Hey everyone! I'm working on building a mechanical cyclotron for my Ghostbusters Proton Pack, and I'm trying to figure out how to create a spinning light effect. The only thing I can think of is attaching an LED to a battery and a radio controller, so when I rotate the arm holding these components, it lights up. But I'm also curious about how I could adapt this idea into a small spinning globe for my Ghostbusters Giga Meter. I'm not looking for a full-blown display—just a simple setup with 1 to 3 LEDs for the cyclotron and maybe 4 for the Giga Meter. Any suggestions? Sorry if I didn't explain things perfectly!
4 Answers
You could also explore using a 555 timer with a CD4017 IC. It can help with creating specific light patterns easily, giving you more control over the spinning effect.
There are ready-made solutions out there if you're looking for simplicity. Just search for slip rings and you should find a bunch of options that might work for you!
Consider using a slip ring connector. It allows you to transfer power to your LED while it's mounted on a spinning motor. Sounds like a fun project—good luck with it!
You might want to use an addressable WS2812 LED strip or ring. By lighting each LED in a sequence, you can create the illusion of movement without having to actually spin a light. It can look really cool and keeps your setup fairly simple!
Agreed! Pairing it with an ESP32 running WLED would let you control those LEDs with awesome animated effects. Plus, you can find them in different sizes like 8x8 or 32x8 matrices.