Using a horizontal V-Slot arrangement would allow for a slightly stronger attachment point to the metal pipe rotation axis, but it forces you to design the timing belt system on top of the belt. I will go more in depth to how I designed my custom linear slide, but if you choose to use the V-Slot kit from OpenBuilds, you will have to follow their guide for more information. To me, this speaks to how organic the Drift’s operation is. Fern loves watching the rain, and families walking down the sidewalk, and the way the grass blows in the wind—and she loves watching the Drift. Digital toys and TV shows have never held her attention, but with the Drift, she can’t look away. Its peaceful, repetitive patterns feel like watching the tide come into shore: even busy professionals and lazy cats, neither of whom could express if or why they like the Drift, are drawn to it. The status screen will tell you what its doing, what color light is selected and what percentage of the drawing is done. You can set the speed that it draws, and the brightness of the surrounding LEDs. You can also define what how the LEDs change colors, from what to what… All easy to do. After choosing and cutting the length for my "40x20" V-slot, I began mounting the necessary hardware for gantry plate slide:

Cut two strips from a 1/4" sheet of wood, that are as long as the circumference of the table surface. I thought when I received the Drift, that it was a bit of a shame that we were losing the art of sand raking to an app. However, with my impatient temper and unsteady hands, I saw immediately just how much sense the Drift makes. This beautifully assembled product lets you watch mesmerizing designs come to life before your eyes. Each movement is slow and soothing, and the soft, mechanical whirr of the kinetic components draws you in and settles your chest. Setting up the HoMedics Kinetic Sandscape Table was, as I mentioned, really easy. It’s less than a five minute setup from opening the box. You just need to set your product on a flat surface, pour in the included bag(s) of sand, and rake the sand so that it’s approximately even before your first use. Make sure you only use the included sand; the Drift isn’t designed to handle other textures, and pouring something that’s too rough or too small could damage it. Once even, you place the Drift’s metal ball on the sand and replace the glass top. NOTE: Homedics is not responsible for any radio or TV interference caused by unauthorized modifications to this equipment. Such modifications could void the user authority to operate the equipment.It took roughly 5 minutes to set up the table. I added the sand, used the rake to level it, dropped the ball into the center, and powered it up. It immediately began a "cleaning" cycle, meaning it produced what appeared to be a coil, the purpose of which is apparently to further spread and level the sand. Then it began creating designs. This product has been tested and complies with the requirements for Federal Communication Commission, Part 18 and CAN ICES-1/NMB-1. Although this product is tested and complies with FCC, it may interfere with other devices. If this product is found to interfere with another device, separate the other device and this product. Conduct only the user maintenance found in this instruction manual. Other maintenance and servicing may cause harmful interference and can void the required FCC compliance.

