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Make Your Own Open Source Retro Arcade-Style Clock
ptorrone writes "Hardware hacker 'Ladyada' has released an open source, retro, arcade-style, table-tennis-for-two clock called the MONOCHRON. According to the MONCHRON project page the desire was 'to make a clock that was ultra-hackable, from adding a separate battery-backed RTC to designing the enclosure so you could program the clock once its assembled.' It includes an ATmega328 processor (with Arduino stk500 bootloader for easy hacking. It's completely open source hardware: all firmware, layout, and CAD files are yours to mess with."
No, I'm lying. I spent most of my free time at parties.
But hey, that's pretty cool, man!
When will it get an app store?
I don't want to know what time it is bad enough to make my own clock. But if I ever do, I have some old pans around here for making one out of a lemon or a potato.
I think that the right side is a better player.
But I must argue that the handicap given to the left side (reset score to 0, after 23) is a tad unfair.
"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so." -- Ford Prefect, _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_
Brilliant! And matches my sig...
Beware of the Leopard.
I've had a Dashboard widget that does exactly this.
Life imitates Apple.
Lemmings are silly; dinosaurs are extinct.
Pfft, the iPad is *way* better than this.
When I used to frequent arcades back in the eighties, I don't think the had clocks around the place, it was pretty much filled with game consoles.
I love the things she dreams up and the level of detail she puts into the explanations. I've built a few of her kits, the "Minty Boost" being the one I use most. Warning, TV-B-gone can get you kicked out of sports bars and beaten senseless.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
http://boingboing.net/2005/11/25/pong-clock-plays-one.html
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
poor left side, he gets schooled mercilessly!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The nice thing about this kit is that it's just begging to be used for more stuff.
Want to get the temperature? No problem. There are three open digital pins, and you can probably do trade offs to get other stuff to work.
Adding the sensor to the clock pcb and add the needed code to clock is easy. Most of the 1-wire libraries are avaliable, making the coding a trivial task.
You can use it as a jumping off point to even more stuff.
At $80, it's a bit expensive, but there's nothing stopping you from taking the plans and making your own.
import system.cool.Sig;
Does it run Linux?
Are you stupid or just a really hairy troll?
Assholes like you are the reason there are so few girl geeks! Personally, although the piercing is a turn-off, I still think she is hot... brains are sexy!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
The answer to your troll is no.
The next question is are you stupid or just unpleasant?
Neat project, but I wouldn't call this project "open source hardware".
I took a look at the schematic and PCB for this project and they are not in an open source friendly format. As far as I can tell they are in a highly proprietary format (Eagle's closed and undocumented format). Eagle is not open source by any stretch of the imagination. The no-cost version of Eagle is crippleware (limited in capability, closed source, lacking file format transparency and portability, and not for commercial development).
So, how can you create open source hardware by using non-open source software? It is hard to "mess" with CAD/PCB/schematic files that cannot be edited with open source software.
The phrase "open source hardware" is being slowly hijacked to mean something completely else. :-(
--
Full disclaimer: I am developer on the gEDA project. Really I don't care if you use gEDA, KiCad, XCircuit, whatever, just use something that isn't closed. And please don't call projects that use Eagle as "open source hardware".
Neat project, but I wouldn't call this project "open source hardware".
Why? "Open source hardware" means all the specs are available to be seen. How does that not describe this project?
So, how can you create open source hardware by using non-open source software?
The same way you can create open source software in an non-open source IDE like Visual Studio?
It is hard to "mess" with CAD/PCB/schematic files that cannot be edited with open source software.
Boohoo.
The phrase "open source hardware" is being slowly hijacked to mean something completely else. :-(
Since when did it mean anything other than access to the hardware schematics? You seem to be redefining the term.
Anyone with an idea how hard this would be to set up with an auto-sync to the time broadcast out of Colorado?
Like these: http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_021W767769110001P?vName=For%20the%20Home&cName=WallDecor&sName=Clocks&psid=FROOGLE&sid=KDx20070926x00003a
I agree 100%. I love her kits. especially the SpokePOV.
Ladyada, if you are listening, please please please release a kit for a full RGB SpokePOV. The monochome version is awesome so an RGB version would be 3x better!! heh
also, instead of having separate magnetic sensor for each spoke, it would be easier to have one sensor and wire the spokes together so they are guaranteed to be synchronized.
I guess the design would have to change so the user has to program in the angle between the spokes.
"Completely Open Source Hardware"? Sounds like a code-phrase for "here's the schematic, guys."
Great idea, and happy to see it, but waving the big "open source" flag over nearly everything that isn't for sale is getting silly. When are we going to start referring to manuals as "open source training?"
