Nice review of Blinky POV from BigMessO’Wires
Steve over at Big Mess O’ Wires wrote up a nice review of our Blinky POV kit. A few excerpts are below, you can read the whole thing at the Big Mess O’ Wires blog post.
My oldest daughter Alice has an occasional interest in electronics, and as her dad I try to encourage her without becoming too annoying. We’ve done some past projects like Snap Circuits experiments, building a Drawdio pen, and constructing an animated Halloween LED display. Recently we had a chance to build a Blinky POV from Wayne and Lane. Or more accurately I should say she had a chance to build it, since my role was limited to talking her through the steps and taking photos. It’s impressive what an 11-year-old can do with a soldering iron!
The main reason I selected Wayne and Lane’s Blinky POV instead of another similar one was the novel method used to program it. Instead of a PIC programmer, a serial connection, or some other conventional interface, it uses a pair of photo sensors to program new messages using flashes of light. Go to the Blinky Programmer web page, design some pixel or text-based messages, and click “goâ€. A clever bit of javascript flashes two squares on the screen, and when the Blinky POV is held near these flashing squares, it reprograms the stored messages in about 30-60 seconds. In our experience this method was very reliable, and much less hassle than dealing with virtual serial ports or other wired interfaces. And it actually made programming fun – like magic! The web page interface is surprisingly versatile, too. You can design pixel art or text messages, adjust the scrolling speed, switch between multiple stored messages, and define what should happen at the end of each message.
This is starting to sound like a Wayne and Lane commercial, so I should probably add that I have no affiliation with them other than being a satisfied customer. If there’s a young builder in your life who might enjoy a simple but fun-filled electronics project, give Blinky POV a try.
Read more: http://www.bigmessowires.com/2014/01/12/building-the-blinky-pov/
Nice kit! After reading Steve’s blog, I’m thinking about buying one to build with my 11 year old daughter. LOVE the programming interface! Much better than having to change the code & reprogram the PIC.
Thanks, we’re really proud of the optical reprogramming interface, glad you like it!
Very awesome Blinky Grid SMT. I put together this Blinky SMT Grid from you guys and it is awesome! I got the red one. Thank you very much for designing these cool kits. I will definitely buy more kits from you.