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Illusionary LED clock
Graah writes: "A pretty interesting clock which uses a spinning set of diodes to create an illusionary LCD clock. This page includes everything you need to build your own, except the hardware of course. =)" Note that one item on the list of things you'll need is "[a] programmer that will program a PIC16C84 or 16F84 microprocessor." Often you can find these inside broken VCRs.
For a moment there, I thought the headline of this story was "Illusionary LSD clock".
Makes a lot more sense, doesn't it?
The ROPOD (ROtating POlar Display) is a similar device, only the screen is a spinning disc rather than a rotating cylinder, making this one of the few displays to use a polar coordinate system. It's also capable of quite a bit more than telling time; the resolution is much higher, and the author has software that can decode a compressed animation format for video display. Follow the link for photos etc..
The coolest thing about the ROPOD is that it's this huge, whirling, rickety contraption that makes bystanders fear for their lives...
If you find this project interesting, you may want to also see THIS link which has details/schemas on many other Mech.Scanned clocks. None as neat and clean as Blick's - but nice nonetheless. Has a few projects with pretty large units - different formats/methods ect.. have a look.
/. about the Home Robot. I dug up this link which is decidedly more hardcore an offering compared to the Pocket-Bot (scroll to very bottom of page) offered by Divent (though _Not_ the bot featured in the /. article - it is the other kit Divent apparently markets).
Ive been putting off building a mechanically scanned clock like this for some time! I saw this page some time ago, Bob Blick's project is very neat and clean. I stumbled across it while researching about BEAM robotics. Meant to comment on the last story here on
Hey Americans: Big Biz has bought your Democracy, are using your gov' and military to enslave you. Wake up. Free yourselves. Do the world a favour; Tell your friends/relatives/neighbours to:
Note that one item on the list of things you'll need is "[a] programmer that will program a PIC16C84 or 16F84 microprocessor." Often you can find these inside broken VCRs.
I'm sure not the programmer but the PIC16C84 itself, right?
Mini Programmers save space and hardware. They feed off the dust inside VCRs and TVs. Unfortunately the heat eventually makes them pass out. Which is why electronics stop working for no reason and then start back up again after you shake them, you just woke him back up.
"Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality." -Jules de Gautier
In 1995 or so, I built a simpler model using a Parallax, Inc. v1 BASIC Stamp circuit.
(For those of you who haven't toyed with a BASIC Stamp, it's a 14 pin SIPP circuit board (1.4" x 0.5") with a 5-12V DC voltage regulator, clock, 8 programmable I/O pins, 256 bytes EEPROM memory, and TTL/RS232 control lines. You download programs that are tokenized BASIC, and the program is run whenever power is available.)
My clock and silent-radio didn't have a spatial sync, but did drive five LEDs to scroll through a message. I trickle-charged a small 1 Farad capacitor to power the circuit for about ten minutes, and spun the whole apparatus around on the end of a pencil to read the display.
I recommend the BASIC Stamps (v1 or the more capable v2s) for anyone who wants to play with digital programmable circuits for the first time.
My other 1.0-Farad-powered project was a small sound-effects generator that rode inside a slotcar racer. It used four tilted mercury switches as a crude accelerometer, to provide screech and revving sounds for my racecar.
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Would definitely wake me up...
/me reaches over
*whap* *whap* *whap*
/me awakens quickly