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-   -   A different digital clock . . . . . (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2073)

PEU Thu 20 August 2009 15:33

You need a friend with some microcontroller coding skills and some LEDS (I program microchip pic microcontrollers for fun)

I will make one of these, no doubts about it, the time will come (pun intended)

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/20/b...our-sincerest/

Doug_Ford Thu 20 August 2009 18:04

COOL Pablo!!!! My wife and I wanted one of those clocks until we looked at the price.:(

smreish Fri 21 August 2009 05:31

Doug,
If you really want one - make it! You do have a MM you know. :)

Doug_Ford Fri 21 August 2009 13:35

Yeah but I haven't figured out how to make it program microchips yet. :D

domino11 Fri 21 August 2009 13:56

Doug,
I can help you with that one. :)

Doug_Ford Fri 21 August 2009 15:55

Thanks Heath. I might just take you up on that.:)

jhiggins7 Sat 22 August 2009 15:20

Doug,

I am also programming microchips. I'm currently working with the ATMEL microcontrollers in C. So, I may be able to help too.

domino11 Sat 22 August 2009 19:34

This might get interesting. :)

Kobus_Joubert Sat 22 August 2009 23:36

I would like a chip as well plus the circuit diagram please.

Jan de Ruyter Sun 23 August 2009 00:26

For those not into clocks
 
http://acidcow.com/pics/20090821/pic...alendar_01.jpg

Gerald D Sun 23 August 2009 05:09

Guys, this is an interesting thread. Good to throw some ideas around. But we must stop short of publishing plans/circuits/programs on this forum that will allow someone else's work to be copied without their permssion. In other words, discuss here, but don't publish plans here.

KenC Mon 24 August 2009 05:26

John, Doug,
Maybe Arduino will safe some hair loss.
Do a Clock with Arduino, then switch on the ligh for dedicated phrases accordingly. Easy life. ;)
I'm learning arduino to do useless but interesting task for fun. ;)
Gerald,
There really isn't much to the design...
An MCU, a bank of LED drivers driving Banks of LED, and a open source clock program... well, really difficult for me until I got my hands on Arduino.
We can either keep the circuit diagram from public or the program from public... Is that ok? or just keep all from publishing? Then it will be very difficult to discuss...

Gerald D Mon 24 August 2009 05:55

The original clock is novel . . . doesn't matter if it is simple. A patent office could have granted patent protection on the novelty of the clock . . . judging by the price, I am sure there are some lawyers involved somewhere. I don't want to be sued for patent infringement, so we cannot publish plans for creating an equivalent clock.

However, we can publish plans or programs for making groups of LED's illuminate at predetermined times, and for those groups to reconfigure into different groups, and for that timing to be precise, etc. . . . .

jhiggins7 Mon 24 August 2009 06:21

Gerald, Ken, Doug,

I've been thinking that those interested in building some kind of "clock" that takes advantage of the capabilities of the MechMate and is driven by some kind of Microcontroller, should find a home outside of the MechMate Forum. After all, this Forum is all about building MechMates and not building clocks.:)
Just my opinion.

Ken, I have an Arduino. It's a great learning platform. There is a great support community, too. However, after a while, I moved to the standard ATMEL tools which are also very good.

Doug_Ford Mon 24 August 2009 07:16

Good point John. Thanks for reminding us.:)

KenC Tue 25 August 2009 01:57

John,
Point taken. If we must talk about building clock, this should fit the bill.:cool:

I'm still very new with MCU, Learning slowly about the physical computing as I go along. I wouldn't have came this far without the open source effort of the Arduino team. I hope I can move on to other platform such as AMTEL or PIC some day.

jhiggins7 Tue 25 August 2009 05:46

Ken,


I linked to the site, but it appears to be a site that sells kits and plans, not a Forum for exchanging information by builders like this Forum. What did you have in mind? How did you propose to use the site?

Gerald D Tue 25 August 2009 06:10

John, I reckon that Ken was having some fun with us - sending us to a low-tech clock more suitable for routing. :)

I might have mentioned before, that I had an interest in sundials. In fact this was one of the things that gave me an interest in CNC cutting - marking out big "dials". There is one sundial design that has been in my head for a long time, and that I have never seen implemented. It might even be patentable, and I am tempted to do just that. Imagine, a current patent on one of the oldest devices in the world . . . :D

Doug_Ford Tue 25 August 2009 07:26

You should do it Gerald.

I'd love to see what you've come up with but of course I wouldn't ask you to unveil it before you've secured a patent. You've been MORE than generous with all of us.

Jan de Ruyter Tue 25 August 2009 09:27

http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/news/article.asp?a=5134

You need steel balls for this one!

KenC Tue 25 August 2009 22:19

Hi John, Gerald,
I wasn't making fun, but glad that it turn out that way ;) and Gerald is right, I was trying to make clock making relevantMachMate capabilities. Wooden clock will be high on my list when I get my MM running.:)

PEU Sun 27 September 2009 18:38

Someone made it already: http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Word-Clock/


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