Word Clock

Analog clocks are hard for most kids to read. Binary clocks are difficult for most adults. Word clocks, on the other hand, are effortless. Just read the displayed sentence: "It is eight fifteen".

The camera records this poorly.
In person, the display is sharp and easy to read.

The display consists of an LED matrix with a PCB light might in front of it, an idea which I first saw on Hackaday. Determining the proper arrangements of letters was a fun challenge that took ages, especially since I wanted the clock to display holiday messages as talk about later.

The primary PCB has all the electronics on it. Here I'm debugging the LEDs, which didn't work for months. I gloss over this in most of my blog entries, but most projects have tons of aggravating problems during development.

Once the LEDs were working, I needed to design a spacer between the PCBs and a stand to hold it upright. I used a CAD tool for the design and a 3d printer for the actual pieces. 80 degrees felt like a good angle and, if it wasn't, replacement feet are quick to print for other angles.

The clock is powered by a USB cable. It has a backup battery (actually a supercapacitor) that keeps track of the time and date for up to a week without power. When it powers up, it cheerfully declares, "I am a clock" before telling the time.

On holidays, it displays abbreviated holiday messages like, "H-a-p-p-y  m-o-m-s  d-a-y" for 21 different holidays, plus a birthday. Figuring out the perfect layout for this was tricky. Some holidays are simple (Happy MLK Day) whereas one or two require some creativity (Happy Scare Day because "Halloween" is too long).

Pong Arcade Clock

A Pong clock is something I've wanted to make for around a decade. It's a fun Pong demo of two computer player competing. The right player scores every minute, while the left player scores only once an hour. The score tells the current time.

Most variations of the idea feature stiff, unrealistic computer players. They perfect track the ball constantly except when they intend to miss, at which point they avoid it almost to the point of comedy. I spent time watching human players compete in the game and taking notes how how they behaved. Humans overcompensate, estimate and err about where the ball will land, and tend to overshoot when they eventually miss.



I designed a PCB, milled it on my CNC machine, and attached it to an LCD. Incidentally, that's the same display from the old Nokia 5510 phones. They still make these in China where they're cheap and very energy efficient. I would have liked a color display, but the power draw wouldn't support a constantly running clock.


For the enclosure, I designed a miniature arcade cabinet using Fusion 360 and 3d printed it. It took a long time to design to satisfaction, but the aesthetic is totally worth it. It really brings the clock together in a fun way.


Of course, you can't build just one. Most of the work was in the design, so assembling a second one didn't take long.


For added fun, I included some playable games based on Nintendo's Game & Watch series from the 1980s, one of which I owned as a child (thanks, Mom and Dad!). I've recreated both Ball and Vermin as playable games on the miniature arcade. Check out the pong clock and the games in the video below.

Stylish Binary Clock

The geekiest clock that I see with any regularity has to be the binary clock. It's usually just a series of LEDs and it's not uncommon to see commercial USB models on engineers desks at work. For several years I've idly considered building one, but couldn't think of a way to make one that wasn't just ugly.

That changed when I got a 3d printer and laser cutter, opening up a myriad of potential enclosure ideas. A couple years ago, I saw a Kickstarter project that showcased the perfect housing: something that looks so decorative that you'd never know it was a clock!

I purchased a vector file from Etsy and used my CNC software to nest the vectors so they'd use less material. I cut it using my new craigslist find: a laser cutter.




It used roughly a sheet and a quarter and was kind of fun to assemble together! I wouldn't have thought to put pieces together so artistically, so I'm glad I purchased the vectors for this.


I milled a PCB on my CNC machine. I realize now that I've never showcased this process outside of a brief mention on my weather station, so I'll need to remember to go into detail on a future project. The brains are a simple microcontroller, watch crystal, and buttons for setting time/configuration. The windows are covered with vellum paper.


All assembled, it looks great! To the casual observer, it's a cute little house with lights that occasionally change. To the geek, it's also a clock. If I ever make another one, I'll probably paint it before assembling it.


For festive occasions, I added a variety of color combinations: pastels for Easter, reds for Valentines Day, etc. You can see the Christmas and patriotic (July 4th, Flag Day, etc.) displays below. The colors are randomized and sometimes change when you're not looking.




Technical Specs for Geeks
LEDs are a simple WS2812B (IP30) strip cut into pieces.

