Eight Thousand Pixels of Life
I’ve recently been playing around with the RP2040 (aka Raspberry Pi Pico). It’s a fun little chip. I’ve also got a bunch of cheap LED panels that I got from China. These are the type of panels they use to make the Jumbotrons at sports arenas. So I figured that I would combine the two and make another strange device to hang on the wall to go with this one. This one looks like this:
It’s playing Conway’s Life. It looks a little different than you might be used to because I’m not clearing between ticks. Instead it draws the new state over the existing picture using a new color. This lets you see the history of the system.
The frame is made from some mahogany I had left over from making the new porch railing last summer. Inside is a hardboard frame I cut on a laser cutter that holds two of the LED panels.
The result is kind of a fun little toy. It just plays random looking patterns all day (and night). You can find all the details on github.