PiCasso Design Challenge - POV Globe Blog #10

27 May 2019

Hello everyone!!

The globe is complete and runs great. It looks really cool seeing the project done and working better then I ever thought. Programming the LED strip in python was not as hard as I thought. I did the programming on my laptop then transfered it to the Rasperry Pi. Since the Raspberry Pi is spinning it is impossible to hook a monitor to it so I solved that by using remote desktop. This way I can transfer files and change programs while the globe is spinning. I attached 2 videos below to show the final project up and running.

After watching the video, the camera doesn't pick up the true look of what the globe does (If anyone has an idea on how to get a better video I would love to hear from you). The multiple changing colours looks quite impressive (my wife was even impressed which isn't an easy task). I am working on programming the world, I didn't realise how much programming it would be until I started. I first had to do a grid layout of the world and section it into the different colours. The grid is 72 pixels by 145 pixels, that is 10440 pixels to code for the world. I'm creating a function for each row but this will still take a bit of time. For now I am working on some smaller programs to try different ideas. The program running on the LED's is below:

import board
import neopixel  #Strip lights
import time
pixels = neopixel.NeoPixel(board.D18, 72)  #The board.D18 is the Rpi out pin and the 72 is the amount of LED's
x = 1
while x = 1:
 pixels.fill((255, 0, 0))  #pixel.fill is to make the complete row the same colour
 time.sleep(.01)  #Delay 100th of a second
 pixels.fill ((0, 255, 0))
 time.sleep(.01)
 pixels.fill((0, 0, 255))
 time.sleep(.01)
 pixels.fill ((255, 255, 0))
 time.sleep(.01)
 pixels.fill((255, 0, 255))
 time.sleep(.01)
 pixels.fill ((255, 255, 255))
 time.sleep(.01)

The possibilities of the globe is endless, I want to create a video game to play on it (Could be interesting).

Below is a summary of the cost of the project:

Raspberry Pi - $60.00 (This was part of the kit that was given to the sponsored competitors)

LED's strip - $30.99 (Strip of 144 lights)

Sewing machine motor - $54.00 (Bought an old machine)

Bearings - $16.00 for 2

Globe plexiglas - $15.00

Wood for frame - $0 (I'm a cabinetmaker)

Msc. items - $15.00 (Wire, solder..etc)

Total - $190.99

I want to thank everyone involved in this competition especially our sponsors. None of this would have been possible without Element 14 and the community.

Thank you

Dale Winhold