Low Res Projectors

The concept for this project was to create a design for a digital projector built around a 7×7 pixel flip-dot display from AlfaZeta. Their displays are available in various dot colors, including a silver foil, reflective enough to provide a reasonably focused dot from an LED light source at least 20 feet away. From the beginning, I wanted to attempt to build 4 identical networked projectors with the ability to view the flip-dot panel working through a transparent enclosure.

Either an Arduino or Raspberry Pi controller seemed ideal due to the requirement for small size and wireless communication, and a Pi with a cheap USB wifi radio seemed the best option. I selected ow power components to enable future battery operation, though the projectors have remained plugged in thus far.

The content is limited to 1-bit color, including abstract patterns, scrolling text, and possibly dithered video at between 10 and 20 frames per second. Because of my familiarity with programming in Processing and its recent release for Raspberry Pi, all development was done in Processing. It’s pretty amazing to see patterns flow from one projector to the next, and the flip-dot sound is charming and mesmerizing. With these already using wifi to communicate, a natural next step is to connect them to dynamic content to stream text from Twitter or videos from a platform like Instagram.

ClientPersonal ProjectYear2017LinkFull Online Build-Log