Flipdiscs

184

sskogstokig 4 days ago 30 commentsRead Article on flipdisc.io

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Discussion (30 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

simonjgreen•33 minutes ago

There is a fairly impressive installation of these at Heathrow airport in Terminal 5 outside the BA lounges. Struggling to find a decent video on YouTube, but this one’s not terrible https://youtu.be/G03WA30yFMI?si=hx5aLlrj_BH21yr2

W0lf•about 2 hours ago

I did the same for my office and bought used LAWO flipdot panels for this. Screenshot of the thing here: https://github.com/aivju/flipdotz

OuterVale•about 3 hours ago

They've been slowly replacing the flip-disc displays on the buses where I live with LEDs and LCD panels which has been such a shame. There is a beautiful mechanical satisfaction to a panel of flip-discs inverting and I genuinely find them easier to read.

Gigachad•21 minutes ago

They seemed less reliable than LEDs. When they were common here they would always have tens of dots stuck in the wrong position.

Perz1val•7 minutes ago

I'd imagine the vibrations didn't do them any good

sschueller•about 2 hours ago

Yes, even the ones that have an LED behind each disk which are on in the dark. This display [1] is the same but in the dark [2] you see the LEDs instead.

[2] https://www.urban-transport-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/...

[1] https://cdn.unitycms.io/images/2padXosoqh99o13dcrN3co.jpg

nandomrumber•about 2 hours ago

The LED / LCD displays are probably lighter (less heavy), and someone figured they can save 0.001 gallons of diesel a year fleet wide if they replace displays.

Net Zero Fatigue is real.

pastel8739•about 1 hour ago

Much more likely, I think, the mechanical displays had some maintenance cost which cheap LED displays will not.

Rodeoclash•about 1 hour ago

You've confabulated a reason why they replaced them, linked it to initiative then complained about them doing it all in two sentences. A gold medal in mental gymnastics is warranted here!

MrBuddyCasino•14 minutes ago

They’re probably just cheaper and require less maintenance.

You’re not doing your cause any favors by projecting everything on an ill-fitting frame.

shermantanktop•about 2 hours ago

There’s a very large one of these at “Climate Pledge Arena” in Seattle. Perhaps 8 feet tall and 16 feet wide. Pretty cool, but stuck pixels are even more annoying when it makes you want to reach out and poke them.

I use quotes because it will always be the Colosseum to me, where I saw the Butthole Surfers, Dead Moon and Nirvana. Don’t get me started on the Kingdome.

kaipereira•about 3 hours ago

This is insanely cool, the noise they make is also really satisfying!

What was the cost/time breakdown of the entire project because the flipdisc prices are hidden behind quotes and it seems like it would take quite a lot of time to complete the whole display!

sen•about 3 hours ago

The prices I’ve seen mentioned are around USD$3-5 per “pixel”.

Similar to all the ePaper projects that show up here, they’re expensive but cool gimmicks.

londons_explore•about 2 hours ago

Whole dollars per pixel is insane!

The whole mechanism looks very 3d printable... I wonder if one could design one with PCB coils and a large 3d print only? If so, cost could probably come down to cents per pixel...

You'd probably also need a single 'C' shaped piece of steel for the magnetic flux path, but you might be able to find a supplier for the right shape already used for something else you can buy in large quantities very cheaply (eg. Steel staples).

nandomrumber•about 2 hours ago

That display needs some Conway’s Game of Life action pronto.

test1235•about 2 hours ago

they have a gif at the bottom of the article which looks like game of life

https://github.com/simpsoka/office-flipdisc/blob/main/scenes...

nandomrumber•about 2 hours ago

Dunno where your link is going, but yeah I see the gif at the bottom of the article now.

Still, I wanna see and hear it on the display.

ofrzeta•about 3 hours ago

I bought a flip dot display on eBay and now I am stuck with the old thing and my lack of knowledge to make it work. Here's a great resource about technical details (only German though) https://radow.org/flip-dot.php

EDIT: "They have high readability, a long lifespan, and achieves anywhere between 25-60fps" - I think you can't achieve 60fps with a flip dot display.

londons_explore•about 2 hours ago

Depends how much power and noise you're willing for it to make!!

Remember that texas instruments DLP technology which is in use in pretty much every office/home cinema projector is effectively micro flip-dots micromachined in silicon, and that can operate at ~10,000 FPS.

tamimio•22 minutes ago

I remember seeing those at the airport when I was a kid it was fascinating, one of the screens was close to the ground and I got over the chairs just curious how do they flip, now we have the boring soulless LEDs.

Magi604•about 2 hours ago

I'd like to see someone play DOOM (or any game, really) using that flip disc screen!

socalgal2•3 minutes ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSeQucVAjLg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSdiop75jIg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQVp-srqRBY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJU2-1X8kHQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiFSnoJQU7I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWIKOjGXTEM

kelseyfrog•about 2 hours ago

I was thinking of Bad Apple!![1], but maybe that's too niche.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtutLA63Cp8

gsliepen•3 minutes ago

I wonder if you could have it play the music as well by the right timing of flipping, just like how the Floppotron works.

jllyhill•11 minutes ago

The first thing I dig in the article was a search for "bad". Glad I'm not the only one.

Magi604•about 2 hours ago

You made me wonder just how often Touhou is even mentioned on HN, so I did a quick search and... less than 15 results! (not counting dupes).

Niche indeed...

a_t48•about 2 hours ago

Not niche enough :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NXSMdUH_Cg

albert_e•about 2 hours ago

Tetris seems like a good fit -- given the frame to frame changes are minimal adjacent pixels, the responsiveness should be acceptable

harikb•about 3 hours ago

Is the last photo on that page, describing the cabling, a screenshot of another photo displayed using flipdiscs? that is a whole lot of discs!!

razorbeamz•about 3 hours ago

I think it's just a simulation of what it could look like if it were flipdiscs.

polyterative•about 1 hour ago

Technology is so cool and you're using it to build a mirror. Would have loved to see generative or other weird graphics.

einpoklum•about 1 hour ago

I have a question about those wire ferrules they said they were using:

I occasionally connect wires to terminals, but - I've never used ferrules: I just self-twist the thin strands, push the thing in, and use the lever or tightening screw depending on the terminal's mechanism.

Why would I use a ferrule? Or perhaps, under what circumstances is that advised?

PS - Link to the ferrules they mentioned: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R6QQ7MW/

orangewindies•about 1 hour ago

The wire will crush over time and the connection will become looser. That will increase the resistance of the connection and in high current applications will cause heating. If you're really unlucky it will cause a fire.

fgfarben•about 1 hour ago

Ferrules often have insulating shells around the base which are good strain relief.

Ferrules also evenly distribute the clamping force and prevent crushing of the strands.

Ferrules solve the problem of having to align the threads every time you re-post them in a terminal block.