Forums > Social Chat > Message poi

Posted: 28th Feb 2001
well, it might look silly, but we won't know till you try! and the concept itself seems nifty enough that it's definitely worth a shot. the only thing is, if they're spun fast, it'd be hard to read, ya know?but, hey, it's still worth a shot! creativity, ya know?

Posted: 28th Feb 2001
I think its a wicked idea!! messages might be difficult to read - unless they were short enough and then looped, patterns would look beautiful - go for it

Posted: 28th Feb 2001
I think this is a great idea... Even if something as ambitious as text writing doesn't work out, you could still do interesting stuff just by changing the lights slightly...Iike if every other light was lit up for a while, then switched to the others, etc.. It could give the effect of circles radiating outward or inward, etc...That combined with the different poi moves I think could be really interesting... I'd say definately give it a shot..

AnonymousPLATINUM Member

Posted: 28th Feb 2001
Nooooooooooo!Give up it'll never work, explode then killl us all!

Posted: 28th Feb 2001
Its a nice idea. Achallenge i reakon i might like to take on my-self. The idea of text may be a bit too far fetched but it my still be worth a go. I quite like the idea of one single row a L.E.D's along the chain or string. If the lights flashed in sequence from the handle to the end, it could make a cool spiral shape.speed of lights:spin speed could be hard to work out though!

Posted: 1st Mar 2001
I had a led writer that you wave back and forth that would spell out anything you programmed into it. I wonder if that would work when tied to a string. I havent got it anymore tho I lost it when partying. I got it from a place called the Gadget Shop in Nottingham. Happy hunting.

Are we nearly there yet?

AnonymousPLATINUM Member

Posted: 2nd Mar 2001
yeah tops idea dude.I reckon text would look fucked. even if it could be read? what are you gonna do? advertise? tell the time? say Hi to your mum?I think patterns, espectially spirals, and animated patterns would be wicked. You will need some way of getting the control wires to run through brakets that can turn 360 degrees so the poi can still turn. - you will need a computer to run it (if you want custom programmable patterns), a power supply for the computer..a monitor (to monitor)..a keyboard, a computer desk to put it all on, and a decent regulated generator (+ all cords).hey! send us a video when you're done! Josh

Posted: 11th Mar 2001
HiI think you're all right, text would be silly except maybe for the home of poi url? Or your phone number for when girls like your spinning I reckon patterns would be easy though. All I need is a method of working out where the poi are in space. I think it could be done with an acceleration sensor. If my physics is correct, the force outward on the poi is least at the top where gravity acts against the centrifugal force and most at the bottom. If I can time a few circles and average it then I should get a rough idea of timing at any point.As for computers, I can do it all in a microcontroller. One chip with all the mathematical power required where the leds will happily connect straight into it! Total cost for the electronics will probably be around £5

Posted: 11th Mar 2001
dear tkerby, i think it's not gonna prove such an easy task but it can definitely be done with a bit of thinking (a lot of thinking rather ) and some basic knowledge of mechanics and electronics; oh and a lot of patience and trial and error...IMHO the way a starting point would be to swing them as fast as you can when taking measurements or for calculations - that way you'll know that you will have roughly the same velocity everytime you swing so that the message displays correctly, unless you know a bit about control and feedback, in which case you can do something really fancy (and difficult) which will make sure the message displays correctly whatever the speed - a meter that can measure the angular velocity of the chains can be used near the handle, but then you will have to make sure you don't use your wrist much so that you get the correct angular velocity... and lastly, maybe i am wrong, but by intuition i would say that especially if you are spinning the chains fast, gravity could be safely ignored for practical purposes - anyways your brain compensates for gravity when you swing since your hand exerts a greater force on the chain when the poi are travelling upwards...these are just a few thoughts, i could be wrong on this but in any case good luck with it; it sounds like an interesting project on its own right happy swinging,Simos[This message has been edited by Simos (edited 12 March 2001).]

Posted: 11th Mar 2001
Screw the teXt! It'd be too impractical, plus that'd be only when spinning forward or reverse, what happens when going into the butterfly or weave? you'd get some really fuqued up text! lolThe patterns would look awesome though! Cuz then it wouldn't matter. ------------------"Happiness is not a destination, but a method for life"- Burton Hills

The reason communism doesn't work is because people like to own stuff

Posted: 12th Mar 2001
Patterns it is! Hopefully basic patterns shouldn't be too much of a problem. If I can't manage a few flashing lights then I probably shouldn't be doing my Electronic Engineering finals right now! What would be nice would be a good level of control spatially. Finding a method of determining the position of the poi will be difficult but if I can get that working then I can keep the timing between the poi for pattern changes as pretty much everything has a symmetry so they should turn the same number of times. Perhaps I can make them talk to each other at some point or to a palm organiser in my pocket. I've done some simple radio data comms before.But thats for the future. It's the easter holidays coming next week and instead of revising I think I'll get the first version up and running. That and practicing some moves for fire point at this years Beltane festival! Keep an eye out, I'll try and get a video together when they work!

Posted: 12th Aug 2002
*bump*

Found this...sounds remarkably like the poi Tom are making after taking the star poi idea to the next level. Tom, I don't know where you're at with that, maybe this contains some helpful hints.

Posted: 12th Aug 2002
woops...assumed this would be bumped to the tech forum.

Posted: 12th Aug 2002
Now ya've done it Paddy.

Posted: 12th Aug 2002
actually it would be an awesome idea, get with Malcolm he is the elctro wiz!!! I am sure it can be done because I have seen one that just rocs back and forth so I am sure a spin would work, well something like a butterfly hehe

Some Jarhead last night: "this dumb a$$ thinks hes fireproof"

Posted: 13th Aug 2002
this craft is beyond me, but i think text could be hella cool, and with varying speeds of spin, the visibility trails/ rush trails could be a real kick. patterns too would be great, getting closer to glow/elctroglow lightshow stuff peeps have already been puttin together in custom gear

molten cheers,

~ FireMike

FireMikeZ@yahoo.com (personal messages welcome, no promo spam, please!)
Laguna, California, US