Like most of us, you need to keep track of time. There are many ways to do this, from traditional dial clocks, to digital clocks (or phones), to all kinds of iterations in between. It seems that makers never give up on the idea of new and interesting clock designs, so here’s a new one that combines digital and analog in an interesting way.
Instead of using LEDs to form a rough set of numbers, or perhaps some sort of binary display, 180 LEDs are used to display the time, 60 for seconds, another 60 for minutes, and a third set of 60 for hours (that increment every 12 minutes). The design, which was originally Robert Gill’s senior electrical engineering project, manages to control these, along with “PM,” and “Alarm” LEDs, using an 18-pin microcontroller. The project went so well he kept it going and now offers it as a product in his Tindie store.
The clock keeps accurate time using the 50 or 60 Hz sine wave that comes from the power grid, not an RTC or other means that you might suspect. Although not a common method in today’s technology, it’s a trick as old as (electronic) time which is explained in this Hackaday blurb.
