Clocks are perhaps the best way for hackers to show off their creations to the wider world, and there are many unique timepieces up on Tindie. This particular type of 4-digit 7-segment electromechanical clock—or rather the board for one—will be new to many people. Each digit is a discreet flip “dot” unit that physically moves the needed segments into view to show the time.
The assembled clock board being sold here, leaves you to purchase the proper segment units and attach them, as well as come up with your own enclosure. This obviously gives you a huge amount of creative freedom to make it your own, and since the design is open source, you could even build upon what’s offered if you feel so inclined. The device runs on an ATmega328P, and is programmed using the Arduino IDE via FTDI headers, meaning that you could even make changes to how it works without any sort of hardware redesign.
Timekeeping is taken care of by a highly accurate DS3231 RTC chip, set with a small screwdriver. Check it out in operation in the video below, or you can find more details on the build in a separate clip about assembly, and in this project writeup.
For other unique clock options, I’ve written about a much different type of electromechanical split-flap display here, and have actually built the beautiful MSP430 Nixie Tube clock seen in this post.
