Ever since I saw this Ferrofluid clock I got fixated on building something with Ferrofluid. I'm somewhat of a beginner with electronics but this seems within reach.
So my idea was to build a grid of electromagnets that are controlled with a microcontroller to create shapes with the fluid. Let's say I have a bunch of electromagnets arranged in a grid. How do I connect them to an Arduino in a way that I can control with software whether each one is on or off? How do I overcome the fact that an Arduino only has a limited number of pins when I want to the grid to be at least 8 by 8?
Does the max current the Arduino allow suffice to drive this many magnets and strongly enough? (It seems the fluid requires fairly strong magnets).
My next question is what would be the best way to arrange the grid to achieve a strong, focused magnetic field to control the fluid. Will the magnets interfere with each other if they're close enough, to the point where they're not focused to give any control to manipulate the fluid?
If anyone has a better idea on how to go about this please share. It seems like the clock in the clip is using permanent magnets but I couldn't quite figure out how the whole mechanism works. I'm not expecting anyone to design this upfront for me, but a few initial ideas to help me get started and experimenting will be highly appreciated.
So my idea was to build a grid of electromagnets that are controlled with a microcontroller to create shapes with the fluid. Let's say I have a bunch of electromagnets arranged in a grid. How do I connect them to an Arduino in a way that I can control with software whether each one is on or off? How do I overcome the fact that an Arduino only has a limited number of pins when I want to the grid to be at least 8 by 8?
Does the max current the Arduino allow suffice to drive this many magnets and strongly enough? (It seems the fluid requires fairly strong magnets).
My next question is what would be the best way to arrange the grid to achieve a strong, focused magnetic field to control the fluid. Will the magnets interfere with each other if they're close enough, to the point where they're not focused to give any control to manipulate the fluid?
If anyone has a better idea on how to go about this please share. It seems like the clock in the clip is using permanent magnets but I couldn't quite figure out how the whole mechanism works. I'm not expecting anyone to design this upfront for me, but a few initial ideas to help me get started and experimenting will be highly appreciated.