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by kaipereira 59 days 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!
1 comments
sen 59 days 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.

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londons_explore 59 days 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).

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tuumi 59 days ago
This fella gave it a shot. https://hackaday.com/2021/05/29/3d-printed-flip-dots/
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nottorp 59 days ago
These mention 25-30 fps, so the mechanism may cost a bit to be that sturdy.

I wonder if anyone makes cheaper versions that you're only supposed to update at 1 frame per minute or less...

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