It was truly surreal, as the designer, to see everything come together for you. I'm really glad that you were able to make it work despite the challenges along the way. Thank you for picking this up and documenting your journey.
And a big thank you to the designer for this brilliant idea. You've inspired me to have a go at this too. I think an interesting addition would be to use some LEDs to light the digits, turning them off and on as the segments show.
Great project but I’ve got a few things to add. Arduinos on their own are not good at driving servos, especially not a large number of them, the servo library sends the signal using software which means that the timing can be off due to interrupts or just the arduino being busy with other code, this can create jitter in the servos. Using a servo driver board or an MCU with hardware timers is better. With a servo driver board like the PCA9685 you can drive 16 servos with hardware timers and you can change the address of the boards to use multiple boards, you would only need two boards to drive all the servos. You shouldn’t need that much power for all the servos, you could reduce power use by switching the servos off when they aren’t needed, they stay in position when switched off but can be easily moved, since your clock segments won’t have any force on them they shouldn’t move, hence you can switch all the servos off after they are in position and only switch on the ones you need to move. Which should save a lot of power. Then to reduce peak power you could set it to only change one digit at a time so fewer servos are moving at once, this would change the effect though to more of a rolling effect rather than a sharp movement so is more of a stylistic choice. Also with the servo driver boards I mentioned you can stagger the signals, this is useful because the servos draw the most current when just starting moving so if you can offset the start point of the signals (just within the servo signal period, so the maximum offset would be 20 ms) then you can reduce the peak current draw too. As for the servo noise, this mechanism would maybe be more suited to solenoids, which move straight in and out and for cheap ones you don’t control the position but the endpoints should be the same. Solenoids can be loud but they can also be very quiet, they have no noisy gears and with some damping at the ends they should be quiet. Solenoids are also easy to drive, you can gets ones with spring return but I wouldn’t recommend those for your project as they need to stay powered to keep it out but are simpler to drive. Instead you could use solenoids without a spring and then just a H-bridge to extend or retract the solenoid, since they aren’t spring return then after extended or retracted they would stay in position.
Hey thanks the time for your feedback. So I attempted to update one digit at a time but I'm not quite skilled enough with coding Arduino to execute it. I like your idea of using a servo driver board and it's something that I'm going to play with in my next projects I'm excited to learn more about it. 😀
Allow me to disagree on the solenoid. Technically speaking you are spot on, but there’s a visual aspect of the slow number change that’s mesmerising and by using a solenoid that would be gone.
Probably way too expensive, but I’d love to see what this looks like made out of metal with the segments cut out using wire EDM so that when they’re retracted they seamlessly blend into the flat surface.
Nice build! One thing I learned making my own kinetic sculptures is that the servos will start to burn out within a week if they’re on all the time. I’d recommend a relay that turns them all off when they’re not moving to reduce the duty cycle and extend their life.
Usually turning off the PWM signal disables the motors also. Most likely also done that because otherwise the servos would emit a constant annoying sound.
Ideas for version 2: Use a magnetic approach like flip dot displays this should be almost silent, for this a perfect fit would be good with polished surfaces so it does not get stuck when sliding.
I was thinking the same. Servos are the worst choice for a clock as it needs to run often, for a long time, and reliably. Especially cheap hobby servos will run out quickly and it will cost a lot of power and resources to maintain its function.
I would seriously consider buying a finished product version of this. It would be so cool with a light above it to accentuate the shadows. A metal or wood version could be awesome too, but there is something mysterious about it being white and causing more reliance on the shadows.
Very nice! I would suggest a stop to each segment, so it naturally ends flush when retracted (or extended). This should also work well with the electromagnet concept others have mentioned. Also in reference to power: the servos move for one second of each minutes. So it may be possible to use a capacitor to provide the extra power required during that short window. You would need some sort of current limiting on the charge circuit (which may be as simple as a resistor).
NiMH battery pack (4 cell = 4.8v) would possibly work better than a capacitor. Charging can be done with as little as a resistor to limit the current since your not going to fast charging. Or if it's happy to run down around 4v, a cheap TP4056 Lithium charging module and a 18650 cell would make the whole thing run from a USB phone charger.
Would be interesting to see it with zero tolerance machining parts and push-pull solenoid as actuators. You wouldn't see gap (very clean surface), its metal, and much less cabels (1 per solenoid + bridged ground). Downside is that this would be more expensive than 3d printed parts
I love the look and that you polished it. I've seen clocks on TH-cam that were based on mechanical counters, only requiring a single motor. They had a different look of course, but I am sure that one could tweak this design with this knowledge to drastically reduce the amount of servos needed, which would drastically decrease the cost of the whole project. Edit: I just looked it up, how those single servo clocks work and thought about how to adapt it to this clock. Every segment of a clock has a certain pattern it repeats to be shown or not shown. Each segment would need its unique cog that has teeth corresponding to this pattern. The cog needs to translate its movement to retracting the segment or not. Now when we run a cog with a servo which connects to each segment cog, we can run our clock with only one servo. Or two if we want to give reduce the complexity by building the cogs per segment.
That’s what I was thinking too. A cleverly-designed set of cams could work well. Another option would be small electromagnetic coils that can produce a north or south pole depending on how they’re energized, and only need to be energized long enough to flip a digit. Multiplexed, probably. So you’d just need one permanent magnet and one reversible coil per segment (and maybe 2x transistors per segment) instead of one servo per segment.
Great build, it looks awesome. I would say 2 things to improve this build: you can use one power supply that has vurrent for the entire project by having a common earth between everything and using a step down/buck converter for lower voltage parts (like an LM2596). And grab yourself a flexible bed for your printer - they're very cheap and will save you damaging the bes uaing a hammer and chisel. Flexible PEI plates are awesome.
Hey! I ordered a Bambu Labs X1-Carbon so I'm looking forward to using the flexible plate on that baby :) Great suggestions! I'm trying to learn more with each project :-D
@@LukasDeem Another thing since you will be able to do multi material prints- maybe put the sides of the print in a different color, like green and the front of each segment in white so it blends in
@@LukasDeem congrats on a beautiful project - its a work of art.. and now an amazing piece of technology (the x1 carbon) - when are you going to get it? it really opened up possibilities for me - more things became possible faster. excited for you esp where you'll go with it!
Now using this as a base for a large Pin Art board, having the time get pushed out in the pins. Or if you want to take it to a more surreal/paranormal look a very think sheet of latex over it so the numbers are pushed out of a seamless block
I have a habit of collecting power supplies. I pull them out of anything that's being junked and I put them to use in other projects. Out of a Da Vinci 1.0 3D printer (purchased for $25) I pulled many good parts but the power supply is awesome. +3.3v 12a, +5v 14a, +12v 14a, -12v 0.3a, +5v 2a. One of these would work for this clock. Use the 5v2a for the Arduino, use the 12v 15a for the servos. You also have the 3.3 for LED lighting. The supply has the standard 3 prong power cord socket and a power switch on it. 200 watt max on this supply. Look around for a cheap Da Vinci printer.
This is the first video I've seen of you and based on the production quality of the video, I really assumed you were a "big" TH-camr. So I was all the more surprised when I found out that you only have 500 subscribers. I'm definitely one of them now.
Hey thanks! The story is that I was a video producer about 5 years ago. Since then I've been working in tech. I recently decided to start making these videos of my own projects. I have two already in production now. Thanks for the sub and support!
Two easy ways to run 1 power cord to the project. The easy way would be to put the power supplies closer to the clock and run 1 power cable that splits to both of them. The better way would be to figure out what your peak usage would be (how many servos will need to move at the same time, or over shoot and add together all the servos amp draw together) and get a 5V. With 30 servos and 1 Arduino a 5V 30A PSU would be plenty and you could likely get aw with far less. Try out a 10 amp supply. But it's not about doing it perfect, its about making a cool idea and you did that for sure. Great work man. Its beautiful.
