[Swansea Hackspace] Flip-Dot Display Group Project: Update

[Peter Barnes]

All,

It's been quite a few months since the Hackspace embarked on a project to
bring some old bus displays back to life. I'm please to report that we have
made great progress, and plan on having a fully functional display made up
of six panels ready for EMF2018 <https://emfcamp.org>

Last night, with the help of Tom, we managed to get pixel level control
over a panel, using a very high tech method of connecting tac switches to
address lines! Next job is to use a MCU to pulse those lines with somewhat
more precise timing, so we can get full control over the panels.

Once we've sorted that out, we need to work on a few things:


   1. We need to design and build an enclosure / stand that will allow us
   to show off the displays to the public at EMF. This will likely be built
   out of bits of wood in order to raise the display to eye level and tilt
   them up a little to make them easier to see. The enclosure will include a
   large, plexiglass panel to protect the displays from the elements.
   2. We need to come up with an effective solution for controlling all six
   panels in real time. Our current idea for this is to pair each panel with
   an MCU that will update its pixels, and then network them together using a
   SBC (perhaps a Raspberry Pi 3B+) acting a bit like a hypervisor.
   3. Once we can control each pixel in the entire display, we need to
   write software to make it do something cool. Ideas for this have ranged
   from games such as pacman, a twitter bot, scrolling text and more. Perhaps
   we could even make a system that would allow EMF attendees to program the
   panel with to do something else entirely!


If you think you might be able to help with any of this, have some ideas,
or just want to have a look at what we're getting up to, come over and say
hello on a Monday night.

Photos gallery: https://photos.app.goo.gl/47nwBdrXxcoKn3jY8

Project page: https://swansea.hackspace.org.uk/Main/Projects

[image: Render.png]
Render of the 6 panels in a proposed configuration

Regards,

Peter Barnes
MØSWN <http://m0swn.uk>
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