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
it doesn't matter what tools to make to create open source hardware, the computer you are using isn't 100% open source, so does that mean you can't write open source software?
the gerbers are posted, the schematic and source is posted.
open source hardware means you can make it by using all the things published and commercial use is allowed, it's obvious that ladyada is doing open source hardware - and has for years.
It meant access to the hardware schematics.
So where do I download the microcode and production details to produce my own Atmel processor?
I'm not redefining the term.
'Open Hardware' implies the hardware is fully open. COTS processors are not generally open.
And this chick is nuts.
"Fresh Air"?!
*sigh* poor old Slashdot... just another sign of the times we live in
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. I'd wager she's an exceptional lover...
If you want folks to use something that isn't "closed", then make it better than Eagle and have documentation that shows us how to make better stuff with it.
Right now, I can download eagle, find a bunch of "directed at n00bs" guides that take baby steps to end up at a fully functioning ready-to-send-off set of files. Just look around.
gEDA's website, on the other hand, has three links to tutorials, two of which are broken, and one that breezes through a lot of things. You want folks to use it? Cater to the baby steps and release good guides.
As a side note, there is plenty of images of the schematics for this project. You don't need eagle for that.
The logic of the hardware is free for anyone to use. There is nothing stopping you or me from taking her work and cranking monchrons out in our own form.
import system.cool.Sig;
It's still open source hardware buddy, stop whining.
If you left your mom's basement more often and discovered women whose last names weren't JPG, you'd know.
But since I might possibly have the ear of a dev there, this seems like a good place to discuss things.
I love the idea of gEDA. I really do. There is a definite need for such a project. But Seakip18 is right. The lack of documentation makes it nearly unusable. I can't say if it's a good program or not because it isn't terribly welcoming to new users. I simply don't have the free time to puzzle it out.
Eagle on the other hand, is welcoming to new users. It is intuitive, documentation is good, you can get up and running with it pretty quick. It is easy to use.
If your vision of "open source hardware" means "open source hardware tools were used", it's within your power to make that happen. Give the world an on-ramp to using gEDA by writing some good documentation. Make a beginners interface that looks Eagle-ish. Write tutorials. Do something to make the tools more usable and the rest will take care of itself.
Apologies for the off-topic rant, but I can't pass up an opportunity like this.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
You've bought into her "marketing disclaimer" - not the actual function. The clear air angle is nothing more than a good healthy dose of CYA. It's illegal to block cell phone transmissions. If she pitches this thing as an air ionizer - then she's golden.
She says this: "It is intended for city-dwellers who feel that their personal space is being overrun with undesired radio transmissions." That's the disclaimer. Which is patently absurd since the thing is a transmitter. I'm pretty sure she's bright enough to get this point.
She also says this: "Much like the personal air ionizers available in catalogues, this device is for cleaning up the air around the user. By pinning this device to a bag or jacket, the user can enjoy a radius of silence. The device is also small enough to tape underneath classroom and office desks, or tables in libraries and restaurants." The only thing she didn't add was "wink wink nudge nudge".
She's hoping that the reader is intelligent enough to see through her CYA disclaimer and use the device as it is intended - to keep people around you at restaurants and movies from screeching into their cellphones while you're trying to have an enjoyable evening out.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
I dunno, but she's cuuute.
EDIT:After reading this -- definitely girl, definitely hawt.
I think I'm in love...
Crap. What did the new CSS do with the "Post anonymously" option??
Pong clock:
http://mocoloco.com/archives/001766.php
This was all over Slashdot in 2005, remember?
Until we can return to the innovation and diversity of personal computers from the 1980s the modern computer is little different than an appliance. The glory days of Radio Shack / Tandy, Commodore, Timex, et al. were the best years for technology hobbyists and professions alike. Hell, bring back the 1980s in its entirety and freeze time. ;)
Cool! This reminds me of John Maushammer's Pong Watch.
Caveat Emptor is not a business model.
> gEDA's website, on the other hand, has three links to tutorials, two of which are broken ...
Either way, could you please tell me which two tutorials are broken? I know that one of them is currently down due to the storm activity on the East Coast. What's the other one? Thanks.
> As a side note, there is plenty of images of the schematics [ladyada.net] for this project...
How exactly do I edit an image to change the design? Especially if I have to make a schematic change, propagate the change to the PCB and generated new gerbers?
> the gerbers are posted, the schematic and source is posted.
One does not generally edit gerbers to make hardware design changes. The usual design flow is to modify the schematics, propagate this change to the PCB and then generate new gerbers.
If Cadsoft ever decides to withdraw the crippleware version of Eagle, all of a sudden a bunch of people might not be able to 1) download Eagle and 2) view/edit/print the designs. If gEDA should go away (or any other open source EDA software), no big deal, the file formats are usually well documented and the design contents cannot be lost.
