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Pendulum Clock with Atomic Precision
u19925 writes "Now you can get atomic clock precision out of your grandma pendulum clocks. Here is how it works: There is a camcorder fitted inside the clock which monitors the pendulum swing. It has an atomic clock signal receiver. It compares the pendulum swings with the atomic signal hearbeat. The camcorder also has an arm. If the pendulum clock drifts, then it uses its arm to push or pull the pendulum to make correction." It's not an April Fool's joke, but it is rather impractical.
you're right, magnets would be easy/more cost effecient. however, Cameras and robot arms are sooo much cooler.... 0_O
okay, the real question is why do this at all?
YOU SUCK BALLS!
Wouldn't the latency of the net connection/camera/lever defeat the whole purpose of atomic precision? I mean, anyone can just reset thier clock once and a while to the "technical" standard time. Is this really accurate?
We're only gonna die from our own arrogance, that's why we might as well take our time...
It's 1/10 second precision that get synced daily to an atomic clock - a pendulum clock with "atomic precision" doesn't even pass the sniff test
Uhh, it may just be me, but isn't the atomic receiver the one doing the time telling? I mean, you're using a clock to run the pendulum, whereas the order used to be reversed. (Pendulum ran the clock)
Does that seem really frivilous to you too? This barely fits under "Stuff that matters"
There are some people who are just as obsessive about clocks as the gamers are about frames per second and neon caselights. Just like a gamer will rig up a cooling system and modded case that seems utterly useless to a normal person , a clock geek will go through great pains to have a cool, accurate clock. Personally, I think I'd rather have a grandfather clock with a camcorder and robotic arm than a tricked out computer system. But that's just me.
What Future?
We are used to /.-ers commenting without having read the article. That's even the fun of slashdot. But it appears that we have reached new levels: even people submitting a topic don't read their source anymore and everybody else follows like lemmings.
:-), or such. According to the article, the guy just uses a couple of IR sensors. That's a whole lot cheaper than camera's.
..... That's just the fun of having old clocks.
... why doesn't the guy put a GPS on the pendulum and measure the frequency that way. That's cool!!!
The New Scientist article doesn't mention any camera's, camcorders (why should you record this anyway, it's over in a second
Still, this whole project is of course nuts. You love clocks (like I do !!) and than you have the honor to wind them every day, every Sunday at noon, or
Anybody can read the time from his cellphone. And using a GPS for the time-reading
Browsers shouldn't have a back button!! It's all about going forward...
That's not having an atomically precise clock; that's using an atomically precise clock to automatically adjust your not-so-precise clock.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
Instead of the piston, etc. set the pendulum so that its natural frequency is slightly fast, just enough so that with setting error, temperature effects, etc. it will never run slow. Then phase-lock the pendulum to the atomic clock, using a non-contact electromagnetic brake (eddy current) slowing the pendulum as the control mechanism. The pendulum frequency can be sensed with something less complicated/more reliable than a video camera, such as a magnetic sensor. as the article says, some of these clocks have been running for centuries. Adding an overly complicated kludge to set the time really seems like an offensive thing to do to them!