Try and match the voice volume to the music. have to adjust the volume constantly to hear you and not wake the neighbours

attach the semicircle to the main arm - the end flapping is acting as a dampener making it so you can't get higher frequencies

The long exposure image looks like a scifi mapping of the human brain!

This is so freaking cool. I think you should use a thin layer of foam or some soft material to stop hard hitting of LEDs on 3D printed parts which may increase their working life.😀

That long exposure shot was sick!

"The Force is strong with this one"... I could see how satisfying it was to say that hah! Keep it up man, loving the channel

“Evil Villain Machine” is a great phrase. Every sketchy looking device you make should be labeled that!

I feel like you need to experiment with the spring stiffness, maybe by doubling or tripling up on the stem flex board part

The natural frequency only depend on the mass and stiffness. If you want it to go faster, you will need a stiffer flex cable. You should also make it longer so the extremities of the arc dont go in reverse direction. I think you could also put the magnets along the path of the coil instead of at each ends. You then might need some tortional stiffness too tho.

Really well done. I appreciate you showing all the hard work that you've put in to this. Fail, fail, fail but get back up again! Can't wait to see version 4!

You could use a rigid pcb and spin it with a motor. You can use a wireless charger for power and some LEDs and photo diodes for data.

Dude, you're awesome for continuing to develop this line of work. And also, of course, you're a great engineer and a great guy in general!

Cool experiment with the new geometry! Excited for version 4!

It is always satisfying for me seeing Ur videos because there is some progress ,some day I'll also feel that satisfaction for completing my projects😂👍👍 Great work bro

You have a new sub in me my man. This is next level project building. Thank you for filming it!

i really enjoyed this video, i loved the editing, the pacing, and the project itself! great video Liked, and subscribed

So much hard work. Congratulations. Seeing all this I would have change to a rotating led cylinder or barrel for much higher frequency.

Man keep up the good work i can't wait what improvement you might do next

Great work, really love it ! I think if you change the design of FlexLED it will solve most of your problems. It surely needs more flexible stems so that it won't wobble as much, while keeping the same semi-circular shape.

More power to you brother. Very good work and progress 👍👍

This guy doesn't lose the hope 👍🔥

I love this project, I hope you keep working on it because It'll be really cool if it works as intended,.

I think redesigning the PCB from a 'T' shape to a '∩' shape might help. Then there would be 2 drivers at both sides of the upside-down 'U' increasing the actuation force and frequency. It would also increase the size of the display (allow for more LED's) because now you don't have to worry about the ends of the T flopping anymore.

Your steel plates under the magnets should be continuous between the two magnet poles - in effect, completing the magnetic circuit and turning the two magnets into one (like a horseshoe magnet). That will reduce the flux density on the underside and increase it in the gap between the top poles. The same 'trick' works on motors where the magnets are stuck to a ferrous ring to increase the flux density on the exposed faces.

It might help to have two _stems_ instad of just one. It won't be as flimsy maybe.

4:20 I think because the „arms“ of the new flexpcb can flex as well they act as counter, stealing kinetic energy from the system.

Nice work, and good status report

Humankind is going to need that technology for space. Just because it's so light and can bend within and around 'tubular structures' ;-)

Maybe separate the main ribbon into two , with some space between them (like a П shape)? It will stabilise it on flipping axis , just guessing though:)

@Carl Bugeja This is super cool. Is there a use case where hemispherical POV display is preferable to something like a simple spinning circular POV display?

Adding supports to the main core - so it will look like a parachute, in theory should hold the contraption in the middle, then you only need to balance the magnets. Good luck! hope it works :D

I think you could “hinge” the ends of the leds maybe also adding some springs so the magnets dont have to work so hard the first few degrees

great video, cant wait to see whats next.

