Split Flap Display

OPERATION BIRTHDAY GIFT.

I needed to make a birthday gift. I wanted it to be thoughtful, electronics-y, and achievable in 2 weeks.

Taking advantage of access to a laser cutter, I decided to go for something reminiscent of a split flap display.

I also have been working on learning more electronics and wanted to learn more about stepper motors.

Spoiler alert: despite wanting to learn electronics, my stepper motor’s rated torque was tiny and so this project focused on design features to reduce the required driving torque.

Software

-Solidworks 2018

-Arduino IDE

Hardware

-Arduino

-Stepper Motor

-Acrylic (Laser Cut)

-10-32’s, 1/4”- 20s x 6” hex bolts,

-4-40’s and other miscellaneous bolts/nuts

-4x4 photos (cut in half)

Arduino Code

#include `<Stepper.h>`
#define IN1 9
#define IN2 10
#define IN3 11
#define IN4 12
const int stepsPerRevolution=2048; // 2048 steps
Stepper stepy(stepsPerRevolution, 9, 11, 10, 12);
// Pins in example script were: 8, 9, 10, 11.
// Notes: Pins are NOT set-up that way, pins in index 0 and 1 are switched!!
    
    void setup(){
  //set speed:
  stepy.setSpeed(1);
  Serial.begin(9600);
}// end setup

void loop(){ stepy.step(stepsPerRevolution); delay(200); }