Hey thanks! I was afraid to let too much amperage flow through the sensor shield. I was unable to find clear documentation on what the shield can handle.
@@LukasDeem Aside from shorts, a circuit should only draw what amps it needs so each servo shouldn't pull more through its traces than it needs. Do what I always do if you're not afraid to possibly burn a few bucks (and parts). Wire it up, stress test it and see if anything pops! Turn it off after a bit and feel to make sure nothings getting warm. Just keep the switch to the power strip close : P
It is easy. Only switch power to the servos when you want to move them. And only switch on the servos you need to move. If you want them more quiet, reduce the supply voltage, it is possible in a range depending on the servo.
This is such a cool concept. Being a watch enthusiast (I know this is a clock, but still), and an engineer, combining both into an electronics project is just awesome. As some additions and improvements, the way this was done is a bit chaotic. Normally, a regular clock with 7 segment displays would just have a binary to 7 segment converter circuit, or since Arduino was used, just make the conversion in software and power the corresponding segment via a multiplexing circuit. Hence, with just some tweaks, a regular 7 segment display clock can be used and the multiplexing routine can carry the PWM signal to activate the corresponding servos. Of course, instead of multiplexing hella fast as with a normal display, it would be extremely slow but in order to move one segment at a time and using a servo driver instead of the Arduino itself. That way, a bunch of the wiring can be ditched and power consumption would also be lower. Regarding noise, there's really not much that can be done, except not using servos or isolating the back of the clock really well to damp the noise a bit. In the end, this definitely is a really cool way of displaying time.
This is a bit over my head, I'm just stuck on how cool the word "multiplexing" is :-D. Seriously though, thanks for the ideas! I'll have to google some of this for my smooth brain to comprehend it.
This is awesome!!!! You could maybe also try to use solenoids instead of servos. Maybe it wont be as cool as with the slow motion of the sevos and maybe more loud
I would use a 12V 2A power supply and two stepdown boards. One 5V for the Arduino and one 5V for the servos. The clock could be set via GPS module or radio receiver. In Germany the station is available at 77.5 kHz for the local time. That's longer than long wave radio. GPS transmits UTC, which is British time = GMT
That thing really is beautiful; I like the white on white aesthetic, and the mechanism of movement. I find the movement much more appealing than other clocks where the segements are flat and rotate 90 degrees away from view. No wonder you had issues along the way; that looks like a MONSTER of a project.
Hey thanks for the kind words I definitely was a challenge. I'm pretty new to 3D printing in Arduino product 3D printing in Arduino projects. Starting this channel is a way to motivate me to keep working and learning new things. Can't wait to share more 😄
If you want to run everything from a smaller power supply, mux the servos. If you don't want to deal with calibrating things and drift messing it up over time, rely on end-stops and let weak muxed servos dead-end on them instead. Dumber, cheaper, self-resetting.
You really need to get a textured PEI spring steel bed. The pieces just release automatically release once the sheets cool down, and if they don't you just flex the plate and they pop off. I tried the tempered glass for literally two prints before returning to Microcenter as the PLA basically welded itself to the surface and I could only get it off with cold water after a few minutes.
Just an idea - How about LEDs on the outside numbers and it only lights up when it pops out, so Instead of the whole thing being white, just lights up whatever number its indicating. I think it would be cool.
Yes awesome idea! I've also had some people suggest printing the digits in two colors. The face is white but the backside of the digit is another color so that when they are pushed out they stand out.
Dark stain timber front (and case) and pop a couple of white leds running low in the enclosure so when the segments expand there's a glow around them, should make night time viewing pretty attractive
This is just of a suggestion from someone who isnt that experienced with making stuff but maybe you could make an entire enclosure for this and potentially add some sound dampening foam inside to reduce the noise of the servos. Unsure if that would take away from the aesthetic but throwing it out there. Anyways cool project on something i've never seen before!
Yes it would certainly help. However, some of the noise actually comes from the digits rubbing against the clock face as they move in and out. So that would still be audible, it's like a creaky stairs sound.
@@idothinz4192 so I sanded some of the really tight fitting parts and it helped a bit. I thought about maybe using a dry lubricant like a graphite spray or something.
I saw the original design for this a while back but it was unpowered, so seeing a MCU and motors on this is a serious step forward. The issues you've faced here have really got me thinking, I love the form of the face, and that movement when the digits change is beautiful, so I'd like to keep that, but for me it needs a out/in state for each segment, so I'm going to think about how to create a gradual kinetic movement (sprung, like an old cassete tape opening maybe?) with the actuator being a electromagnet powered to either positive or negative and the digit holding a neodymium magnet in each segment (sprung, like an old cassete tape opening maybe?) with the actuator being a electromagnet powered to either positive or negative and the digit holding a neodymium magnet. Something else I'd want to do is reduce the depth to as minimal as possible, which if the soft open/close mech was thin and the electro magnets don't need much force means the clock could be wall mounted. Final thought, for me the digit movement would be a wash from right to left on each of the segments, that way the required power would be issued at a max of three segments at any one time, that would keep the amperage down.
Excellent ideas! I really wanted to find a way to wall mount it, but I knew it was too big to make it practical with the design I used. I would love to see your idea come to life!
You could reduce the number of servos if you would be ok with zero in the first digit not being shown. It only needs to display 0, 1 and 2, so if we don't display the zero (09 would be just 9) you could connect 29, 32, 33 and 35 together, also you wouldn't need 34. You could also connect 16 and 17 (or remove them completely, I don't think they are that important), which brings us to 25 servos. With the power problem - you could try multiplexing the servos and turn on just one digit at a time (or divide it into rows or whatever) and then quickly switch between powering each section, which would create the illusion of simultaneous movement, however as someone said, servos draw most power in the beginning of movement, so I'm not sure about the power efficiency and this would be probably louder too. Anyways, great project, I enjoyed it.
Love it! The noisy servos are a deal breaker for the bedroom though. Challenge for future add-on: small double digit seconds display, maybe on upper right, actuated by Nitinol (muscle wire). Or, maybe actuate the whole thing with Nitinol? If the moving printed parts are light enough, maybe could be done with little to no contact between moving parts and frame? Or maybe a few tiny magnets to provide spacing? Anyway, thanks for the great write up!
A more expensive version, using the super clean water cut metal for parts would be amazing, because when the pieces are flat, the seams would be invisible. Great project, thanks for sharing.
just a tip for getting 3dprints off a glass bed is to put it in the fridge for roughly 30-45 mins. i spent way too much time and filament on trying to scrape it off, but i found putting it in a cold container for a little bit is the way to go.
To reduce cost & noise, could use 3 motors in total by creating a moving x & y frame & a z axis actuator to push each segment out. Combined with small springs & some permanent magents to keep flush alignment.
Regarding power, maybe you can use a power supply such as the MeanWell LRS-50-5 as an example. And then use buck converters or boost converters if necessary to adjust the voltage level as needed.
Love it! One idea to take it over the top: when you 3d print the pop out segments, make the outer face only one or two layers thick, then put an RGB LED behind each segment and light them up when they pop out and turn the off when they slide back in.
Yes! I'd like to see this in black, with the faces of the digits being thick enough to block out the light but the remainder printed in a translucent/transparent filament. That way you'd get the glow of the digits on the face but not directly lit.
