30,720 bytes of this memory is user-addressable and available to store a complete animation engine plus the scene image frames that we want to display. The common Arduino (Uno, Nano) is equipped with a tiny 8-bit processor (ATmega 328) that addresses 1kB EEPROM, 2kB SRAM (‘dynamic memory’) and 32,768 bytes of so-called ‘program memory’. The final scene frames (insets) have dimensions of 104 pixels wide and 49 pixels high, at 1-bit color depth. The T-rex project: Frames captured from a T-rex movie are used toĬreate scenes for the Arduino. With a Wemos D1 mini that has an ESP8266 chip as its engine, sufficient memory is available to chain scenes, thus producing with a few tricks a T-rex lively rumbling around.įigure 1. The very compact program memory of an Arduino however limits the number of scenes to one per sketch. Here we present four scenes each consisting of a number of scene frames: a Tyrannosaurus rex performing in walking, running, howling and roaring. Scenes can be brought to life in a zoetrope** or, in modern form, in animated GIFs and, of course, in animated movies.
A scene can for instance be manufactured from the archetype galloping horse photographs pictured in 1876 by Eadweard Muybridge*.
With stop-motion animation (series of still image frames displayed in rapid succession) we can create the illusion of an object that moves.
(45) The T-rex project: animations for Arduino and Wemos D1 mini
