Id like to make these in arabic ... Would deffo be a big challenge with all the shapes though.
Open source “split-flap” mechanical display
71–80 of 96 posts
Re: Open source “split-flap” mechanical display
#72Related video on Flip Clocks from Technology Connections: https://youtu.be/ZArBfxaPzD8
I really enjoy Alec's videos and quirky humour. Beware though, this kind of channel is a massive, addicting time sink. Other similar channels that HN might appreciate (the first two are quite well-known, the last one I found recently and is definitely bingeworthy): - Smarter Every Day https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6107grRI4m0o2-emgoDnAA - Tom Scott https://www.youtube.com/user/enyay - Practical Engineering https:…
Stuff like this is why I have difficulty giving up YouTube. I've given up basically every other algorithmic feed (except for HN, I suppose) but the amount of passionate and engaging education and curiosity content on YT will have me hooked for a while I suppose...
Re: Open source “split-flap” mechanical display
#73Genuine question: what are some practical advantages of a split-flap display over, well... any other kind of dynamic character display? The only two I could think of are: - they don't emit light, so maybe there could be some kind of light-sensitive situation where this would be required (though in that case e-ink would surely surpass it). - the sound passively-alerting those present to updates. It's not obtrusive or…
Readability and ultra low energy consumption (plus: they are awesome and produce a soft sound like a distant waterfall).
Also, contrary on what I have seen on LED matrices or other RGB/pixel based displays: they won’t display advertisement which otherwise manages to sneak in – too close to information.
Re: Open source “split-flap” mechanical display
#74Frankfurt airport has a huge split-flap display to show departures[0]. I love looking at it changing the data, and hope they'll never replace it with a digital one. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj32w5z81Ak
The sound it makes lets you know when something has changed, you don't need to keep looking up from whatever else you are doing.
Re: Open source “split-flap” mechanical display
#75Genuine question: what are some practical advantages of a split-flap display over, well... any other kind of dynamic character display? The only two I could think of are: - they don't emit light, so maybe there could be some kind of light-sensitive situation where this would be required (though in that case e-ink would surely surpass it). - the sound passively-alerting those present to updates. It's not obtrusive or…
Readability and ultra low energy consumption (plus: they are awesome and produce a soft sound like a distant waterfall). Also, contrary on what I have seen on LED matrices or other RGB/pixel based displays: they won’t display advertisement which otherwise manages to sneak in – too close to information.
I wonder how their energy consumption actually compares. Electric motors moving relatively heavy physical cards is far from free. I wouldn't be surprised at all to find that an eink display beats the pants of of a split flap display in terms of energy consumption, but I don't have the necessary equipment to test it.
Re: Open source “split-flap” mechanical display
#76I've looked into buying ready-made solutions. Vintage split-flap mechanisms go for close to $1000 per character on eBay. There is a company I found in China that manufactures these, but its still around $300 or so per character. Displaying a tweet would cost close to $100k after shipping, etc...
Re: Open source “split-flap” mechanical display
#77Related video on Flip Clocks from Technology Connections: https://youtu.be/ZArBfxaPzD8
I really enjoy Alec's videos and quirky humour. Beware though, this kind of channel is a massive, addicting time sink. Other similar channels that HN might appreciate (the first two are quite well-known, the last one I found recently and is definitely bingeworthy): - Smarter Every Day https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6107grRI4m0o2-emgoDnAA - Tom Scott https://www.youtube.com/user/enyay - Practical Engineering https:…
I've found that watching Alec's videos at 1.25X speed made them more enjoyable and listenable.
Re: Open source “split-flap” mechanical display
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I've been following this project for a while. It's pretty awesome. I estimate about $10 per character (as opposed to the $180/character (!!) another poster mentioned through Alibaba), with a large portion of the cost being the custom cut "flaps" (in small quantities). It seems like the cost could get in the $2-$4 range per character but I couldn't figure out how to do it without a significant amount of labor involv…
Laser cutting is straight out for the hobbyist, because of the chlorine, as you correctly point out. I think the way to do this is either with a CNC or with some die punch solution. Doing a single cutout of PVC with a CNC would be fine, but doing 40x23x7 is probably not. Doing a die punch is maybe possible but I don't really know how to create a custom punch and what tooling to use.
> Laser cutting is straight out for the hobbyist, because of the chlorine
Just don't use PVC blanks.
Re: Open source “split-flap” mechanical display
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Laser cutting a bunch of sheets at once could be one option Use a waterjet cutter instead. You'll have some issues with microplastics in the water, but these can be filtered.
Show me a water jet cutter that's priced at the hobbyist level (and isn't a full time job to upkeep) and I'm there.
I don't understand. Just send it to a service. You don't make your own PCBs do you? There's lots of things a hobbyist cannot do in-house, and even if you can just make far more sense (at hobbyist scale) to contract out.
There is the wazer, but it doesn't live up to its hype.