1×3 FLIP-DISC DISPLAY.
Flip-discs need two things to work, a power supply and a control module. There are several methods of driving the flip-disc displays, this display uses the simplest of them, i.e. transistor matrix with a shift register to minimize the required control lines. The built-in controller allows you to flip only one disc at a time, which translates to dozens of discs in one second. If we do not care about the high speed of the display, this solution is sufficient.
HOW TO USE.
Flip-disc displays require a specific power supply, in order to flip the disc we need to supply the disc with a current pulse of about 0.5A with a precise length of about 1ms (see flip-disc datasheet) and with correct polarity.
In the examples below, a dedicated power module called pulse shaper and Arduino were used to control the display. How to connect the boards can be found below in the description. You don’t have to worry about the whole procedure of powering and controlling the individual discs, because it is done by the ready-made Arduino program and the display itself.
- Only 3 pins DIN, CLK, EN (MOSI, SCK, EN – SPI) are required to control the display
- Integrated display controller requires 3.3V-5V power supply (see diagram below)
- The displays can be connected in series
- Any number of modules requires only one power module
- 2 pins PL, CH are required to control power supply module
- 12V, 1.5A external power supply is required
- Examples of module connection diagrams can be found in the description below
DATASHEET.
