Illustrating Gravity Using Gravitron Device

The project explores how to interact with gravity using half a ping pong ball and some LEDs.

In the design, a red dot can be seen on the rim of the ball and this dot will always stay up. The red dot will go up again even if it is turned purposely. The dot is being tried to be held up by this very small physics engine. An accelerometer is used to determine which side will be up. The dot is always dragged upwards due to the force created by the measured gravity. Using accelerometers is a nice way to interact with electronic devices although the whole project does nothing real useful.

There are 12 Micro Side LEDs that comprise the internal construction of the device. They are arranged in circular shape and connected to an ATmega168 controller. The Micro Side LEDs are highly reliable, saves space, and designed to deliver exceptional quality. These LEDs combine high brightness with low power consumption while including silicone-encapsulated models for an extended product life.

The accelerometer uses an ADXL322 which is a small, thin, low-power, complete, dual-axis accelerometer with signal conditioned outputs on single monolithic IC.

Rest of the project