the our TRON lifecycle (made for the Scion Hackerspace Challenge). He removed the fan blades since it was 5 bladed instead of 3 blades. Then he cut out of plywood a new 3 legged propeller and attached the 3 SpokePOV boards with zip ties. The magnet is affixed to the fan grill and the hall effect sensors detect it well.

I feel much better about the viability of my project now that I’ve seen Crimson’s work! Just in time as I’ve got 12 blue SpokePOV boards arriving tomorrow

Cheers,
Drew

The folks at Aesthetec Studio (who have an awesome catalogue of work, by the way) created this generator exhibit piece using a SpokePOV and a custom hand cranking mechanism. Way cool!

Batman SpokePOV!

Fishbowl on bicycle wheels – powered by Adafruit SpokePOV…

spoke POV lights @ The San Jose Bike Blog…

When my “hokey spokes” bike lights started to go out (due to age) and I couldnt get “Bike Party” to show up in the programable lettering I started looking into a new wheel mounted bicycle light. I found some unbeleivable wheel lights called “Spoke POV“. It took me many times looking at their website and pictures of the lights to figure out how they work.

Its a “kit” you have to assemble yourself with all the circuits, pcb board and led’s. You buy it in pieces and solder every one into the board. Then the lights can be programmed from your computer thru a USB cable and dongle. There are 4 “banks” that will hold the graphics or lettering or anything you want. You set the “revolution count” to whenever you want it to change to the graphic in the next bank.

SpokePOV survived the rain and the playa, good stuff! Chuck writes -

I wanted to share my experience using the SpokePOVs in what would be considerd “harsh” conditions. They not only survived 12 days, 2 rain storms and masses of playa dust, but worked like champs- all 6 on my BurningMan bike. Photos that it actually happened are attached

SpokePOV test rig made from old ceiling fan motor, Todd writes -

This is a testing rig I constructed for my SpokePOV kit.  I used an old bicycle, ceiling fan motor and wiring from an old lamp.  It works great as a bench test rig when programming and testing my SpokePOV boards on the wheel. It could also work as a cheap display device.

I’ve always wanted a POV for my bicycle, specially a full colour POV capable of displaying text, images and small animations!

There are some cool POVs commercially available.

• SpokePOV from adafruit industries (and its i’ble)
• Monkeylectric’s m132s
• Monkeylectric’s recentely announced m464q

Unfortunately, the SpokePOV is only one colour, and the m132s, as I understand, doesn’t have the ability to display images. Besides, I think these are a little too expensive for something that I will not use often.

So I though I would try to make my own with components I already had around. This way I don’t have to spend any more money to try and play with a bicycle POV.

This project features:

• 16 RGB (Red+Green+Blue) Light Emitting Diodes;
• Arduino compatibility (Suposedely, I’ll have to check that later);
• Single layer printed circuit board, suitable for home fab;
• All through hole componentes, suitable for beginners;
• Hall effect sensor, for image synchronization;
• Least number of componentes possible;
• Unfortunately, only one side of the wheel is illuminated (check update).
• Fits 26″ wheels, I haven’t had opportunity to try it in 20″ and 24″ wheels.

This project is also a open project. Anyone who wishes to participate is welcome. The contributions will be added to this instructable and published.

Read more about it at NoiseLandArcade…

Don’t forget, if you want to put it on your bike there’s always the SpokePOV option…

I love these photos of a spokepov kit in action…Originally posted to flickr by Brixtonpista

• Port delay is definable. SpokePOV used to ‘guess’ what the correct delay is but I think it might be wiser to have the user tweak it as necessary
• Support for up to 32 banks of memory. What you need so much for I have no idea but hey, its there now!
• Windows version now comes with a spiffy installer. Just like Real Software!

Summer means tank-tops, air-conditioner installation and new kits!

This kit is something I’ve wanted for a while. Its an all-through-hole USB AVR programmer for a bit over $20, with both 6 and 10 pin cables and a jumper for powering the target board from the USB hub’s 5V power. It can also be used with SpokePOV kits to upload images and configuration (finally!)

I’ve had a bunch out there in the wild for a few weeks so I’m feeling comfy with an official release.
Check out the deets at the USBtinyISP page

A simple open-source USB AVR programmer and SPI interface. It is low cost, easy to make, works great with avrdude, is AVRStudio-compatible and tested under Windows and MacOS X. Perfect for students and beginners, or as a backup programmer.

The project is based off of the USBtiny code & design. The main improvements are: adjusting the code to allow it to act as a SpokePOV interface, adding lowlevel bitbang commands, and addition of a “USB good” LED. Other changes are new VID/PID (to make it official), removing some of the commands, and moving around the pins a bit.

You can build this design using the schematic and firmware, or buy a kit from the Adafruit webshop. Having a full kit available solves the “chicken & egg” problem of purchasing or building a USB programmer that then needs a programmer of some sort to ‘kick start’. (See USBasp, AVRdoper, USBprog)

All the firmware code is distributed under the GPL, the hardware design layout files are CC 2.5 Attrib./Share-alike

Mike adapted some green spokepov kits to make a first revision of a 3d LED bonsai tree! Read his blog to see details on how he made all three versions of this project including neat pics and videos.

I’ve completely revamped the SpokePOV software for both Mac OS X and Windows. The interface is better, the image handling is nicer, the download/uploads are faster. There’s even a debugging wizard that will help you figure out why it might not be working.
If you’ve had any problems before, you should check this out! And let me know how it works for you – good and bad. (Just comment here or post on the forum)

Download it here!
http://www.ladyada.net/make/spokepov/download.html

The SpokePOV page also got a little reorganization, including a gallery! If you have pictures, send them to me & I’ll add ‘em.

Get your SpokePOV kit here and post up some pics to the flickr pool, OK?