Vorpal Rainbow Fidget Spinner by vorpal

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

The Vorpal Rainbow Fidget Spinner uses random RGB LEDs and a centrifugal force switch to create a rainbow of colors whenever it's spun. Using a standard CR2032 button cell battery (commonly available in stores) it can light up for 80 hours of spinning time!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0JT707HtsU
Because of the force switch, no on/off switch is needed. If you spin it, it lights up. If you don't spin it, it doesn't light up. Very simple and effective way to avoid wasting batteries by accidentally leaving it on at the end of the day.
The design is easy to 3D print, requiring no supports, brims, or rafts. The source files are published openly on OnShape.com so you can modify the design if you wish.
Relationship to Vorpal The Hexapod
The Rainbow Fidget Spinner is awesome for use with the Vorpal The Hexapod "Fidget Spinner Challenge" activity. You would add an additional rule: The robot must spin the Rainbow Fidget Spinner fast enough to make it light up. The student who lights it up the fastest, starting from a common starting position, wins.
For other Vorpal the Hexapod activities, see Vorpal Games & Activities on our wiki.
Obtaining the Electronics
This project is open source (Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike) so feel free to source the parts yourself, but we do offer a convenient kit that includes all the electronics, screws, fidget bearing, etc. See The Vorpal Robotics Store.
Assembly Details
Complete instructions are posted on our wiki under the topic Rainbow Fidget Spinner.
Assembly requires some basic soldering, but it's not very challenging soldering so this is not a bad training exercise for beginners (well, maybe have them just solder two wires together a few times first).
3D Printed Parts
One of each of the STL parts, plus an extra end cap. Just about any kind of plastic is fine and a range of layer heights work. We typically use 0.3mm layers because we're impatient and want it to print fast.
You can optionally decorate the top and bottom plates using an oil marker to outline the little raised curves.
Non-3D Printed Parts Needed
A kit that has all of the parts below (and also the hex key) is available from our store. Please consider supporting us so we can keep creating new open source projects!
1 x 608 Skate Bearing (preferably one made for Fidget Spinners, without grease)
5 x T3 sized Random Color LED. These LEDs have circuitry in them that makes them automatically flash and fade between colors semi-randomly.
8 inches (200mm) of bare hookup wire
1 x Rainbow Fidget PCB which has holes for the LEDs and leads. If you are self-sourcing see below for an easy substitution.
1 x low profile "half circle" battery holder for CR2032. See a picture on our wiki instructions for this project.
1 x CR2032 coin cell battery. These are very commonly available as they are used in calculators and other devices.
1 x Sorenson Lighting Controls Centrifugal Force Switch. See a picture and size info on our wiki.
6 x button head cap screws, M3x5mm
Tools Needed
Soldering iron, solder, rosin flux, etc. for soldering
Wire cutters
2mm hex key for driving the screws (this is included in our kits, but not the other tools)
Self-Sourcing the PCB
If you're not purchasing our kit of parts, here are some options on the PCB.
First option: you can manufacture the DXF file we provide with this Thing if you're into making PCBs. There are also numerous low cost services to manufacture them, although you'd probably want to make 10 or 20 and share with friends to make it economical.
Second option: you can substitute a piece of copper clad breadboard that uses standard 0.1" spacing (2.54mm spacing). A rectangular piece 13 holes by 2 holes will work, just be careful with the hacksaw! As you insert the LEDs, skip every other hole. There will be two holes left at the end, one for the positive lead and one for the negative lead. You can bridge the left side holes and the right side holes with your soldering iron to form the circuit.
We purposely spaced the holes in 0.1" increments so self-sourcers could just cut a piece of breadboard and make their own.