Ohh... A alternating display 😁

It's going great 💯

Hey! You should increase the spring effect in the "arm". It will help the led to go back up. Increasing the spring effect means that you will require a bigger force to bend it tight. But the coil has a greater effect when it get close to the magnet. So I think tye spring producing a hisgh force in tight bend will be countered by the coil having more action near the magnets. Thus the spring can really help you pass the high point in the middle where you don't have much action for now

You could try to add a small steel torsion spring (actual torsion spring or simple steel bar) at the base of the flexing stem, and drive it at its resonant frequency. The frequency is defined by the stiffness of the spring and the inertia (mass) of the moving part. This has many advantages: 1- You would need very little energy to sustain a vibration (only compensate for the air resistance and heat dissipation of the deforming material) 2- You could get away with much smaller magnets (don't need large forces if they're only sustaining the natural resonance of the system) 3- You could attain arbitrarily high frequencies (by increasing the stiffness of the spring) 4- You could tune it so the pcb doesn't strike the magnets (less wear) At some point, you'd also have to consider tuning the resonant frequency of the arms of the led arc. iirc, if the resonant frequency of the arms is higher (stiffer / ligher) than the stem, they will simply follow the stem at it's lower frequency. If their frequency if lower, they might interfere with the motion of the stem. Hope this helped.

Hi, I love your videos and flex-display development! This may seem counter intuitive, but I believe you need a stiffer flex pcb arm. I am talking about the part of the flex pcb that flexes and holds the coil ant leds on its end. The increased stiffness will help the assembly flex back faster after a travel to one side.

Awesome project! I love these quirky builds of yours. If I may say from the mechanical side of things, I'd recommend not having the led in a halo shape like that, perhaps a semi circle might work better. With more mass further from your pivot point you have more angular momentum and a harder time changing direction. Also a lot of energy is wasted in the 'flapping' of the halo, if you can make that part more rigid I think would be more reliable. Maybe pinning the ends about the axis of rotation could help? Add a small loop to the ends of the 'halo' and put a rod through them.

Next rendition of the flex LED arc, make the LED contacts in a different orientation.

New channel logo, nice

You should seal the display in a vacuum chamber. CRT monitors also used it. Fixing the sides of the display to the ground would improve stability.

I think you can model this with bending spring and mass as a rough harmonic oscillator. You can probably estimate the spring force from the bending equations: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bending

Here's an idea. 4 FlexARs arranged to each actuate 90 degrees of a circle. See if you can redraw the coil to simulate a halbach array. If you arrange them like an 'X' then you can get the FlexARs to jump together at the top and bottom, then actuate in the reverse direction and touch at the left and right sides. If that doesn't work, you could try 6 or 8 actuators. Also, why not try electroluminescent wire instead of LEDs?

Make two coil(one left and one on right) for reducing wobbling and improve force. Also if you get some sort of feedback signal, you can shift phases for dynamic compensation of wobbling.

This is working okay but got me thinking... two suspended wires running parallel with each other, with opposite charges tend to bow or curve based on electromagnetic attraction/repulsion. Why not set up a suspended grid of wires and use the flexAR circuit drive pairs of wires? The oscillating frequency should cause a similar wiggle effect. Micro led strings could then be fixed to the wired grid. The grid vibrate in the timing you want and cause the lights to do the same. You may need a bit more current to run everything being as you'll need power to drive the wire grid, and power to run your led matrix. This should allow for a cubic volumetric display that has a refresh rate for the led firing, and the grid vibration attenuation. I find your work inspiring. Keep it up Carl. ❤👍💪

I have some suggestions. Instead of one central connector, you could have one at each extremity to avoid torsion. You could increase the stiffness of the material or increase the total width of your connector. This will increase the speed of the natural resonance frequency of your system. If you drive your electric signal at the natural resonance frequency it will move easily. If you put more than two connectors, you cannot have an arc of a circle of LEDs because the length of each connector won’t be the same so the natural frequency.

That is cool 🔥 , my suggestion : it is soft to use , make is tough then it will work fine, hand like structure .

Could you add a hinge between the two magnets and control the angle with a motor? I think that way, you could dynamically adjust the angle and the strength of the magnetic field, and have more control over the frequency, efficiency, etc.

I think that will be cool if you try a similar ideia with a floating bar between magnets energized by its sides, showing some different shapes. The data could be transferred to the circuit on the bar by a Bluetooth chip!

I wonder if air resistance may be significantly affecting (dampening) the movement..keep up the good work!!

Try to add axis and to move coil to the side opposite to leds, you should be able to place magnets at sharper angle, and use the flexibility and inertia. Sorry for my English.

