Here’s a super-nerdy timepiece created using Arduino, a DS1307 real-time clock chip, four 74HC595 shift registers, and an 8×8 RGB dot matrix display. How does it tell time?
The time is indicated using blocks of colour. The central 6×6 grid is split into 4 x (3×3) grids and each 3×3 block is a different colour. The number of LEDs per 3×3 grid indicate the digit. i.e. if the first 3×3 grid has 1 LED lit then the first digit is 1, the second has 7 then the 2nd digit is 7, etc. The top two grids are the hour digits and the bottom 2 the minutes. Around the edge the unused LED’s have a moving light that shows the approximate position of the seconds.
Got that?
2 thoughts on “BlokClok Project”
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I like the general concept, but the implementation seems to be more art than function. The random colors and patterns force you to concentration more to tell the time. If the patterns were chosen for their uniqueness and fixed, one could tell time at just a glance.
Of course I’m more of a techie than an artist, so maybe I missed the point. In any case, cool idea.