Use stepper motors instead of servos as they are quiet. For the PSU, if everything is 5v, combine the amps from both PSUs and buy one that can handle that amount. Let's say, your current ones are 5v 4a and 5v 2a, then just find a 5v 10a one and it will be more than enough to power your project. You will probably be better off with one of them metal box type ones as you can simply screw wires to it, and it can be stored in the back of the clock with a single power cord coming out. I would definitely make a full enclosure for it, as it will also make it quieter.
There are so many ways to make a 7-segment display. This is a very creative and attractive way 👍 PS - I still have my old clock from the 1970s. This has large red LED digits about 1 inch high. The clock itself is actually a module with the 4 digit LED display and the chip covered in black epoxy, all mounted on a fiberglass circuit board. There are connections for 5Vdc and push-buttons to set the time. Cheers from Canada :-)
Very nice looking ... I saw another kinetic project a few months back that had me thinking about a clock -- I want to think the servo count can be greatly reduced using an indexed wheel (or drum) and some clever levering similar to a lot of old school auto play instruments (or new school, if you're a Wintergarten Marble Machine project fan). Each digit segment would need to be spring loaded.
Hey! That is a super cool idea. I've seen some clock builds using a series of gears in a similar way. Let me know if you end up building it. I would love to see it in action!!
I like where you're going with that. One option would be to have three (long) wheels per digit. You wouldn't necessarily need springs as there could be tracks on the wheels that push and pull the segments.
Nice! Get a flexible build sheet for your 3D printer. Perhaps you could try to design an build a single segment of the display that uses a Neo magnet to drive a custom solenoid or paper tube voice coil. It could latch magnetically to a much smaller magnet to toggle to the "on" position so the circuit wouldn't draw power unless switching. The small magnet could have coil to release the segment into the "off" position. A small spring might be employed if necessary. Small silicone bumpers could be employed to eliminate any unwanted sound. Possibility of making each segment a speaker, and/or adding a multi-color led backlight to each segment. I would do it myself if I didn't have a dozen other projects ongoing. 😀
Hey thanks for the detailed explanation. I've seen a lot of suggestions for using magnets but none with this much detail. Question, do you think I could make this magnet design work in conjunction with building the face and segments out of metal using wire EDM with zero tolerance. THe idea would be that the segments in the low position would fit so snugly that the lines would disappear.
I love that you choose to leave it as white. Great project. I can image make it even better and use this perfect cut metal no spacing, that you can find on youtube. That will be really cool
How about making the digits transparent, and a wood texture on front. With LED. So when the numbers move, the surroundings getting lit up. Or if the blocks would move in instead of out. The number itself would be lit due to the surrounding transparent plastic. Don't forget to use semitransparent plastic in order to have that diffused led look
Hey thanks so much! Can you share what you like about it? I'm just getting my channel started and I want to get some feedback on how to ensure I create content people love!
This would be a hundred times cooler made from stainless steel using Wire EDM zero tolerance machining, that way when the segments were retracted, they would appear to merge into the clock face, leaving no outline. I'd also add solid back stop plate that only the linear gears passed through so the segment always stopped flush with the clockface, making the gears helical would probably help a bit with the noise a bit.
Hey! I think this is a super cool idea. I'm thinking I may want to combine some ideas here. I've seen a lot of requests to build it with wire EDM and I've also seen suggestions to use magnets or solenoids to make it quieter. I think this means a V2 may need to happen!
@@LukasDeem I can handle the 3D printing parts but the wiring Will get tough for me I don't have any hands. Let me know if you're ever interested in collaborating on a project
Add an LED or more to each segment, and make the segments out of a plastic that diffuses light. The lights turn on when the segments move outward. Or you could have the segments move inward instead, and then have the LEDs turn on when retracted.
@@LukasDeem How about invert it, and the walls that it recedes into be made out of diffusing plastic. Then place a bright light in the back inside of the enclosure. That way you don't have to worry about switching the segments on and off. Thanks for taking your time to read my comment.
Wow this is this most aesthetic clock I’ve ever seen 😍 my husband loves 3D printing and having functional projects. He’s been asking me what I want him to make - sending him this 😍🎉 also any tips on wire management I would greatly appreciate 🙏 looking forward to more content from you!
I'm guessing those tiny stepper motors would be quieter, but you'd have to have some feedback something to determine the current position on startup so you don't push the pieces all the way out or try to pull them through
Looks great. This got me the idea to use electro magnets instead of servos. The segments would be pushed out by a spring and pulled back in if the magnet turns on.
You could even reverse the poles of the electromagnet programmatically and do away with the spring. Then they would only need to be turned on briefly to attract or repel a permanent magnet in the segment. Might be tough to isolate magnets from each segment, though, but the bigger the clock, the easier that becomes.
If the Arduino is getting flakey when the motors are drawing current, maybe put a big electrolytic cap across it's power rails, as close to the input of the regulator as you can. So it can run off that for a little while. Also maybe move the motors, instead of one continuous sweep from in to out, do it in a couple of stages with a little rest in between so that cap can recharge a bit. Also consider the current path to the motors, don't run it from the Arduino's power pin, give it a separate connection as close to the power adaptor as possible. Perhaps run the motors alternately rather than several at a time, alternate between each one at a reasonable pace so it pushes it's segment out just a little bit, then the next one. The idea being to keep down the peak current, not trying to draw too much power at once. It might slow down the clock's update but that doesn't matter, it only has hours and minutes, you could keep it within a reasonable time. That's the sort of stuff I'd concentrate on, at least. Reduce maximum power draw, and keep the Arduino's supply as separate from the motor supply as you can, even accepting that they're both branching off the same supply line. Arduinos can run on a wide voltage if they have their own voltage regulator on board, which many do, or else just get a 7805 or the like. If the motor board also needs a power regulator, have it be a separate one, don't leech off the Arduino's regulator. That way, both regulators are pulling down on the main voltage supply, rather than all the circuitry and motors pulling down the regulated voltage off one regulator. So there's a bit of voltage overhead. As ever with regulators, they'll need a heatsink. You could use switch-mode DC-DC convertor boards but to me that's a bit more flakey than a good old solid 7805 that'll warm your toes in the winter.
another fun mechanism would be servos with profiled cams that operate fingers to a group of segments.... so one servo could actuate several different combos of segments.
Wow! It looks nice and clean! I terrified about a brunch of servos… Thinking about solenoid with magnets in frame and segment that forms bistable structure…
That amount of servos use a lot of power. To power all the servos I would recommend separate power rails instead of powering them through the servo shield. For power, consider using a USB-C PD trigger board. Set it to 5V and you're done! Now you can power the clock through any PD compatible USB-C charger.
Great project! I have to say, when hearing your girlfriend's enthusiasm for the project (which is very similar to my own wife's enthusiasm for my projects), I was immediately brought to the joke about the engineer, princess and talking frog.
Its a really neat project! For not needing a large power supply, you could try to use these tiny 0-24v DC-DC stepdowns, that has VIN-Vout-GND and an enable pin (they are on ali and is 10x20mm ish). with these you could just turn off the servoes when not running. Then you'd ofcourse need way more outputs, which could be handled using a multiplexer of sorts
Just a relay, or maybe a mosfet, would do to de-power the servos, run one of the power leads to the servo board through it. Then you'd have complete isolation, complete on-offness. You can get little relays on a board meant to run off an Arduino complete with the couple of other components it needs, costs about the same as a bare relay. Also they make a nice "click" to go with the motor whining.
Hey! So when I got the ender 3 it came with a flexible magnetic plate, but I had major issues with the first layer. I don't know if it's because I wasn't dialed in well or if the plate was poor quality. Since I got the glass plate I've had super clean prints, but I am also more experienced now. So I've probably tuned the printer better than I had when I was using the default plate with the ender 3.