I think the performance issues might have something to do with the long flexible "arms" or ribbons of LEDs. They probably work kind of like shock absorbers when you try to reverse the direction of the movement. Also, the larger magnets may induce large enough currents in the coil to disturb the movement even further. This is just a wild guess though.

This looks really cool, will we ever be able to buy these?

Man goes "Wow, this is great. Let's put some dampeners on it and watch it go faster!" "Wait why is it going slower with the dampeners"

the arm needs to be stiffer and wider, with "spokes" connecting the semicircle to the fulcrum in a fan shape to reduce some of the wiggling without adding too much air resistance. A new housing with "tracks" on either side to stabilize and guide the semicircle in a straight arc would also help a lot. to reduce damage to the LEDs (and dampen the ticking noise it makes), add a thin layer of silicone over the magnet housing, or just simple foam stickers.

with stepper motors and threadless you can make a system that accurately approximates the magnets without getting hurt.

You can try to use fiber-optic (also flexible) to transport the light from the LEDs, that way you will have way less weight at the edge of the "lever"

keep it up , you are amazing

Very cool

I suspect if you link the edges to the middle, and widen/bifurcate the vertical support you'd get better results!

Would some sort of flex hinge on the ends of the led-arc be a possible solution for the stability problem?

Just an idea, but could you use a double-sided hemisphere? Two semi-circles of LEDs that move from flat and meet in the middle (vertically straight up)

I see three main problems here: Stiffness of the base fles(the pivot), unwanted torsion which destabilizes the system and an electromagnetic coil too small for the applicaition. So I would recommend that you do the following: A: Increase the width of the pivoting flex by quite a bit, which allows for a stiffer board and less torsion and B: perhaps adda couple smaller coils next to the main one or reshape the one you already have to have a more even force applied onto the flex by the magnets An approach I've seen with similar systems in the past is gradually increasing the stiffness of the fles the closer it gets to the base, this reduces unwanted torsion, allows the bend radius to still be very sharp and increases the natural resonant frequency of the system(which means the display will naturally oscillate at a higher frequency) There's issues with these approaches as well, mainly with adding more coils which would also add quite a bit of weight in a far point of the fulcrum, which would make it harder to push, but you're also exerting a higher force on the system, so it might balance out in the end. Best of luck!

Nice video!

You should wrap a soft coil spring around the middle part of the system

consider additional flex points, for stability and to keep it from flexing side to side more... it would also introduce some rigidity to allow for bigger LEDs

Woaw, very cool!

Is it possible to add some thin material such as ribbon or tape to reduce the twist on the flexible portion as it oscillates, it seems like a lot of the momentum is lost in the arms acting as a form of inertial dampener. If they were connected to the same axis as the pivot, would it allow for better recovery before going the inverse direction? Fantastic video as always, you are a true electronics artist

This looks so cool! What is your long term goal for this project? 😁

nice one. always interesting to watch your projects. one question, have you ever experimented with ferofluids and your pcb design? had a thought right now that it could be a really interisting to make some visuals with ferofluid manipulated with a printed board only ) hope for a reply

I think the issue is more with the length of the cable trying to flex and all the added surface area and mass on the top. Its likely the strong forces caused by movement at the top and the ends are likely keeping your speed so low, it has to drag everything along with it and it can't just accelerate so quickly. Edit - A reciprocating motor connected to a 3d printed arm and supports glued to the strip would let you achieve a faster refresh rate.

Have you considered or tried using a spring so that the neutral position of the array is sticking straight up? Alternatively, you could mirror the whole design to make a sphere instead of a hemisphere. The shaft could be non-flexible with a pivot in the middle so that the whole thing is counterbalanced. That way the neutral position would be vertical and when the top half is being pulled toward the right magnet, the bottom half could be pulled toward the left magnet and vice-versa. In fact, the whole thing (except maybe the coils) could be non-flexible pcb, which might help with the warping.

Have you tried the full led aray in a vaccum, you are creating a lot of drag with ambient air?? Just a thought?

