The project is named Galaxy Cube, which using liquid as material to represent the galaxy. I want to deliver the idea of micro-macro, and the eternal rotation of the universe through this piece.
The rotation is created by a magnetic field. I glued two magnets on a 12V computer fan, then put a stirring bar into the water. I used relay to switch the fan. When the fan is rotating, the stirring bar will follow the fan without physical attachment, in order to avoid short circuit.
About the interaction of this project, I embedded two photoresistors to turn on the switch. Therefore, user could control the swirl like a crystal ball. The photoresistors also control the fading of two LED under the bottle separately.
The biggest problem during the process is the fan could not move sometimes, so I need to push it by myself. I used a small servo to fix this bug. However, when I changed the power from battery into wall charge, the fan works well in the end.
The texture of galaxy is created by a special kind of wine.
