Apr 13 2009It's Trippy Time!: The Bulbdial Clock
The Bulbdial clock is like a sundial except, instead of the sun, it uses little LEDs to cast shadows from the timepiece's center spoke. Impressively, it casts three different shadows to correspond to the hours, minutes and seconds. It achieves this feat by having three tiers of LEDs, with the highest casting the (red) hour hand (explanatory pictures after the jump).
Additionally, for fun and clarity, we used red, green, and blue LEDs for the three rings, making each shadow hand of the clock a different color. Each ring has 12 LEDs, and the 36 LEDs are efficiently multiplexed by an AVR microcontroller that also handles the timekeeping part of the project.
So it's a a sundial for inside -- awesome! I swear, what will they come up with next? Interactive adult DVDs? Haha, already been done. And not to brag or anything, but I did crack the disk. Ladies?
Hit the jump for a couple more shots and a link to the build page.
A Bulbdial Clock [evilmadscientist]
Thanks to Matty, who doesn't need to know what time it is because he's unemployed.
Reader Comments
1. WHO DEY - April 13, 2009 9:20 AM
Woot
2. kristen - April 13, 2009 9:24 AM
link to youtube video of them building this thing in my name. its pretty awesome actually!
3. Dr.Freak - April 13, 2009 9:36 AM
oooh perty!
4. Tennist0 - April 13, 2009 9:42 AM
me likes sparkly clock
5. Me - April 13, 2009 9:53 AM
wouldn't quite suit my room... but hey wot th ell
6. Trioxinator - April 13, 2009 10:11 AM
That's awesome for telling time at night or in a dark room....otherwise useless.....
7. $.02 and a pocket full of FAH-Q - April 13, 2009 10:18 AM
Cool looking I guess...
8. $.02 and a pocket full of FAH-Q - April 13, 2009 10:20 AM
Oh Wait! Now I Get It!!
They took the LED obsession of TokyoFlash and made it into an actual functional time telling device... wow.
9. Man in 5 - April 13, 2009 11:10 AM
Damn man, that shit looks like something out of a Myst game.
10. Gubba - April 13, 2009 11:22 AM
This item is as useless as the solar powered flash light or pedal powered wheel chair. All Polish inventions by the way.
11. Watch - April 13, 2009 11:27 AM
Ok, GW is now obsessed with clocks
12. JoMama - April 13, 2009 11:42 AM
Tokyo Flash is gonna be pissed.
13. Jiakasuma - April 13, 2009 11:48 AM
I had similar experiences like the person that made this clock...
wasting my time on useless things
14. Boost - April 13, 2009 1:16 PM
This > Tokyoflash.
So much.
15. Mesarim - April 14, 2009 7:35 AM
@10 I find solar powered flashlights quite useful. They charge during the day, and work at night, so what's wrong with that, eh?