Chase Light SAO Shouldn’t Have Used a 555, and Didn’t
1 min read
Summary
A new take on an old design for an LED party light chaser has earned its German creator respect from the Hackaday website, although the invention is in fact a wholly mechanical construction.
The device, built by Johannes, is an apt demonstration of the principle that sometimes complex microcontroller-based designs could be simplified.
Johannes was inspired by a mechanism from the Wintergatan YouTube channel, which demonstrates a vertical lifting mechanism for a marble track symphony.
His own application for a light chaser uses two sandwiched plates with notches along their edges, rotated 180 degrees out of phase with each other by a small motor and gear system to provide the illusion of a moving light.
With no electronic components, this device is more energy efficient and wastes no light, as each LED only illuminates when directly facing the observer.
