#DIY DIGITAL CLOCK 3D PRINTED CODE#

You also need to know the length of the thicker (bumpy) threaded portion so that you make the clock face thin enough that it will fit far enough to hold the clock hands. You also need to measure the shaft (the little column on the front that will hold the clock hands.) You need to know the diameter of this to know how big to make a hole for it to fit through to the front of the clock.

Measure the bed ahead of time, leaving a roomy buffer area to make sure your nozzle tool path can reach.Īs for the clock mechanism, you need to know the height, width, and depth of the black mechanism box so that you know how big to make the slot for it to fit inside the back of the clock. I printed my clock diagonally across the bed to get it as large as possible, but it was still a tight squeeze. You will want to measure two things in particular: your clock mechanism, and your printer bed. Instead, put the horse before the cart and *measuring* all your related parts first. I will include the posts from different communities so you can get access to as much information as possible.At this point, if you're like me, you're going to want to jump right in and start making your clock. I would strongly suggest having a look over the reddit posts I made if you have more questions or want more information. As a result, a lot of people had great questions. I would love to see many more like mine.Īs mentioned previously, I have already posted this project on reddit. If you are keen to make a clock similar to mine, I hope you can learn from my wins and challenges and make an even better clock for yourself. The finished product looks good and performs as I hoped. Having said all of this, I am still very happy with the resulting clock and the experience gained. Not everyone wants to build PCBs and solder SMD parts. This worked well and looks good but, as expected, is not as easy for new hobbyists to achieve. To be able to fit everything in I needed to integrate the Attiny85 and DS3231 clock onto a single PCB, along with supporting components. I originally tried using a DS3231 module. This could be a raspberry pi (good for internet connection) or a better MCU.Īnother resulting challenge of having such a small electronics enclosure was the overall size of the PCB used. If you were not comfortable trusting my code, I would suggest using a more capable controller. While this was all great experience for a student engineer, it makes the project a little hard to understand for new programmers.

#DIY DIGITAL CLOCK 3D PRINTED CODE#

This makes the code difficult to understand. The limited memory caused me to have to create some odd workarounds. This small Arduino MCU is too limited to comfortably run 170 LEDs. Personally, I am happy I managed to fit everything in this small space but if you wanted a simpler build, I would try think of a new solution.Īs a result of such a small electronics enclosure, I used an Attiny85. As is, the electronics fit between the two dots, this looks great, but it is a very tight space. If I were building this again, and wanted to simplify the build, I would try find another place to enclose the electronics. With 6 LEDs per segment, the brightness can sit at no more than 50% and be visible on a bright sunny day.įirstly, while the overall physical build was amazing, the electronics area was fairly small. The LEDs are also more than bright enough. The diffusion is almost perfect with very minimal hotspots. The resulting surface finish and build looks great.Īnother positive for the design was the LEDs and diffusion. These segments were then assembled to make the clock. Each segment was sanded, filler primed, primed, painted, and clear coated. The clock is made of individual segments that have addressable LEDs inside. What went well? The overall physical design of the clock turned out great. I will attempt to share what went well and what can be improved so that you might be able to benefit from my mistakes and possibly build your own clock. The response was quite positive, and I ended up being asked to share more. Once completing the project, I decided I would still share the result on reddit just do show what I had achieved. Because of this I gave up on sharing the project in a how-to format. As I progressed, I realised that my project was not going to be as simple as I planned. I had planned to document the project really well and then share the project so that others could replicate my project very simply. At the time I wanted a project that would be fun, useful for gaining engineering experience (I am an engineering student), something for a resume and something I could share with others. Ok I want to be 100% honest with my project.

Diy digital clock 3d printed