Creative Business Card Design: Liquid Movement LED Showcase
The FLIP business card is an impressive feat of engineering, combining advanced embedded systems and fluid dynamics to create a unique and captivating visual experience. This innovative card, designed by Nick, features a fluid simulation that responds to the card's movement, transforming the LED matrix into a flowing river of light.
The Heart of the FLIP Business Card
At the core of this innovative design is a 21×21 matrix of 441 LEDs, each acting as an individual particle in the fluid simulation. This dense LED array provides a high resolution for the visuals, enabling a natural, flowing effect. The LEDs are controlled by the Raspberry Pi RP2350 microcontroller, which runs the FLIP simulation and manages the LED updates.
The FLIP Technique and Simulation
The FLIP technique used in this project is a particle-based fluid dynamics simulation, favoured for its speed and realistic flow. The firmware simulates fluid motion internally and reflects particle positions by lighting the corresponding LEDs. An LIS2DH12TR accelerometer is integrated into the design to detect the card's movement, allowing the fluid simulation to respond realistically to tilting and shaking.
Hardware Integration and Miniaturization
To keep the business card slim and practical, several design choices were made. The PCB is just 0.6mm thick, significantly thinner than the standard 1.6mm. The 3.7V, 3.6mm thick battery is placed in a cutout to distribute its thickness across both sides of the board. The USB-C charging and programming interface is implemented using clever PCB cuts, allowing the plug to slide into place without a bulky connector.
Choice of Microcontroller and Software
The RP2350 MCU, a Raspberry Pi product, was chosen for its capabilities. Although it has known minor erratum issues, fixes were implemented in updated hardware stepping versions, making it suitable for controlling the LED matrix and processing fluid simulations efficiently. The FLIP simulation firmware is implemented in Rust for performance and safety, running directly on the RP2350 to maintain smooth, real-time visual effects synced to physical movements of the card.
A Unique Design Shared for All
Nick has generously shared the design files for this unique business card, allowing others to replicate and build their own version of this captivating interactive card. This design is an excellent example of a fluid dynamics project, showcasing the potential of combining hardware miniaturization, real-time sensing, and efficient fluid simulation algorithms.
Previous Fluid Dynamics Projects
Other fluid dynamics projects have been previously featured on the platform, demonstrating the growing interest in this field and the potential for innovative applications. The design of the FLIP business card is inspired by a previously covered fluid simulation pendant, further highlighting the potential of this technology.
[1] [Source 1] [2] [Source 2] [3] [Source 3] [4] [Source 4] [5] [Source 5]
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