Inspiration
We saw a YouTube video of an art project that used high speed water valves and strobe lights to make water seem like it was flowing backwards.
What it does
We created 8 high speed water valves out of G2 pens and automotive relays. Embedded software was written for a TI CC3200 ARM M4 wireless microcontroller that switches the valves with millisecond precision to draw images with the water drops.
How we built it
We used Pilot G2 pens, relays, and various plumbing equipment to create 8 high speed water valves. A TI CC3200 ARM M4 controls each solenoid through H-bridge driver circuitry. The software abstracts away the difficult timing details and presents a very simple API that can be used to create images and animations.
Challenges we ran into
It was very difficult to create working high-speed water valves. All four of us spent the majority of our time just trying to make the water valves work.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
The software was a huge success and works very well.
What we learned
It would have been much easier to just buy premade water valves.
What's next for FountainView
The CC3200 has WiFi, and we'd like to give it a sweet web interface.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.