INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE

A PROJECT REPORT ON

ROTATING LED DISPLAY

FOR SRISHTI-2012

MADE BY:JAY AGARWAL (INT. MSc PHYSICS-I year)

UNDER SUPERVISION AND GUIDANCE OF:-

ARPIT JAIN
CHANDRANSHU GARG PRINCE JAIN

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION BRIEF Development Mechanical Design Selection of components Diagram and photos. Discussion Possible Applications

PRODUCT EVALUATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

INTRODUCTION
This part of the report describes, step by step, the construction of a rotating light emitting diode (LED) display, consisting of only seven LEDs. The principle is that the LEDs are placed on a rotating vertical arm , and are switched on and off at exactly the right times to convince the eye that you are looking at a seven by 35 dot matrix of LEDs forming a text. The LEDs are switched on and off by a microcontroller that is rotating along with the LEDs. An extension to the project was to send infrared (IR) signals to the rotating microcontroller to select what text is to be displayed. The reason for using IR signals is that there is no possibility to send the data by a cable, since the construction is rotating. Persistence of Vision The phenomenon displayed in my device is called persistence of vision (POV). Basically, it is why you see a blur when something moves really fast. My project flashes the LEDs on and off in certain positions. At any moment only one line of the image is illuminated but due to the speed of the disc and POV, a complete image can be distinguished. This is only because the human eye has a relatively slow shutter speed of 1\50 of a second. This means that if something raced through your field of view in less than a 50th of a second, you wouldnt see it (much). From this value you could say that my disc needs to make 50 complete revolutions every second for an effective image to appear. Luckily, the human brain is clever enough to comprehend an image from my disc when it is spinning as slow as 10 times per second. A standard camera has a shutter speed of 1\250. There is no way my disc will ever spin 250 times a second, therefore to

catch a photo of my disc you need to set a very slow shutter speed.

BRIEF
I identified the following specifications to design to: Can show monochrome bitmap images such as: Straight lines Straight text Offset circles Pictures Squares Is easily loadable from a computer via a means such as: Cable connection Bluetooth Infrared connection Shows large images clearly in daylight Shows a constant image at different speeds

DEVELOPMENT
MECHANICAL DESIGN
Since the LEDs are rotating there was an obvious problem getting power to them. This was solved by placing the microcontroller and a battery on a small circuit board and letting it all rotate along with the LEDs. In the first step everything that was needed for the operation was programmed into the microcontroller, including the text to be displayed. The microcontroller could now switch on and off the LEDs, using inverted logic. In order to make the picture still, the LEDs had to be switched on and off at exactly the same
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positions (or time instances) every turn of the motor. In order to achieve this, the program had to know the speed of the motor, or alternatively get a signal in the same position in every revolution. Since the exact speed of a motor is very hard to measure, and may vary over time, the second approach was chosen. By using an optic sensor, also attached to the rotating circuit board, which gives a signal every time it passes a mark on the stationary part of the motor, the microcontroller could now know exactly when each revolution started. It could then switch on the LEDs that should be lit in the first column of the pattern to be displayed. Then it would wait for a short time and switch off the LEDs. After another short time it could switch on the LEDs forming the second column and then it would repeat this for all 35 columns. By following this pattern on every revolution and always starting exactly when the sensor gave its signal, it was possible to get a steady picture that looked as if it was formed by a 7 x 35 dot matrix of LEDs.

Selection of Components

The following components were used in the project: A fast and silent motor. An old cooler motor was used in this project, but almost any motor would work. A circuit board. Preferably a permanent circuit board (pcb) can be used made according the circuit. An arm to put the LEDs on. Here a pcb was attached with nut-bolts. Bolts, nuts and washers for the mounting. A microcontroller. Here a ATMEGA 16 was used since it is small and cheap and has all the functionality needed. A clock crystal and two capacitors for the microcontroller to work. 4 MHz,27 pF and 151 pF were chosen.

 A sensor that gives a signal at a certain position for every revolution. Here an infrared receiver transmitter circuit was used which was permanently attached to the circuit . Seven LEDs. A 9 V battery. A 5 V voltage regulator (78L05). An IR diode with a current limiting resistor. A PC to program the ATMEGA 16.

DIAGRAM

DISCUSSION

While creating this project I looked on the internet to see if a similar thing had been done before. A Google search returned several displays, although most are just made by hobbyists; not commercial. All but one of the displays I saw relies on a constant or near constant motor speed. Firstly, in making this project we across the problem of motor speed to make only single array of led a display. We also came across the problem of mechanical design due to high speed of motor. I have learnt a lot of things in
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making this project. Looking back on this project, I am quite happy. I have created what I believe is a unique combination of software and hardware, and it satisfies my Brief. I could of course refine it further.

POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS
Eco-Advertising Display

A high speed wind turbine sitting on top of a building could generate its own power from the wind, and show many things, such as a company logo, current specials or the time on a large display. It could have ultra bright multi colour LEDs and be eye catching, colourful, and informative.

Car Wheel Display

A sticker that is stuck to a cars hub cap could display images as the car is moving. Surface mount components could make a very small device, and it could be optimised for low power consumption. It could show things like square wheels or pictures, and have wireless image upload facilities.

Fan Display
A fan could have a device attached and show an image, or dynamic content such as the current temperature and time. The fan would need to spin quite fast to display a good image, and be balanced to compensate for the circuit weight.

Novelty Spinning Image

A USB device could have a motor powered disc, and Display an image created on the computer. A really high resolution device with multi colour LEDs could be set to display a slide show of images.

3D Display
Adapted mechanically to rotate in 3 dimensions, and with some very nifty programming, a POV display could show 3 dimensional images. With high
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resolution, lots of development, and a fast processor, not only would this look very cool, but it could be used for air traffic control, 3D design, 3D sonar fish finder or medical scan display.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
THANKS TO ARPIT JAIN FOR GUIDEING. THANKS TO CHANDRANSHU GARG AND PRINCE JAIN SIR FOR TROUBLESHOOTING MY CIRCUITS AND PROGRAMING.