The problem your running into could be related to the Lorentz force. In a nutshell it says, that when youre moving electrons through a magnetic field, a force in the oposite direction to both appears. As this needs energy, it must get that from somewhere, so it slows the movement down. (Lenz's law). Therefore by increasing the strength of your magnetic field, you higher the lorentz force and therefore lower the velocity.

What software did you use for magnetic field simulations please?

Have you ever try rearranged the magnets for the Halbach array? could be useful

There any way you could hook up small fiberoptic or glass fiber to the flex pcbs? Offset the led limitation to elsewhere

Consider anchoring the ends of the LED strip to prevent the outer LEDs from wiggling around so much. The added stability might help reliability as well as display fidelity.

I was kind of looking for a way ot make an actuator. Had an idea to use the led pcb strip from a virtual boy to make 180 degree AR display. But having a hell of a time finding a method of moving the display.

I think that instead of trying hard with insanely big magnets to increase the force, it would be more efficient to design the flexible part as a mechanical oscillator, tune it to particular frequency and increase Q-factor. Then the force (and thus the magnet size and coil current) required for keeping the oscillations will be orders of magnitude less.

Do you need the coil so high up the "stalk" of the device? if it were closer to the base (or maybe halfway down), it would be in a much stronger field area, and wouldn't need to travel as far (lever principle). You might need to make the upper portion of the stalk rigid if you did this.

Hi Mr. Carl, You can use mobile phone size leds and create a 3d computer or a 3d holographic screen This could be revolutionary. Like others, this project of ours also blew my mind keep the good work ... :)

would there be an easy way to adjust the "springiness" of the arm? it seems that the flex arm loses all momentum hitting the magnet and has to accelerate itself at the beginning of each cycle. a springy arm might slow down the arm before it gets to the magnet and use that energy to push it into the next cycle, but you would have to adjust the frequency and springiness to match

You work with heavier parts, so you need stronger mechanics. Make the flexing parts stronger. Add flexing parts at the ends of the led strip to stabilize it. Make the led strip harder. Make the coils stronger. I imagine a design where you have two coils at the ends of the led strip and two sets of magnets to work with them. The led strip itself is flexing on the ends and not in the middle. That way the coils and the magnets will be closer to eachother and the led strip will be more stable while oscillating.

maybe you should make it stiffer as when the middle of the flexLED is already "bouncing" to the other magnet the endings of it are still going in the opposite direction thus slowing everyting down pls correct me if I'm wrong

Have you considered using fiber optics to carry the light from LEDs on the base instead of putting LEDs directly on the flexiPCB?

Very cool video, cant wait for continuation! Maybe electro magnets would help? If not atleast they would be less scary than those mega magnets! 😅

You should try with a more rigid bridge, then if you manage to design your "pendulum" with a resonant frequency in the right range you should be able to drive it at it's given resonant frequency more like a spring attached to a mass.

Have you considered a more traditional rigid PCB on a hinge? Constraining the motion around one axis might help make the force on the coil by the magnets more consistent (but might not be as fun :). Love the videos!

Might I suggest putting the actual LEDs inside the base and using mono filament line (cheap for testing ) later Fiber optic fibers running along the stem and out to the locations on the semi-circle - might be an easier build in the long run. This might allow you to have many more "LEDs" and reduce the overall weight ..

Awesome work, how many days did you need to do this video? From Braziiiil!!!

And that's why we just mount LEDs to a rotating strong mounting surface to do the same thing. Put a box around the rotating mount and all it safe an the motors will last longer than a flexible display.

Very cool. I wish I was your neighbor growing up.

you're an innovator.

Have you concidered different wave forms may make it oscillate slower but could provide more torque thus allowing faster oscillation with LEDs attached

I am curious why you don't include flexible hinges at the ends of the led arch? It might help with magnet alignment and keeping the led path straighter...

Question: Why are the leds in a semi circle ? Why not straight? Will be easier to keep level when flipping and you can set multiple flexled closer

Can the actuators handle higher currents when they are constantly in motion? Edit: have you considered trying some kind of ferrite instead of steel? (this whole project is so cool, i definitely want to use these at some point)

Looks great! Does the firmware control the strength of the field depending upon its position in a similar way to FOC motor control? I think this method would give the optimal performance.