Persistence of Vision (POV) -2 Ways to Play-

After tired of searching POV tutorial that doesn't clear and complicated, finally I found the best one. In this instructable I will be recreating a POV (Persistance of Vision) Wand inspired by amandaghassaei's original design.  When I first saw the instructables I immediately wanted to recreate it with my own version.

The motivation of making this POV are because I want to make a light stick for my own. My first plan is want to bring it to the "Girls' Generation World Tour in Jakarta" Concert. But I didn't bring it on that day, hahaha Because of the colour of my POV are green. And the crowd all were pink. LOL

amandaghassaei's original design are made with acrylic. I'm using readily available parts without a deep knowledge of electronics one can begin to explore creating their own POV. I do not have 3D printer so construction will be done by way of PCB etching. And the difference are I'm going to make the POV can be used with two ways to play, easy to hold, and can spinning on the platform.


Ok, let's get started !!

Here is all you will need:

(1) Arduino UNO R3
(20) LEDs Super Bright (I'm using green, my fav color)
(20) 100 ohm resistors
(1) PCB / Perfboard
(1) 9V battery
(1) on-off switch
(4) Spicer 0,5 cm
(4) nut and bolts
(1) Project enclosure (I'm using "Kitchen Ware" box)
- Breadboard
- Shrink tubing
- Rainbow wire
- Male header extended


Tools:
- Soldering iron
- Solder
- Mini drill
- Pliers
- Cutter
- Helping hands (if you don't have it, you can build it from my helping hands instructable)


** If you want to make your POV spinning too, you need to jump right into step 11 to know what all you need **

I just a beginner of Arduino so I got the sketch from amandaghassaei's instructables. Download the POV code and upload it onto your Arduino board.  If you have trouble uploading be sure that nothing is connected to digital pins 0 and 1 and that you have selected the correct board and serial port under the Arduino/Tools menu.

Replace the words HELLO WORLD with any message in all caps with no punctuation. You can create your own characters and images by generating matrices of 1s and 0s.

A PCB can be made by many methods like UV etching, toner transfer method, using a CNC mill etc. We’ll be doing it with manually way because the circuit is so simple, and doesn't necessary to print it. it’s the only method which doesn’t require access to expensive equipment/materials.

Step 1
Cut the perfboard, about 22 cm long and 4 cm wide. (see image 1)

Step 2
Draw the circuit line with permanent marker. I'm doing it  (see image 2)

Step 3
Etching time! There are a lot of "How to Make PCB Etching" out there, so I won't explain it again in my instructables.

Step 4
Drill out the holes on perfboard with a drill and a small drill bit. Be careful when using a drill. (see image 3)

Let's build it on breadboard first. First, lets put the components on a breadboard so we could see how it worked and how to fit it onto the perfboard. The circuit diagram was made with Fritzing.

Test the 20 LEDs to make sure they're shining bright. You don't want to pull out the LED after they're already attached on perfboard.

Step 1
Arrange the resistors. Each resistor is connected to an LED on one side and ground on the other. (see image 1)

Step 2
Bend one of the leads of each resistor so that they are touching each other and solder them all together in a row. (see image 2)

Step 3
Arrange the LEDs. (see image 3)

Step 4
The cathode (-) of LED connect to resistor, and solder them together. (see image 4)

Step 5
Solder the anode (+) of LED on perfboard. Clip the excess metal from the leads.  Leave the last lead unclipped so that it can be attached to a wire later. (see image 5 & 6)

Step 1
Attach wires to each of the LEDs on the perfboard.  As you solder each connection, clip the excess lead off the end of the LED. (see image 1 & 2).

