Hologram Pi-ramid - PCB Design

19 May 2019

After a successful Pepper's Ghost test, my next step in the project build is to work with some of the electronics.

When I was researching and collecting ideas to include in the design of the Hologram Pi-ramid, I really wanted it to be able to work in a similar fashion to the 2D/3D Holographic Displays commercially available, where the holographic 3D content (visual effects, animations, information) is combined with a physical object placed inside the hologram generator; this is perhaps the main reason why it has room for a few of electronics components explained below:

Top RGB lights

2 x WS2812B addressable RGB lights will be mounted on top of the object on a small foot print PCB; 25.4mm x 12.954mm (1in x 0.51in)

{gallery:width=480,height=384,autoplay=false} Top RGB lights
Top RGB lights: Hologram Pi-ramid top RGB lights pcb layout
Top RGB lights - schematic: Hologram Pi-ramid top lights schematic
Top lights location: Location of top RGB lights pcb

{gallery:width=480,height=384,autoplay=false} Top RGB lights

Top RGB lights: Hologram Pi-ramid top RGB lights pcb layout

Top RGB lights - schematic: Hologram Pi-ramid top lights schematic

Top lights location: Location of top RGB lights pcb

Front RGB lights

3 x WS2812B addressable RGB lights will be mounted on a small pcb located near the bottom-front of the Acrylic pyramid; 51.181mm x 6.35mm (2.015in x 0.25in)

{gallery:width=480,height=384,autoplay=false} Front RGB lights
Front RGB lights: Hologram Pi-ramid - front RGB lights pcb layout
Front RGB lights - schematic: Hologram Pi-ramid front lights schematic
Front lights location: Location of front RGB lights pcb

{gallery:width=480,height=384,autoplay=false} Front RGB lights

Front RGB lights: Hologram Pi-ramid - front RGB lights pcb layout

Front RGB lights - schematic: Hologram Pi-ramid front lights schematic

Front lights location: Location of front RGB lights pcb

Bottom Stand Adapter

The Bottom Stand Adapter contains four generic connections to connect basically "anything" inside the pyramid that contains electronics as long as it only requires a maximum of 4 pin connection; lets say power and/or two data signals. It can be an object with complex electronics, I2C communication, another group of WS2812B leds, etc.; 27.673mm x 10.16mm (1.09in x 0.4in)

{gallery:width=480,height=384,autoplay=false} Bottom stand adapter
Bottom stand adapter: Hologram Pi-ramid bottom stand adapter pcb layout
Bottom stand adapter - schematic: Hologram Pi-ramid bottom stand adapter schematic
Bottom stand location: Location of bottom stand adapter pcb

{gallery:width=480,height=384,autoplay=false} Bottom stand adapter

Bottom stand adapter: Hologram Pi-ramid bottom stand adapter pcb layout

Bottom stand adapter - schematic: Hologram Pi-ramid bottom stand adapter schematic

Bottom stand location: Location of bottom stand adapter pcb

Some redesign

On the initial Hologram Pi-ramid design, I had in mind including side RGB lights. These lights may shine right in front of someone looking inside the pyramid from the sides, disturbing the hologram perception so this idea was discarded.

Fusion 360 has many awesome features, one of them is that I can suppress features in the history of the design without having do a complex redesign, in this case I can now remove the placement for the side RGB lights from the design like it was never there.