MCU is a PIC24FV16KA301, which is 5-volt tolerant and supports my PIC24 WS2812B code. Firmware & buttons allow for brightness control, clock calibration (so it runs the right speed), and color schema selection.

Color schemas include

• warm white
• Valentine's (reds/pinks)
• Easter (pastels)
• patriotic (red/white/blue)
• St. Pats (greens)
• Halloween (orange/purple/green)
• Thanksgiving (fall colors)
• Christmas (red/green)
• "unicorn barf" (random colors)

Flip Clock Repair, Cordless Adapter, and More Funny Shirts

It's a mid-year "Odds and Ends" entry, starting with a fun flip clock that my brother gifted me for Christmas a few years back. One of the flip panels broke several months ago. Unfortunately, it's a critical panel--the one that's supposed to prevent the hours from flipping until the minutes wrap from 59 to 00.

I suspect a bad design put continual stress on this panel until the tab broke off. Among all the panels, this one is unique, so I'm not surprised it broke first. It also means I can't just leave it out (the clock would advance from, say, 3:56 to 4:56, then 4:57..4:59 and finally 4:00... ugh!). And I can swap it out for a different panel. Instead, I 3d printed my own and painted it up.


The replacement is actually thinner than the original.



It works great!



Cordless Adapter
While we were repairing fences, my neighbor mentioned (again!) how convenient it would be to have an AC adapter for his cordless tools. He wanted to be able to use them even when all the batteries were dead.

I gutted a dead battery pack, wired in an adapter plug, and purchased an AC adapter with matching specs. Not a big project, but he was very happy with it.



More Funny Shirts
It's been a while since I first made the vinyl cutter or any additional shirts on it. I put together a few designs that I thought would be fun for the family.


The middle shirt is my first attempt at multiple vinyl colors. It came out nicely!


I had hoped to amuse my parents with some of these on our vacation next month, but Coronavirus put a stop to that plan. At least I can wear them during the week as I work from home.

3d Printed Board Game Bling

I bought a 3d printer earlier in the year and have greatly enjoyed learning to use it and its associated CAD tools. When I first got it, I looked up models on Thingiverse to replace the boring round chits that came with my Civilization board game. Check out the improvement from cardboard to 3d printed and painted.


It looks great on the table, too.


Recently, I attempted something more ambitious: custom coins with metal slug inserts. It took a little experimentation to find the perfect sizes, but the design itself is pretty simple. This is what I do.

1. 3d print rings, pause the printer, and place a metal slug into each ring
2. Resume printing the top over the slugs
3. Separately, print the bottom side of the coins
4. Glue them together, prime, and paint

You'll note my metal slugs costs about one cent apiece. Very economical!


The metal inserts provide a satisfying heft when you play with the coins. They feel great and, once painted, they look great, too!

Temperature/Weather Station

I've always been fond of the popular Nixie clocks made from old surplus Soviet nixie tubes. Nixie tubes are no longer made, so they're hard to acquire. Instead, I took inspiration from "Lixie" displays and made my own Nixie-inspired, LED-powered display. And in an unusual twist (for me, anyway), I didn't make a clock this time! It's a weather/temperature display.

I made the parts myself, starting with the electronics. These circuit boards were created on the CNC machine. The "brains" are an ESP8266 chip, which grabs the current weather from the Internet.


I made the housing using laser-cut plywood. It turned out well, but I should have used some wood putty to fill in tiny voids in the sides. Still, it looked good.


The numbers are made from clear, 1/16" acrylic. The laser cuts on these are sharp and beautiful. They're crystal clear when the protective film is removed (with gloves, to prevent fingerprints).


It turned out great! Little LEDs shine light at the bottom of the panels, highlighting the individual numbers. The color indicates the current weather condition: yellow for sunny/clear, blue for rainy, etc.

Kitchen Lighting

Following last year's kitchen remodel, we figured it was time to replace the kitchen's dated florescent lighting. The before picture is from the middle of our kitchen remodel last year. The after photo is what it looks like now.
 

 We started by yanking out the existing can lights and trim. It's easier than you might think.
 

Installing the new can lights is actually easy, too! They look great. The pendant lighting isn't too bad, either.


Patching up the drywall is where things get more difficult. Here it is before we painted.


And the final result! It has a much more modern and sleek look. It's also a very cost-effective remodel, running us around $350. That's far less than the full remodel, but it generates a very visible change to the kitchen. Probably a smart move if you're planning to sell and don't want to invest too much in changes.