Step 2
Using shrink tubing is essential to prevent shorting. (see image 3)

Step 3
Solder the end of each leads, together with male header (extension). Be careful when you soldering the wire and the header, make sure they didn't touch each other. This will be connect to arduino. (see image 4 & 5)

Step 4
Strip both ends of a (preferably black) wire and connect the unclipped resistor lead, this is gonna be a ground. Solder it together. (see image 6)

Step 1
Drawing the pattern on the lid with marker for placing the spicer for Arduino. It's really helps for drilling. (See image 1)

Step 2
Be careful when you drilling the "Kitchen Ware" Box, because it made of plastic. It easy to melt if the drill get hot, but it's okay you can tidy it up by using a small cutter knife. Put the spicer 0,5 mm. (See image 2)

Step 3
Put the Arduino to fit with the lid (see image 3)

Step 4
Draw a pattern for on-off switch, a long hole for wires,  a long hole for insert the perfboard, and 4 holes for nut & bolts. Use a small cutter knife to make a rectangular cut, still be careful. (see image 4)

Step 1
Drill the perfboard to attach the nut. (see image 1)

Step 2
Arrange the switch and the battery according to image 2

Step 3
Connect the battery and switch to Arduino. (see image 3)

Step 4
Put together the POV perfboard and Arduino.

Pin connections:

Top of perfboard
1                       Digital Pin 13
2                       Digital Pin 12
3                       Digital Pin 11
4                       Digital Pin 10
5                       Digital Pin 9
6                       Digital Pin 8
7                       Digital Pin 7
8                       Digital Pin 6
9                       Digital Pin 5
10                     Digital Pin 4
11                     Digital Pin 3
12                     Digital Pin 2
13                     Digital Pin 1
14                     Digital Pin 0
15                     Analog Pin 5
16                     Analog Pin 4
17                     Analog Pin 3
18                     Analog Pin 2
19                     Analog Pin 1
20                     Analog Pin 0
Bottom of perfboard

Step 1
Attach the PCB with nuts to the enclosure. (see image 1)

Step 2
Tidy up the wires by inserting them to second long hole. (see image 2)

Step 3
Attach the on-off switch to enclosure. (see image 3)

Step 4
Put the battery into the enclosure, and connect it to the switch. I'm using "Foam Double Side Tape Adhesive" to attach the battery. (see image 4)

Step 5
Attach the wires to Arduino. And close the enclosure. (see image 5 & 6)

You're just finish it right away. The enclosure it's make easier to hold and play it safely.

If you are too lazy to holding it all the time, you can choose the second option that I will give it to you. Just check out step 11 to make it spinning.

This is a quick step to make your POV spinning. So here all you need :

- Platform from wood (see image 1)
you can build it with your own way, for me I just bought it on the market, and it's originally was a cutting board LOL

- 12V motor (see image 2)
I think it's the best choice, because you can run it from 3V to 12V, at 3 volts it only pulled about 20mA and it runs fairly slow, then you can tune your adapter to the speed as fast as you want, but I warned you 12V are fast enough to make your platform shaking like crazy.

- Pencil case from plastic (see image 3)
I'm using an old pencil case. We're going to use just one side.

- I don't know how to name it or it's called, it's just a bended hard plastic. so we can stick it with the perfboard horizontally. (see image 4)


Tools
- Drill
- Hot Glue Gun
- Cutter
- Foam double tape adhesive
- Gorilla glue
- Super glue

Step 1
Drill the board. Customize the diameter to the size of the dynamo that you used. (see image 1)

Step 2
Drill the bended plastic 4 holes as the holes on the perfboard. (see image 2)

Step 3
As I said before, we're gonna use a one piece of the pencil case. Add a glue (gorilla glue) at the corner to attach the bended plastic. (see image 3)

Step 4
Soldering the wires to the leads of motor. Don't forget about the polarity. Then attach a little piece of board on the motor with super glue. (see image 4)

Step 5
Put your motor in the hole. Add some gorilla glue onto the little piece of board to attach the pencil case later. (see image 5)

Step 6
Use a hot glue to attach the motor with the boards. Just to make sure it doesn't shaking when it's run. (see image 6)

Step 7
Attach the pencil case onto motor. You should put on the middle. to keep it balanced. Attach the bended plastic onto the pencil case. And attach the battery with some tape adhesive. Attach the Arduino with some Foam double tape adhesive. (see image 7)

Assemble all parts. Try the platform first. Give 3 or 4,5 volts from the adapter to make sure they spinning with balancing.

If it's all run okay, then congratulations you just finish the second way to play your POV. Yay!!


This is the video of my Persistence of Vision (POV)
(change the quality for a better view)