@@LukasDeem I recommend the spring steel because the magnetic base holds it in place, and a quick flex of the plate pops the parts off. I've never used glass personally, but I've seen more people have issues with glass than with the PEI spring steel, just my two cents
It occurs to me instead of having 30 servos, you could use 30 electromagnets paired with permanent magnets attached to each segment. You could use the electromagnets to push or pull the segments in and out.
Idea for version 2. The sides of the segments should be open, possibly transparent, and should contain white LEDs. These LEDs should light up when the segment is raised, active. Impressive and visible the time also in dark.
All I can think when I see this is how fucking cool it'd be with high tolerance machining. Like Imagine the components disappearing when they're flush with the face of the clock
Great work One can optimize it using the fact that hours tend to move much slower than minutes so, there might be a solution with less servos or maybe even with gears also, the power is not needed for all servos all the time, so some power switch can also be used What do you think?
I love the idea behind this project. The noise from the servos could be annoying though. I wonder if nitinol muscle wire could do the job more quietly? The challenge would be getting the required amount of movement. Nitinol contracts by 5%, so assuming the required movement is about 1cm, you need 20cm of muscle wire per segment. That sounds too expensive, but the amount could be reduced by a gear or lever to swap force for distance. If the segments move freely, you might get away with 5cm per segment.
I’d print a back for it, 1 to make it aesthetically pleasing, 2 to potentially sound dampen the motors making noice. Also, I wonder if adding a lighting strip above or below would help cast shadows to make it even more readable, and also wonder if dust build up will be an issue.
It's fantastic! I used to be a video producer many years ago. Since then I got a job in tech as a product manager. This is my first entry back into the video production game. Hopefully I can get monetized and do this full time. I love my job, but this is way more fun!
Light-up number segments would be awesome. I don't really know much about 3D printing and the materials involved (yet! 😸) but I imagine LED installation for that would probably be a nightmare, especially designing to make sure the light doesn't bleed over, but it would still be awesome. 😸
What a great project. The only thing I would add is a WiFi connection (could use an ESP8266 or ESP32) so that the time could be set automatically off the web.
i think a simple PDB designed for Quadcopters will help with distributing the wanted voltage for each one... usually they deliver input voltage + 5V + 12v, sometimes also 3.3V. so I guess you could use one of these with 1 9v power supplier
Hey thanks! My goal with these projects is to learn and have fun. This project met both criteria :-D. I'm excited to be working on two new projects already!
Hey! I have a ton more footage, but I had given myself a deadline to get the video out. I was spending too much time perfecting the project and the video. I needed the deadline to motivate myself to finish. It came at the expense of a more indepth video though. Thanks for the feedback, I'll do my best to capture more of the progress in my next videos.
A big improvement.... LEDs to light the proud elements. Should be quite easy to get from the clock module. Otherwise, very nice. Mount it in a nice walnut box.
Ohh! A nice hardwood box would be excellent. I used to have a full woodworking shop before I moved for work. Maybe it's time for me to get back into it :)
Looks really awesome. I have an idea, not sure how feasible it is but maybe nitinol wires. Memory shape wires that move the segments in and out. Still slow enough to give it that zen like movement and completely silent.
Great build! I agree with some other comment, you should stop powering the servos when not needed, and it will reduce the power consumption and the heat. I would like to see what @CarlBugeja could do with flexible PCBs and magnets !
It was truly surreal, as the designer, to see everything come together for you. I'm really glad that you were able to make it work despite the challenges along the way. Thank you for picking this up and documenting your journey.
I'm honored that you watched my video! Thanks so much for making this design and sharing it with the community ❤
Thanks for sharing your design, it's pretty dope! This is why I love 3d print community.
Thanks for sharing your design, it's pretty dope! This is why I love 3d print community.
@@SanctuaryGardenLivingalright, cool
And a big thank you to the designer for this brilliant idea. You've inspired me to have a go at this too. I think an interesting addition would be to use some LEDs to light the digits, turning them off and on as the segments show.
Great project but I’ve got a few things to add.
Arduinos on their own are not good at driving servos, especially not a large number of them, the servo library sends the signal using software which means that the timing can be off due to interrupts or just the arduino being busy with other code, this can create jitter in the servos. Using a servo driver board or an MCU with hardware timers is better. With a servo driver board like the PCA9685 you can drive 16 servos with hardware timers and you can change the address of the boards to use multiple boards, you would only need two boards to drive all the servos.
You shouldn’t need that much power for all the servos, you could reduce power use by switching the servos off when they aren’t needed, they stay in position when switched off but can be easily moved, since your clock segments won’t have any force on them they shouldn’t move, hence you can switch all the servos off after they are in position and only switch on the ones you need to move. Which should save a lot of power. Then to reduce peak power you could set it to only change one digit at a time so fewer servos are moving at once, this would change the effect though to more of a rolling effect rather than a sharp movement so is more of a stylistic choice. Also with the servo driver boards I mentioned you can stagger the signals, this is useful because the servos draw the most current when just starting moving so if you can offset the start point of the signals (just within the servo signal period, so the maximum offset would be 20 ms) then you can reduce the peak current draw too.
As for the servo noise, this mechanism would maybe be more suited to solenoids, which move straight in and out and for cheap ones you don’t control the position but the endpoints should be the same. Solenoids can be loud but they can also be very quiet, they have no noisy gears and with some damping at the ends they should be quiet. Solenoids are also easy to drive, you can gets ones with spring return but I wouldn’t recommend those for your project as they need to stay powered to keep it out but are simpler to drive. Instead you could use solenoids without a spring and then just a H-bridge to extend or retract the solenoid, since they aren’t spring return then after extended or retracted they would stay in position.
Hey thanks the time for your feedback. So I attempted to update one digit at a time but I'm not quite skilled enough with coding Arduino to execute it. I like your idea of using a servo driver board and it's something that I'm going to play with in my next projects I'm excited to learn more about it. 😀
I agree!
Hey! That's really helpful. TY!
one more thing: a led (strip ?? ) behind when on..
Allow me to disagree on the solenoid. Technically speaking you are spot on, but there’s a visual aspect of the slow number change that’s mesmerising and by using a solenoid that would be gone.
Probably way too expensive, but I’d love to see what this looks like made out of metal with the segments cut out using wire EDM so that when they’re retracted they seamlessly blend into the flat surface.
Seeing a lot of comments saying this. I'm going to have to look into the cost to get it done :)
I was gonna mention this. The 0 tolerance metal would look slick as!
@@LukasDeemit is insanely expensive, but maybe you could get a collab with titan of cnc, they have the machinery you need
@@lucachacha71 great idea! I'll see if I can connect with them 🙂
Was the first thing I thought of while watching this 🙂
Nice build! One thing I learned making my own kinetic sculptures is that the servos will start to burn out within a week if they’re on all the time. I’d recommend a relay that turns them all off when they’re not moving to reduce the duty cycle and extend their life.
Usually turning off the PWM signal disables the motors also. Most likely also done that because otherwise the servos would emit a constant annoying sound.
Ideas for version 2:
Use a magnetic approach like flip dot displays this should be almost silent, for this a perfect fit would be good with polished surfaces so it does not get stuck when sliding.
I was thinking the same. Servos are the worst choice for a clock as it needs to run often, for a long time, and reliably.
Especially cheap hobby servos will run out quickly and it will cost a lot of power and resources to maintain its function.
I second this. Servos are awful for this idea... plus the noise
Great for the bedroom! with these calming motor noises every minute you will have a perfect sleep.
I've never slept better.
I would seriously consider buying a finished product version of this. It would be so cool with a light above it to accentuate the shadows. A metal or wood version could be awesome too, but there is something mysterious about it being white and causing more reliance on the shadows.
