Spinning poi is an entertaining pastime, and LEDs can make a great addition to the experience. [MilanDer] built some LED poi of their very own, using a few maker staples along the way.
A 3D printed enclosure is first created, using “clear” PLA that in practice produces translucent white parts. This acts as a great diffuser for the APA102 LEDs inside. The LEDs are driven by an Arduino Pro Mini, which is fitted inside the enclosure along with a buck-boost converter, lithium battery and charge board. Finally, a strap is added to allow the poi to be spun easily by the user.
The visual effect is great, and through the use of an infrared receiver, the poi can be remotely controlled to deliver different RGB animations at the touch of a button. We’d love to see a group of spinners with synchronized colored poi thanks to a master controller, and this hardware would be more than capable of the task.
We’ve seen some advanced networked Poi before, too. If you’ve got a great LED build, be sure to let us know.
Source: BUILD YOUR OWN LED GLOW POI
