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Is there any technical significance in the "fade out" sequence that happens between the "F21" image and the next Instagram photo? It looks like once it gets to

Is there any technical significance in the "fade out" sequence that happens between the "F21" image and the next Instagram photo? It looks like once it gets to full black, a few pixels are "stuck" (or slipped I guess), and then something seems to detect that and correct the pixels, so I'm wondering if it's a kind of routine to zero out the pixels, or just an effect. The pattern seems to be roughly the same on each run, suggesting that if it is a self-correction algorithm, it's not persisting the offset/correction (or if the same pixels keep slipping each time, perhaps the algorithm could account for that by rolling those at a different speed). Either way, this is really cool! I'd love to work on something like this as a job :)

mendelk 11y ago
Re the self-correction, perhaps it's this: > Each ribbon also features a reflective strip which is scanned by an infrared sensor, which tells the machine the color each spool is currently showing, allowing for corrections for any slip that may occur. Source: http://breakfastny.com/f21-thread-screen-press-release http://breakfastny.com/f21-thread-screen-press-release
- famousactress 11y ago
  That's badass. I wondered about whether the machine would need constant calibration due to the belts slipping or hopping a gear, etc. I really dig solutions to problems like this.. I'm not sure how I'd categorize them, I suppose solutions that involve observing reality as directly as possible instead of relying on too many layers of abstraction. EDIT: I guess now I'm curious... probably this is fast enough that you can literally scroll until you see the right color. I wonder if that's what's happening or if there's still an attempt to remember where on the belt it's located and make an attempt to take the fastest path there. It'd only be faster half the time though. I wonder if the overall experience would differ much.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - mcphage 11y ago
    Having to know where you are (and how far you move when you turn the spool) requires a stepper motor, which makes everything more complicated. This way you can just use a normal DC motor, and stop when you reach the right point. And since spools probably slip a lot (given they're not designed to keep things from moving), the stepper solution might just fail completely, since it wouldn't have much confidence in what it thinks is showing.
- modeless 11y ago
  This is what I was wondering. My theory was that they were using a camera looking at the front of the display to identify the color being shown by each spool. I think my solution is better :)

mendelk 11y ago

Re the self-correction, perhaps it's this: > Each ribbon also features a reflective strip which is scanned by an infrared sensor, which tells the machine the color each spool is currently showing, allowing for corrections for any slip that may occur. Source: http://breakfastny.com/f21-thread-screen-press-release http://breakfastny.com/f21-thread-screen-press-release

famousactress 11y ago
That's badass. I wondered about whether the machine would need constant calibration due to the belts slipping or hopping a gear, etc. I really dig solutions to problems like this.. I'm not sure how I'd categorize them, I suppose solutions that involve observing reality as directly as possible instead of relying on too many layers of abstraction. EDIT: I guess now I'm curious... probably this is fast enough that you can literally scroll until you see the right color. I wonder if that's what's happening or if there's still an attempt to remember where on the belt it's located and make an attempt to take the fastest path there. It'd only be faster half the time though. I wonder if the overall experience would differ much.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- mcphage 11y ago
  Having to know where you are (and how far you move when you turn the spool) requires a stepper motor, which makes everything more complicated. This way you can just use a normal DC motor, and stop when you reach the right point. And since spools probably slip a lot (given they're not designed to keep things from moving), the stepper solution might just fail completely, since it wouldn't have much confidence in what it thinks is showing.
modeless 11y ago
This is what I was wondering. My theory was that they were using a camera looking at the front of the display to identify the color being shown by each spool. I think my solution is better :)