I like your idea of integrating a light into the design to cast shadows
Silly me. I would have used solenoids.
could be a goood choice, especially noise wise, but you d probably struggle with the alignments.
Came here to say this
Very nice! I would suggest a stop to each segment, so it naturally ends flush when retracted (or extended). This should also work well with the electromagnet concept others have mentioned.
Also in reference to power: the servos move for one second of each minutes. So it may be possible to use a capacitor to provide the extra power required during that short window. You would need some sort of current limiting on the charge circuit (which may be as simple as a resistor).
Ohh I didn't think about using a capacitor. That might be a good quick fix.
NiMH battery pack (4 cell = 4.8v) would possibly work better than a capacitor. Charging can be done with as little as a resistor to limit the current since your not going to fast charging.
Or if it's happy to run down around 4v, a cheap TP4056 Lithium charging module and a 18650 cell would make the whole thing run from a USB phone charger.
Why did you use servos instead of solenoids? You wouldn't have to make the gear transformations, and you could probably get it quieter.
probably because solenoids arent supposed to turned on for a pretty long time and also use too much energy idk
@@agusprayogo79320.42A is too high for that project. Servo is better to retain its position without power
Would be interesting to see it with zero tolerance machining parts and push-pull solenoid as actuators. You wouldn't see gap (very clean surface), its metal, and much less cabels (1 per solenoid + bridged ground). Downside is that this would be more expensive than 3d printed parts
Yes! I think this would be so cool though. I'm planning to introduce that in V2 :D
Like EDM cut parts!
I love the look and that you polished it. I've seen clocks on TH-cam that were based on mechanical counters, only requiring a single motor. They had a different look of course, but I am sure that one could tweak this design with this knowledge to drastically reduce the amount of servos needed, which would drastically decrease the cost of the whole project.
Edit: I just looked it up, how those single servo clocks work and thought about how to adapt it to this clock. Every segment of a clock has a certain pattern it repeats to be shown or not shown. Each segment would need its unique cog that has teeth corresponding to this pattern. The cog needs to translate its movement to retracting the segment or not. Now when we run a cog with a servo which connects to each segment cog, we can run our clock with only one servo. Or two if we want to give reduce the complexity by building the cogs per segment.
I plan on learning a ton more about gears in an upcoming project. Maybe once I do that I'll have the skills to do this :)
Would be interesting to try reducing servo count by using multiple segments per servo and mechanical cams
To my reckoning there are not two segments that always move in sync, afraid each segment requires individual control.
That’s what I was thinking too. A cleverly-designed set of cams could work well. Another option would be small electromagnetic coils that can produce a north or south pole depending on how they’re energized, and only need to be energized long enough to flip a digit. Multiplexed, probably. So you’d just need one permanent magnet and one reversible coil per segment (and maybe 2x transistors per segment) instead of one servo per segment.
@@ScottLahteineI would love to see this concept be realised :)
@@ScottLahteine Just watched this video the other day with a cam setup. th-cam.com/video/qoPwPJhESA8/w-d-xo.html
Good job on tapping the back of the spatula to release the 3d print, so, so many people don't know this trick and stab the print like a maniac.
I used to be a woodworker so I was summoning those skills :P
Great build, it looks awesome.
I would say 2 things to improve this build: you can use one power supply that has vurrent for the entire project by having a common earth between everything and using a step down/buck converter for lower voltage parts (like an LM2596). And grab yourself a flexible bed for your printer - they're very cheap and will save you damaging the bes uaing a hammer and chisel. Flexible PEI plates are awesome.
Hey! I ordered a Bambu Labs X1-Carbon so I'm looking forward to using the flexible plate on that baby :)
Great suggestions! I'm trying to learn more with each project :-D
You should make sure that not too many servos move at the same time then you wouldn't need such a big power supply.
@@LukasDeem Another thing since you will be able to do multi material prints- maybe put the sides of the print in a different color, like green and the front of each segment in white so it blends in
@@ottersmeep25 hey yes! I got the AMS. I haven't tried a multi color print yet. I'm excited to give it a try! 😃😃
@@LukasDeem congrats on a beautiful project - its a work of art.. and now an amazing piece of technology (the x1 carbon) - when are you going to get it? it really opened up possibilities for me - more things became possible faster. excited for you esp where you'll go with it!
Now using this as a base for a large Pin Art board, having the time get pushed out in the pins. Or if you want to take it to a more surreal/paranormal look a very think sheet of latex over it so the numbers are pushed out of a seamless block
I have a habit of collecting power supplies. I pull them out of anything that's being junked and I put them to use in other projects. Out of a Da Vinci 1.0 3D printer (purchased for $25) I pulled many good parts but the power supply is awesome. +3.3v 12a, +5v 14a, +12v 14a, -12v 0.3a, +5v 2a. One of these would work for this clock. Use the 5v2a for the Arduino, use the 12v 15a for the servos. You also have the 3.3 for LED lighting. The supply has the standard 3 prong power cord socket and a power switch on it. 200 watt max on this supply. Look around for a cheap Da Vinci printer.
For the noise I would try to lube the 3D printed gearing, there a lubes specifically for plastics
Hey! Yeah I think that would certainly help.
Could an idea be to work with an electromagnet that just "pushes" items away (or pulls them back). Then we don't need servos?
sems like a great idea... magnets in the number segments and coils that reverse the poles on the back of the clock
This is the first video I've seen of you and based on the production quality of the video, I really assumed you were a "big" TH-camr. So I was all the more surprised when I found out that you only have 500 subscribers. I'm definitely one of them now.
Hey thanks! The story is that I was a video producer about 5 years ago. Since then I've been working in tech. I recently decided to start making these videos of my own projects. I have two already in production now. Thanks for the sub and support!
Two easy ways to run 1 power cord to the project. The easy way would be to put the power supplies closer to the clock and run 1 power cable that splits to both of them.
The better way would be to figure out what your peak usage would be (how many servos will need to move at the same time, or over shoot and add together all the servos amp draw together) and get a 5V. With 30 servos and 1 Arduino a 5V 30A PSU would be plenty and you could likely get aw with far less. Try out a 10 amp supply.
But it's not about doing it perfect, its about making a cool idea and you did that for sure. Great work man. Its beautiful.
Hey thanks! I was afraid to let too much amperage flow through the sensor shield. I was unable to find clear documentation on what the shield can handle.
@@LukasDeem Aside from shorts, a circuit should only draw what amps it needs so each servo shouldn't pull more through its traces than it needs.
Do what I always do if you're not afraid to possibly burn a few bucks (and parts). Wire it up, stress test it and see if anything pops! Turn it off after a bit and feel to make sure nothings getting warm.
Just keep the switch to the power strip close : P
Thumbs up for liking to organize cables. I'm right there with you. Feels so good when it's done and all the cables are neat and tidy.
Ayy! Shout out to cable organization nerds :D
It is easy. Only switch power to the servos when you want to move them. And only switch on the servos you need to move. If you want them more quiet, reduce the supply voltage, it is possible in a range depending on the servo.
This is such a cool concept. Being a watch enthusiast (I know this is a clock, but still), and an engineer, combining both into an electronics project is just awesome.
As some additions and improvements, the way this was done is a bit chaotic. Normally, a regular clock with 7 segment displays would just have a binary to 7 segment converter circuit, or since Arduino was used, just make the conversion in software and power the corresponding segment via a multiplexing circuit. Hence, with just some tweaks, a regular 7 segment display clock can be used and the multiplexing routine can carry the PWM signal to activate the corresponding servos. Of course, instead of multiplexing hella fast as with a normal display, it would be extremely slow but in order to move one segment at a time and using a servo driver instead of the Arduino itself. That way, a bunch of the wiring can be ditched and power consumption would also be lower. Regarding noise, there's really not much that can be done, except not using servos or isolating the back of the clock really well to damp the noise a bit.
