POV Wand Pattern Designer

A graphical tool for creating persistence of vision (POV) LED patterns for programmable wands and similar devices.

Overview

This application allows you to design patterns that can be displayed on POV (Persistence of Vision) LED wands. These are devices with a row of LEDs that, when waved through the air, create the illusion of an image due to the persistence of vision effect.

POV Wand Example

Features

• Design grid with customizable width
• Multiple drawing tools: brush, eraser, line, and circle
• Predefined patterns: Heart, HI, Smiley
• Real-time preview of the pattern
• Support for two output formats: Heart (64 columns) and Hanzi (16 columns)
• Generates hex code ready to use in Arduino or other microcontroller programs

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/pov-wand-generator.git
   cd pov-wand-generator
   

2. Create and activate a virtual environment (optional but recommended):

   python -m venv venv
   # On Windows
   venv\Scripts\activate
   # On macOS/Linux
   source venv/bin/activate
   

3. Install the required dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

Usage

1. Run the application:

   python POV_Pattern.py
   

2. Design your pattern using the available tools:

   • Use the drawing tools (Draw, Erase, Line, Circle) to create your pattern
   • Try the predefined patterns (Heart, HI, Smiley)
   • Adjust the design width as needed

3. Generate the hex code by clicking the "Generate Hex Code" button

4. Copy the generated code and use it in your microcontroller program

Output Format

The application supports two output formats:

• Heart Format: 64 columns wide, suitable for larger POV displays
• Hanzi Format: 16 columns wide, optimized for smaller displays or specific hardware configurations

The generated hex code represents the LED pattern in a format that can be directly used in Arduino or other microcontroller code.

Example Output

0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,
0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,
0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,
0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,
0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,
0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,
0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,
0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,0x00,

License

MIT License

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.