A round word clock (sort of)


As I was making a word clock, based on another instructable ( http://www.instructables.com/id/My-Arduino-WordClock/ ), me and my sister were wondering whether a round design would be cool too. While searching the internet, I could not find a round word clock, so we decided to design/create one ourselves.
The clock displays the time somewhat similar as on a regular word clock. There are two major differences, on a 'regular' word clock the hours are words. On our word clock they're numbers just like a normal clock. The minutes (in 5 minute steps) are replaced by a word on the clock and the location of the word provides extra information.
Note that I use Dutch templates, but an English version should work too. Of course some changes to the software are required.
Here's the list of materials used for this clock:
  • 1 - Ikea Pugg clock (costs around $12)
  • 1 - Arduino Uno R3
  • 1 - Real time clock module (based on a DS3231 clock chip)
  • 1 - warm white LEDs on a strip (60 LEDs per meter)
  • 3 - 74HC595's shift registers
  • 3 - ULN2803's darlington drivers
  • 3 - small buttons
  • 1 - small grid board
  • piece of corrugated cardboard (over 30 x 30cm)
  • a lot of wires
Tools used:
  • Soldering station
  • Sharp knife
  • Wire cutter
  • Glue gun
  • Small drill

So, how can you read the time? (a rather important aspect of a clock)
On the clock at any given time only one number and one word are illuminated. As you already guessed correctly, the numbers represent the hours and the words represent the minutes.
Let's say it's five o'clock, the 5 and the 'UUR' (hour) are illuminated. Ten past five, the 5 and the 'TIEN' (ten) in the upper right quadrant is illuminated. Note there are more 'TIEN's on this clock. The location of the word also has a meaning. Perhaps another example makes this a bit more clear. In Dutch we say when it's 05:50 that it's 'tien voor 6' (TEN to 6). So, at 05:50 the number 6 is illuminated and the 'TIEN' in the top left quadrant.
As you might have noticed already, all quadrants contain 'TIEN'. In the Dutch language it is custom to say 'Het is tien voor half 6' (05:20), translated in English 'It's ten to half to 6'. So be aware when creating an English version, in Dutch we use 'half to' instead of 'half past', that's why the illuminated number already changes at ..:20.
The buttons can be used to set the time or start a fun (though useless) demo. One button only changes the hour (use for daylight saving), the other is used for setting the time by adding minutes.
I hope, I'll find the time to write an Instructable in the near future.

To better understand the clock, a video might help.

First, I show off the demos and from 0:46 onwards, you can see the time progressing (as I'm holding the minutes-button).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Binoctular LED clock

Image
A while ago, I saw this blogpost on Hackaday. It shows a seven segment clock made of Neopixels. Actually, this was a brilliant idea, it's surprising that no one thought of it earlier. It's so simple and looks very nice. Although I liked the idea, I wasn't really thrilled by the design. It was -in my opinion- a (VERY) cool proof-of-concept, great for on a workbench, but not for on my nightstand. So that started me thinking (that's what I like about sharing ideas, inspiring others). As I did not have any single Neopixels lying around (or a LED strip with WS2812B's), I did have a WS2812B-LED ring, with 8 LED's. Why not make a clock out of those? This is the result: This clock runs on a Arduino Nano clone and uses a DS3231 to keep track of time (with backup battery of course). On the back, there are four buttons to set the time and run demo's. During the project, I made a Python simulation of it: This is the first implementation, a sort of proof-o...
Read more

A round word clock (part 2)

Image
A couple of years ago, I made a round word clock (see in this blog). It was based on an Arduino  Uno clone with shift registers to control the LEDs. This resulted in a lot of wires on the back of the clock: This left some room for improvements! So now, version 2.0: It is now based on an ESP32 and WS2812B LED's. At startup, it first connects to the internet via wifi to obtain the current time and then displays it on the round word clock. The wiring is much simpler now: But the best new feature is: color!! Each number/text has at least two WS2812b-LEDs behind it and for each single LED there's a constant color loop. This creates a really nice effect, as it will always show multiple colors at once. My kids love it. It does not have any demo modes yet. The plan is to add these demo's in a later stage. First on the list is a webpage to control the clock settings. And this webpage should also show the clock (maybe not in the nice color changes, as the might be to time consuming ...
Read more