In the end, this definitely is a really cool way of displaying time.
This is a bit over my head, I'm just stuck on how cool the word "multiplexing" is :-D. Seriously though, thanks for the ideas! I'll have to google some of this for my smooth brain to comprehend it.
This is awesome!!!! You could maybe also try to use solenoids instead of servos. Maybe it wont be as cool as with the slow motion of the sevos and maybe more loud
With solenoids you could track seconds too! But yeah, it would be quite loud.
The Arduino Mega should run off the 5v supplied to the sensor shield.
You can be used solenoid for movement of the segments, that will not make any noise and they are also very quick
Hey! Yeah I'm thinking about trying this out on V2 😌
I would use a 12V 2A power supply and two stepdown boards. One 5V for the Arduino and one 5V for the servos.
The clock could be set via GPS module or radio receiver. In Germany the station is available at 77.5 kHz for the local time. That's longer than long wave radio.
GPS transmits UTC, which is British time = GMT
Oh! I like the idea of syncing time via GPS. Great idea!
That thing really is beautiful; I like the white on white aesthetic, and the mechanism of movement. I find the movement much more appealing than other clocks where the segements are flat and rotate 90 degrees away from view.
No wonder you had issues along the way; that looks like a MONSTER of a project.
Hey thanks for the kind words I definitely was a challenge. I'm pretty new to 3D printing in Arduino product 3D printing in Arduino projects. Starting this channel is a way to motivate me to keep working and learning new things. Can't wait to share more 😄
Totally freakin' awesome! Nothing wrong with a tidy wiring job. Nerds Rule The World!
Appreciate that very much 😀. I get weird looks when I say one of my hobbies is cable management. SOMEBODY HAS TO WRANGLE THOSE CABLES!
If you want to run everything from a smaller power supply, mux the servos. If you don't want to deal with calibrating things and drift messing it up over time, rely on end-stops and let weak muxed servos dead-end on them instead. Dumber, cheaper, self-resetting.
You really need to get a textured PEI spring steel bed. The pieces just release automatically release once the sheets cool down, and if they don't you just flex the plate and they pop off. I tried the tempered glass for literally two prints before returning to Microcenter as the PLA basically welded itself to the surface and I could only get it off with cold water after a few minutes.
I don't miss glass beds and Ender 3.
@@recoveryguru What are you printing with now?
Just an idea - How about LEDs on the outside numbers and it only lights up when it pops out, so Instead of the whole thing being white, just lights up whatever number its indicating. I think it would be cool.
Yes awesome idea! I've also had some people suggest printing the digits in two colors. The face is white but the backside of the digit is another color so that when they are pushed out they stand out.
Dark stain timber front (and case) and pop a couple of white leds running low in the enclosure so when the segments expand there's a glow around them, should make night time viewing pretty attractive
well the Completeness of this project is wonderful. It totally looks like a product in boutique store.
This is just of a suggestion from someone who isnt that experienced with making stuff but maybe you could make an entire enclosure for this and potentially add some sound dampening foam inside to reduce the noise of the servos. Unsure if that would take away from the aesthetic but throwing it out there.
Anyways cool project on something i've never seen before!
Yes it would certainly help. However, some of the noise actually comes from the digits rubbing against the clock face as they move in and out. So that would still be audible, it's like a creaky stairs sound.
@@LukasDeem this might be a little time consuming but maybe sand (and lubricate) the interacting sides of the digits and clock face if possible?
@@idothinz4192 so I sanded some of the really tight fitting parts and it helped a bit. I thought about maybe using a dry lubricant like a graphite spray or something.
@@LukasDeemSlipit sliding compound usually used for drawer slides is clear and can be applied very thin
I saw the original design for this a while back but it was unpowered, so seeing a MCU and motors on this is a serious step forward.
The issues you've faced here have really got me thinking, I love the form of the face, and that movement when the digits change is beautiful, so I'd like to keep that, but for me it needs a out/in state for each segment, so I'm going to think about how to create a gradual kinetic movement (sprung, like an old cassete tape opening maybe?) with the actuator being a electromagnet powered to either positive or negative and the digit holding a neodymium magnet in each segment (sprung, like an old cassete tape opening maybe?) with the actuator being a electromagnet powered to either positive or negative and the digit holding a neodymium magnet.
Something else I'd want to do is reduce the depth to as minimal as possible, which if the soft open/close mech was thin and the electro magnets don't need much force means the clock could be wall mounted.
Final thought, for me the digit movement would be a wash from right to left on each of the segments, that way the required power would be issued at a max of three segments at any one time, that would keep the amperage down.
Excellent ideas! I really wanted to find a way to wall mount it, but I knew it was too big to make it practical with the design I used. I would love to see your idea come to life!
You could reduce the number of servos if you would be ok with zero in the first digit not being shown. It only needs to display 0, 1 and 2, so if we don't display the zero (09 would be just 9) you could connect 29, 32, 33 and 35 together, also you wouldn't need 34. You could also connect 16 and 17 (or remove them completely, I don't think they are that important), which brings us to 25 servos.
With the power problem - you could try multiplexing the servos and turn on just one digit at a time (or divide it into rows or whatever) and then quickly switch between powering each section, which would create the illusion of simultaneous movement, however as someone said, servos draw most power in the beginning of movement, so I'm not sure about the power efficiency and this would be probably louder too.
Anyways, great project, I enjoyed it.
Love it! The noisy servos are a deal breaker for the bedroom though. Challenge for future add-on: small double digit seconds display, maybe on upper right, actuated by Nitinol (muscle wire). Or, maybe actuate the whole thing with Nitinol? If the moving printed parts are light enough, maybe could be done with little to no contact between moving parts and frame? Or maybe a few tiny magnets to provide spacing? Anyway, thanks for the great write up!
A more expensive version, using the super clean water cut metal for parts would be amazing, because when the pieces are flat, the seams would be invisible.
Great project, thanks for sharing.
This is the plan for V2 😄
For the power supply - think about maybe using a USB C PD drop-in board, along with DC to DC power supplies internally to convert voltages.
just a tip for getting 3dprints off a glass bed is to put it in the fridge for roughly 30-45 mins. i spent way too much time and filament on trying to scrape it off, but i found putting it in a cold container for a little bit is the way to go.
To reduce cost & noise, could use 3 motors in total by creating a moving x & y frame & a z axis actuator to push each segment out. Combined with small springs & some permanent magents to keep flush alignment.
Regarding power, maybe you can use a power supply such as the MeanWell LRS-50-5 as an example. And then use buck converters or boost converters if necessary to adjust the voltage level as needed.
Love it! One idea to take it over the top: when you 3d print the pop out segments, make the outer face only one or two layers thick, then put an RGB LED behind each segment and light them up when they pop out and turn the off when they slide back in.
That would be super cool! What if we made the color of the LEDs different based on the time of the day. Each part of the day has a vibe right? :-P
Yes! I'd like to see this in black, with the faces of the digits being thick enough to block out the light but the remainder printed in a translucent/transparent filament. That way you'd get the glow of the digits on the face but not directly lit.
Great idea. Using limit switches on the servo's would also help with positioning as well as switch the leds.
creo que eso le quitaria un poco la gracias al mecanismo
For the servo sound issue: check pwm pulse separation and stability and also psu voltage and resistance
since the numbers are always in increments, you could have done this using just 4 motors using cams. there are several different projects this way.
Use stepper motors instead of servos as they are quiet. For the PSU, if everything is 5v, combine the amps from both PSUs and buy one that can handle that amount. Let's say, your current ones are 5v 4a and 5v 2a, then just find a 5v 10a one and it will be more than enough to power your project.
