This past week I’ve mainly worked on the circuitry and coding, nothing too exciting. I’ve also made a few changes to the CAD which I will be 3D printing and doing final testing next week. From here on out I just need to integrate all the working parts which will most likely require redesigning a few parts.
The control panel and orb frame members will all be jet black. Most electronics on the market are made with dark colors which is the aesthetic I’m going for. This is so the customer’s or audience’s attention isn’t taken away from the important aspect of the product, which in my case is the spinning LEDs. If the frame was white or made from clear polycarb it would be distracting and take away from the light show.
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Good to hear the project is coming along, I like the idea of using a dark frame, in a low lit room the orb will surely look as if it is floating. Have you considered using needle or roller bearings for electrical brushes, if you remove the standard grease and use a di-electric grease standard bearings can be used to conduct electricity. Neat little trick I leaned in auto shop.
I agree that a dark colored frame will be a good choice for this project – you wouldn’t want the frame to distract from the LEDs when the lights are off. Be wary of dimensional shrinkage in your 3D printed parts. I’ve had some trouble with larger parts shrinking about 0.025″. This might be a problem if your project requires tight tolerances. Looking forward to seeing the completed project !
I agree that you probably don’t want to include material for the frame that will distract too much from the LEDs, and black is probably a solid choice, I just also think that the clear polycarb might be a neat option. I’m just thinking that with the motion of the orb, the black might add additional coloring into appearance of the orb in motion. Is there any way that you could do the main control box in black and the frame in clear? Just as a suggestion, although I think it won’t make much of a difference since the LEDs will be the main feature. Good luck!