Considering that I'm not planning on doing this myself, I just obsessed way too much on finding an answer for you. For starters, the Colorado time broadcast is a pretty good choice:
(from the Galleon corporate website)
As far as integrating that into this specific project, you may want to add a processor dedicated to just decoding the time signal - one bit per second, read over a full minute, is more attention than the primary processor probably wants to give to the radio. Once the time is read off of the radio, though, it's pretty simple to dump it into the clock. The clock chip's data sheet gives details on the serial protocol used to send data to the chip, and on pg. 8 it tells what registers to address for setting time and date.
I'd say it's possible, and would probably be easy for someone who knows what they're doing =)
If you do end up making an add-on circuit for this project, just make sure you publish it; Ladyada might even be willing to host it.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
The same way you can create open source software in an non-open source IDE like Visual Studio?
Ah ha. If you are using an IDE like Visual Studio and suddenly Microsoft decided they don't like you using it to write open source software, what are you going to do? If you have written your code to be some what standards compliant and you don't need any of the niceties of VS, great, then it isn't all that hard to port your code to gcc, or clang, or some other compiler.
But that's the rub of using something like Eagle. If Eagle goes away, you are finished. You have no where to go, if you cannot get/run the software to even view your designs. Your Eagle design is lost because the file formats and such are not documented (on purpose). It's all about vendor lock-in and that is incredibly widespread problem in the EDA industry. And every vendor has their own "standards" so you can't just port your design to a different tool.
It is hard to "mess" with CAD/PCB/schematic files that cannot be edited with open source software.
Boohoo.
No boohoo. :-) What if I distribute "vmlinuz-2.6.28-14-generic" and you need to modify it? How would you do it? It would be somewhat challenging wouldn't you say? Boy it sure would be nice if I had given you the C source files and then you could modify/compile those instead. (Thank goodness I am required to give you those sources :-)
Same argument applies here with schematics/PCBs where you do not have the control over the tools that generated them. You are given Eagle files that you might be able to open/modify/save now, but can you guarantee that you will be to do that in the future? No, you couldn't because Eagle is closed source.
One more follow up here...
open source hardware means you can make it by using all the things published and commercial use is allowed, it's obvious that ladyada is doing open source hardware - and has for years.
Hmmm, I'm confused. From the Eagle website (cadsoftusa.com/freeware.htm):
The EAGLE Light Edition can be used for free!
Limitations
...
Use is limited to non-profit applications or evaluation purposes.
You are not allowed to use the crippleware version of Eagle for profit/commercial projects. Now if I want to modify/respin the posted schematics/PCBs for a commercial project, I have to either purchase Eagle or redraw the schematics in something else. So not only am I locked into a closed source tool, I have to purchase it too if I am doing a commercial product with this "open source hardware" design. Are these the correct conclusion(s)?
You are absolutely correct. "Open Source" is pointless unless anyone can read and make changes and contribute those changes back. If you use Eagle then only a very few can make changes.
Open Source projects really should use free tools. Either that or don't use the words "Open Source".
I am a member of the Make.com community (I subscribe to the magazine, try some of the projects, etc.) and she's come up with more original stuff than you have ever thought of in your poor, sad lifetime. I tink she's smart, and kind of cute and think that intelligence in a woman scares you.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
http://www.acooke.org/andrew/electronics/spice.html- Spice and GEDA tutorial
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/billw/gsch2pcb/tutorial.html-Bill Wilson's tutorial on using gEDA/gaf, gsch2pcb, and PCB
As for the images, it allows us to take her work and recreate it. Now, if having to look at images and actually recreate a schematic is a problem, then I'd suggest recreate the schematics, pcb's, and release them in whatever format you want. She's released under an opensource license, so there shouldn't be a problem. Heck, I imagine she'd even let you submit them to her github for download.
Seriously, if you want folks to use gEDA, release a beginner's guide showing how to make something simple, like a fm transmitter or lm317 board, and how to successfully prepare it for sending off to some place like batchPCB.
import system.cool.Sig;
http://www.acooke.org/andrew/electronics/spice.html- Spice and GEDA tutorial
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/billw/gsch2pcb/tutorial.html-Bill Wilson's tutorial on using gEDA/gaf, gsch2pcb, and PCB
Ugg! These tutorials are completely ancient. I have removed them. Thanks.
The official documentation for the gEDA project can be found here: Official Documentation
Seriously, if you want folks to use gEDA, release a beginner's guide showing how to make something simple, like a fm transmitter or lm317 board, and how to successfully prepare it for sending off to some place like batchPCB.
How about these documents:
There is lots of documentation available for using the gEDA suite of tools and the geda-user mailing list is very friendly to all levels of users. I could probably dig up a few more tutorials if the above isn't enough. :)
I've also added a bunch of new free/open source hardware projects to the gEDA links page. There are some really awesome projects listed there that do not use proprietary tools.