You will probably be better off with one of them metal box type ones as you can simply screw wires to it, and it can be stored in the back of the clock with a single power cord coming out.
I would definitely make a full enclosure for it, as it will also make it quieter.
Hey great suggestions! I agree on the power supply. I'll do some more research for my next project!
There are so many ways to make a 7-segment display. This is a very creative and attractive way 👍
PS - I still have my old clock from the 1970s. This has large red LED digits about 1 inch high. The clock itself is actually a module with the 4 digit LED display and the chip covered in black epoxy, all mounted on a fiberglass circuit board. There are connections for 5Vdc and push-buttons to set the time.
Cheers from Canada :-)
Hey thanks! Cheers! :D
Very nice looking ... I saw another kinetic project a few months back that had me thinking about a clock -- I want to think the servo count can be greatly reduced using an indexed wheel (or drum) and some clever levering similar to a lot of old school auto play instruments (or new school, if you're a Wintergarten Marble Machine project fan). Each digit segment would need to be spring loaded.
Hey! That is a super cool idea. I've seen some clock builds using a series of gears in a similar way. Let me know if you end up building it. I would love to see it in action!!
I like where you're going with that. One option would be to have three (long) wheels per digit. You wouldn't necessarily need springs as there could be tracks on the wheels that push and pull the segments.
I was thinking three long cylinders per digit running up-and-down but you might be able to use a wide flat disk perpendicular to the face.
if you add a slight outwards taper to the segment pieces you can sand them flat together with the face and the clock will be seamless
Nice! Get a flexible build sheet for your 3D printer. Perhaps you could try to design an build a single segment of the display that uses a Neo magnet to drive a custom solenoid or paper tube voice coil. It could latch magnetically to a much smaller magnet to toggle to the "on" position so the circuit wouldn't draw power unless switching. The small magnet could have coil to release the segment into the "off" position. A small spring might be employed if necessary. Small silicone bumpers could be employed to eliminate any unwanted sound. Possibility of making each segment a speaker, and/or adding a multi-color led backlight to each segment. I would do it myself if I didn't have a dozen other projects ongoing. 😀
Hey thanks for the detailed explanation. I've seen a lot of suggestions for using magnets but none with this much detail. Question, do you think I could make this magnet design work in conjunction with building the face and segments out of metal using wire EDM with zero tolerance. THe idea would be that the segments in the low position would fit so snugly that the lines would disappear.
I love that you choose to leave it as white. Great project. I can image make it even better and use this perfect cut metal no spacing, that you can find on youtube. That will be really cool
Yes I plan to do that in a future iteration. Hopefully I can collab with a CNC youtuber :P
@@LukasDeem maybe them www.youtube.com/@TITANSofCNC
How about making the digits transparent, and a wood texture on front. With LED. So when the numbers move, the surroundings getting lit up. Or if the blocks would move in instead of out. The number itself would be lit due to the surrounding transparent plastic. Don't forget to use semitransparent plastic in order to have that diffused led look
Very cool idea!
You can buy bistable linear solenoid actuators, looks like it suits the project, more silent and hasty, like a tik of the clock.
Those are however quite expensive, right?
Putting a stretchy cloth over the front face could look really cool as well.
This is the content that I miss on TH-cam! Thx!
Hey thanks so much! Can you share what you like about it? I'm just getting my channel started and I want to get some feedback on how to ensure I create content people love!
This would be a hundred times cooler made from stainless steel using Wire EDM zero tolerance machining, that way when the segments were retracted, they would appear to merge into the clock face, leaving no outline. I'd also add solid back stop plate that only the linear gears passed through so the segment always stopped flush with the clockface, making the gears helical would probably help a bit with the noise a bit.
Hey! I think this is a super cool idea. I'm thinking I may want to combine some ideas here. I've seen a lot of requests to build it with wire EDM and I've also seen suggestions to use magnets or solenoids to make it quieter. I think this means a V2 may need to happen!
It was a pleasure to watch, please don't stop making them :)
Hey thanks so much! If you don't mind me asking, what did you like most about the video? The project itself, the "feel" of the video, etc...?
This might be my favorite thing I've ever seen 3D printed! I would love to do one of my own
Awesome! Go for it!! 😀
@@LukasDeem I can handle the 3D printing parts but the wiring Will get tough for me I don't have any hands. Let me know if you're ever interested in collaborating on a project
Add an LED or more to each segment, and make the segments out of a plastic that diffuses light. The lights turn on when the segments move outward. Or you could have the segments move inward instead, and then have the LEDs turn on when retracted.
Ahh inverting it would be pretty cool!
@@LukasDeem How about invert it, and the walls that it recedes into be made out of diffusing plastic. Then place a bright light in the back inside of the enclosure. That way you don't have to worry about switching the segments on and off. Thanks for taking your time to read my comment.
Wow this is this most aesthetic clock I’ve ever seen 😍 my husband loves 3D printing and having functional projects. He’s been asking me what I want him to make - sending him this 😍🎉 also any tips on wire management I would greatly appreciate 🙏 looking forward to more content from you!
Hey! Thanks so much. I'm already ordering parts for my next project 😆
He's got a big project on his hands 😂😂
Will be sooo good when it's done though
I'm guessing those tiny stepper motors would be quieter, but you'd have to have some feedback something to determine the current position on startup so you don't push the pieces all the way out or try to pull them through
Looks great.
This got me the idea to use electro magnets instead of servos. The segments would be pushed out by a spring and pulled back in if the magnet turns on.
Do you know if it would require a lot of power to keep the magnets on?
You could even reverse the poles of the electromagnet programmatically and do away with the spring. Then they would only need to be turned on briefly to attract or repel a permanent magnet in the segment. Might be tough to isolate magnets from each segment, though, but the bigger the clock, the easier that becomes.
Might as well just use solenoids.
If the Arduino is getting flakey when the motors are drawing current, maybe put a big electrolytic cap across it's power rails, as close to the input of the regulator as you can. So it can run off that for a little while. Also maybe move the motors, instead of one continuous sweep from in to out, do it in a couple of stages with a little rest in between so that cap can recharge a bit. Also consider the current path to the motors, don't run it from the Arduino's power pin, give it a separate connection as close to the power adaptor as possible.
Perhaps run the motors alternately rather than several at a time, alternate between each one at a reasonable pace so it pushes it's segment out just a little bit, then the next one. The idea being to keep down the peak current, not trying to draw too much power at once. It might slow down the clock's update but that doesn't matter, it only has hours and minutes, you could keep it within a reasonable time.
That's the sort of stuff I'd concentrate on, at least. Reduce maximum power draw, and keep the Arduino's supply as separate from the motor supply as you can, even accepting that they're both branching off the same supply line. Arduinos can run on a wide voltage if they have their own voltage regulator on board, which many do, or else just get a 7805 or the like. If the motor board also needs a power regulator, have it be a separate one, don't leech off the Arduino's regulator. That way, both regulators are pulling down on the main voltage supply, rather than all the circuitry and motors pulling down the regulated voltage off one regulator. So there's a bit of voltage overhead. As ever with regulators, they'll need a heatsink.
You could use switch-mode DC-DC convertor boards but to me that's a bit more flakey than a good old solid 7805 that'll warm your toes in the winter.
Hey! Thanks for the suggestions. I'm thinking I need to start including more capacitors in my projects :-P.
another fun mechanism would be servos with profiled cams that operate fingers to a group of segments.... so one servo could actuate several different combos of segments.
That's an awesome looking clock! Keep it up dude :)
Thanks Jasmeet! 😀
Wow! It looks nice and clean!