I decided to use 2 separate 1/8" sheets so that I can glue them together while putting pressure on the center to "bow it upwards" to create a dome-shaped sheet. The two dome-shaped 1/8" sheets would be able to resist the weight of the sand better than a flat 1/4" sheet. The HoMedics Drift Kinetic Sand Table is designed to make using a sand table easy. Unlike a manual sand table, the Drift’s sandscapes are fully controlled with an app on your smartphone. The Drift app contains patterns and playlists to play on your table, with customizations for speed, brightness, and LED colours. Using it, you can stop between patterns, shuffle between your favourites, and set up scheduling so that the Drift is on only when it can make an impact on your state of mind. At first I put the Drift table onto a large wooden bowl, on the floor of my living room. The bowl raised it up from the floor and acted as a pedestal. It actually looked really cute and makes me think HoMedics should sell a few different types of stands for this, for those who want that option. After a couple weeks, and a few dog toy drops onto the surface of the table, I decided to move it onto my curved Umage cabinet where the round Drift table fits nicely onto the surface of the cabinet. It almost looks like they were made for each other. Plus it adds just the right amount of adjustable lighting to that corner of the room. I love it! While I have yet to run out of fresh patterns for the Drift to make, there isn’t an infinite amount. I currently count 51 designs available. I think that number is perfectly fine. It would be nice if more were made available in the app in the future, and the company says additional will come, but even if that never happens I think people will be satisfied by the amount of variation currently available.In the SD card's directory, create a file called "ssh" (or create a text file and rename it to "ssh"). Then create another file called "wpa_supplicant.conf". Copy the text from below and paste it into the file. country=US Drift is a very interesting product. I got the larger 21” version, and it’s bigger than I expected, I’ve placed it on top of my wife’s baby grand piano, where due to it’s 6” height, it might be a little too high for those that are altitude challenged to see. I might need to find a shorter table so that it’s easier to observe. The whole point of drift is to provide relaxation. It was very easy to set up, pour the 2 bags of fine white sand into the round “sand field” which has a bit of texture to it. The unit comes with a card which has “teeth” in it to smooth the sand out. You don’t need to be very accurate, as once you run it for a few hours, the sand will find its own level. You then drop the ball bearing onto the sand and put the glass cover on top on (I suggested to my wife we leave the cover off and see what the cat does, she did not think that it was funny as this is pretty expensive to let the cat at it, for whatever purpose). There is a single power adapter that gets connected to it and there are two buttons on it that may never get used once you install the app. An on/off button and a switch which manually causes the color to change/turn off. I've looked around a bit with no success, but I was wondering if I could import pictures into the app and have it render it into a drawable item. Doesn't seem like that functionality exists yet. Hoping for something like it in the future. Another unexpected lover of the Drift is my cat, Fern. I had moved the Drift from a side table to the floor so that I could take a few more photos of it from above. Once it was moved, I would hear it, turn to see what design was playing, and find her sitting there, staring at it. This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules and Industry Canada license-exempt RSS standard(s). Operation is subject to the following 2 conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

I was first exposed to the idea of a kinetic sand table through a “Dope Tech” video from YouTuber MKBHD. He had a large and very expensive version. The HoMedics Drift is a smaller and more affordable option that may be able to find a place in the living room, bedroom or small business. TL;DR Side note - HoMedics customer service was great and jumped right in to help with the pairing; I’d just prefer better instructions than the ones provided. Overall - the HoMedics drift Meditation Sand Table is fun to use, definitely a conversation starter and help take away your stress while you watching the image unfold.

Recommendations

While I have yet to run out of fresh patterns for the Drift to make, there isn't an infinite amount. I currently count 51 designs available. I think that number is perfectly fine. It would be nice if more were made available in the app in the future, and the company says additional will come, but even if that never happens I think people will be satisfied by the amount of variation currently available. The light color is fully controlled through the app and can be set to change automatically. TYLER HAYES

For the linear slide mechanism, I found the parts separately on OpenBuilds, but I would suggest using the V-Slot linear actuator kit, since it has all of the parts necessary as well as assembly instructions. There are hundreds of patterns available on the Drift. Some of them have messages like “#1 Dad” or “You are loved”, while others are symbolic of our favorite holidays with a Christmas Tree and a Thanksgiving turkey available. I really hope they expand upon these message and holiday type patterns which give it that extra personal touch. Another cool future feature would be the ability to create your own limited space, text only, message patterns, which is totally doable with some additional programming. Maybe we will see that in a future update or release. The only library that you should need is the "rpi_ws281x" for LED strip. Install the library onto the Raspberry Pi by using: sudo pip install rpi_ws281x But the movement and patterns created here are insane and are very engaging. Initially, I thought the patterns would just be created as valleys from the movement of the ball - so much more fascinating that the really intricate patterns are formed by how the ball actually shifts tiny walls of sand into place. It’s a great build that focuses on the smaller details like noise that can make a big difference to the final experience. We’ve seen similar projects before, too. Video after the break.I bored a 1/2" hole in the center of the circle for the slip ring, and drilled 4 other holes for the screws that will secure the flange bearing to the base. Before securing the flange, you need to insert the slip ring in the 1/2" hole and secure it with wood screws so that the flange and the free-spinning node is facing upwards. Glue the strips into the channels of one surface, and use clamps to hold them in place while they dry. Whenever I return to the device and open the app, I have to tell it again which device I have. Really? The HoMedics Drift meditation sand table has been one of the coolest decorative items I’ve ever owned! It’s decor with function and the function is to captivate and soothe your mind. I know they call it a table, and you can rest a drink on it or set other decorative items on it for display, but I prefer to think of it as additional lighting, more of a low profile lamp with some really great features!