I terrified about a brunch of servos… Thinking about solenoid with magnets in frame and segment that forms bistable structure…
I think it would look amazing with a piece of thin taut fabric stretched over it, which could really sell the morphing effect, great build!
That amount of servos use a lot of power. To power all the servos I would recommend separate power rails instead of powering them through the servo shield. For power, consider using a USB-C PD trigger board. Set it to 5V and you're done! Now you can power the clock through any PD compatible USB-C charger.
Great project! I have to say, when hearing your girlfriend's enthusiasm for the project (which is very similar to my own wife's enthusiasm for my projects), I was immediately brought to the joke about the engineer, princess and talking frog.
She was upset she didn't get to star in this video. I'm going to make sure she has a big role in the next one!
I want to see this done with those insane high tolerance metal cuts with disappearing seams made with wire electrical discharge machining
Yes! I'm already looking into it now after seeing so many suggestions to do this next 😀
Really cool, I like using threaded inserts to connect things together instead of hot glue
Yes! I really want to start using threaded inserts. They are just sitting in my Amazon cart waiting for me to impulse buy them 😛
@@LukasDeem click that 'Buy' button. You will not regret it, threaded inserts are awesome. I use them a lot.
Its a really neat project!
For not needing a large power supply, you could try to use these tiny 0-24v DC-DC stepdowns, that has VIN-Vout-GND and an enable pin (they are on ali and is 10x20mm ish). with these you could just turn off the servoes when not running. Then you'd ofcourse need way more outputs, which could be handled using a multiplexer of sorts
Just a relay, or maybe a mosfet, would do to de-power the servos, run one of the power leads to the servo board through it. Then you'd have complete isolation, complete on-offness.
You can get little relays on a board meant to run off an Arduino complete with the couple of other components it needs, costs about the same as a bare relay.
Also they make a nice "click" to go with the motor whining.
If you want your parts to come off the build plate more easily, get a spring steel PEI build plate. Super easy to get parts off of it
Hey! So when I got the ender 3 it came with a flexible magnetic plate, but I had major issues with the first layer. I don't know if it's because I wasn't dialed in well or if the plate was poor quality. Since I got the glass plate I've had super clean prints, but I am also more experienced now. So I've probably tuned the printer better than I had when I was using the default plate with the ender 3.
@@LukasDeem I recommend the spring steel because the magnetic base holds it in place, and a quick flex of the plate pops the parts off. I've never used glass personally, but I've seen more people have issues with glass than with the PEI spring steel, just my two cents
@@Tinker_Nerd hey thanks for the recommendation. I'll take a look at them tonight!
It occurs to me instead of having 30 servos, you could use 30 electromagnets paired with permanent magnets attached to each segment. You could use the electromagnets to push or pull the segments in and out.
Yes! This is something I really want to try!
Idea for version 2. The sides of the segments should be open, possibly transparent, and should contain white LEDs.
These LEDs should light up when the segment is raised, active. Impressive and visible the time also in dark.
All I can think when I see this is how fucking cool it'd be with high tolerance machining.
Like Imagine the components disappearing when they're flush with the face of the clock
Great work
One can optimize it using the fact that hours tend to move much slower than minutes
so, there might be a solution with less servos or maybe even with gears
also, the power is not needed for all servos all the time, so some power switch can also be used
What do you think?
Hey! Yes I totally agree! I'm planning to build a V2 so I'll have to keep this in mind!
I love the idea behind this project. The noise from the servos could be annoying though. I wonder if nitinol muscle wire could do the job more quietly? The challenge would be getting the required amount of movement. Nitinol contracts by 5%, so assuming the required movement is about 1cm, you need 20cm of muscle wire per segment. That sounds too expensive, but the amount could be reduced by a gear or lever to swap force for distance. If the segments move freely, you might get away with 5cm per segment.
Seems like the shapes are simple enough that it could be laser cut as well! Acrylic or maybe wood with some paint to hide the burnt edges.
I’d print a back for it, 1 to make it aesthetically pleasing, 2 to potentially sound dampen the motors making noice.
Also, I wonder if adding a lighting strip above or below would help cast shadows to make it even more readable, and also wonder if dust build up will be an issue.
Hey good idea with the lighting. I was thinking something similar, it's a bit hard to read at certain angles and in certain light.
How does it feel to make your first video in 6 years and immediately so many people like it?
It's fantastic! I used to be a video producer many years ago. Since then I got a job in tech as a product manager. This is my first entry back into the video production game. Hopefully I can get monetized and do this full time. I love my job, but this is way more fun!
I'm honestly overwhelmed by the response and feel so grateful!
@@LukasDeem Good luck! I hope you can achieve it
Light-up number segments would be awesome. I don't really know much about 3D printing and the materials involved (yet! 😸) but I imagine LED installation for that would probably be a nightmare, especially designing to make sure the light doesn't bleed over, but it would still be awesome. 😸
No time like the present to get started in 3D printing. I love it so much! I only got my printer a year ago and I'm obsessed now.
What a great project. The only thing I would add is a WiFi connection (could use an ESP8266 or ESP32) so that the time could be set automatically off the web.
Yes! I agree, I'll be setting up V2 with an esp32 :)
This is really cool, I actually thought about creating something similar but also light up the segments so you can see it in the dark.
It’s the coolest clock I’ve ever seen, however I suppose there are only like 17 people or less that can build something so sophisticated.
Honestly I thought I wasn't going to be able to complete it. I had to take breaks and sleep on it at times haha
i think a simple PDB designed for Quadcopters will help with distributing the wanted voltage for each one... usually they deliver input voltage + 5V + 12v, sometimes also 3.3V. so I guess you could use one of these with 1 9v power supplier
You could try a dovetail joint to mount the Arduino. You could also look into some wire loom tape or tubing to clean up the cables even more.
Don't tempt me with a good time. I'm a HUGE fan of wire loom :)
You should make the segments light up when they protrude.
Make more videos like this and your channel will blow up! Ps. Love the lo fi music in the background, matches your vibe perfectly
Hey thanks so much! My dream is to be a full time TH-camr. I've got more videos in the works! Thanks for your support, it means a lot :D
Awesome Project man! Definitely subbed! Sometimes you just have to know when to call it and focus energies somewhere else in the project! :)
Hey thanks! My goal with these projects is to learn and have fun. This project met both criteria :-D. I'm excited to be working on two new projects already!
I wander if you could use a syringe filled with a low boiling liquid, so you would need a heating element like a strong LED, more power etc.
I love this idea and wanted to see more of the transitions.
Hey! I have a ton more footage, but I had given myself a deadline to get the video out. I was spending too much time perfecting the project and the video. I needed the deadline to motivate myself to finish. It came at the expense of a more indepth video though. Thanks for the feedback, I'll do my best to capture more of the progress in my next videos.
A big improvement.... LEDs to light the proud elements. Should be quite easy to get from the clock module.
Otherwise, very nice.
Mount it in a nice walnut box.
Ohh! A nice hardwood box would be excellent. I used to have a full woodworking shop before I moved for work. Maybe it's time for me to get back into it :)
It's outdated, noisy, overly complicated and ridiculously analog in appearance. In short, I love everything about it. Nicely done.
Hahaha thanks! I quite enjoy it myself 😄
Very nice project! I like your attempts to modify it your own.
Looks really awesome. I have an idea, not sure how feasible it is but maybe nitinol wires. Memory shape wires that move the segments in and out. Still slow enough to give it that zen like movement and completely silent.
Never heard of this. I'll give it a swift google :)
Great build!
I agree with some other comment, you should stop powering the servos when not needed, and it will reduce the power consumption and the heat.
I would like to see what @CarlBugeja could do with flexible PCBs and magnets !
Awesome stuff bro! Can’t wait to see what is next!
Ayy thanks!