Sand Clock Kit (based on Raspberry Pi Pico)

Description

Raspberry Pi-based Eye Catcher

A standard sand clock just shows how time passes. In contrast, this Raspberry Pi Pico-controlled sand clock shows the exact time by “engraving” the four digits for hour and minute into the layer of sand. After an adjustable time the sand is flattened out by two vibration motors and everything begins all over again.

At the heart of the sand clock are two servo motors driving a writing pen through a pantograph mechanism. A third servo motor lifts the pen up and down. The sand container is equipped with two vibration motors to flatten the sand. The electronic part of the sand clock consists of a Raspberry Pi Pico and an RTC/driver board with a real-time clock, plus driver circuits for the servo motors.

A detailed construction manual is available for downloading.

Features

  • Dimensions: 135 x 110 x 80 mm
  • Build time: 1.5 to 2 hours approx.

Included

  • 3x Precut acrylic sheets with all mechanical parts
  • 3x Mini servo motors
  • 2x Vibration motors
  • 1x Raspberry Pi Pico
  • 1x RTC/driver board with assembled parts
  • Nuts, bolts, spacers, and wires for the assembly
  • Fine-grained white sand


Product form

Raspberry Pi-based Eye Catcher A standard sand clock just shows how time passes. In contrast, this Raspberry Pi Pico-controlled sand... Read more

€ 59,95 incl. VAT
Members € 53,96

      Details

      SKU: 20679
      EAN: 4250236826325

      Description

      Raspberry Pi-based Eye Catcher

      A standard sand clock just shows how time passes. In contrast, this Raspberry Pi Pico-controlled sand clock shows the exact time by “engraving” the four digits for hour and minute into the layer of sand. After an adjustable time the sand is flattened out by two vibration motors and everything begins all over again.

      At the heart of the sand clock are two servo motors driving a writing pen through a pantograph mechanism. A third servo motor lifts the pen up and down. The sand container is equipped with two vibration motors to flatten the sand. The electronic part of the sand clock consists of a Raspberry Pi Pico and an RTC/driver board with a real-time clock, plus driver circuits for the servo motors.

      A detailed construction manual is available for downloading.

      Features

      • Dimensions: 135 x 110 x 80 mm
      • Build time: 1.5 to 2 hours approx.

      Included

      • 3x Precut acrylic sheets with all mechanical parts
      • 3x Mini servo motors
      • 2x Vibration motors
      • 1x Raspberry Pi Pico
      • 1x RTC/driver board with assembled parts
      • Nuts, bolts, spacers, and wires for the assembly
      • Fine-grained white sand


      Customer Reviews

      Based on 3 reviews
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      J
      John B.
      Design Engineer

      A fun little project. A nice challenge on a rainy day! You really need to read the build manual and watch the video, otherwise you will miss some important nuances. The vibration motors are loud and are a bit distracting. I may try another scheme to see if it can be done more quietly. I wish there was a way to flip the digits as you need to look over the pen servos to read the time. I have no idea what the three buttons are for as there is no info in the manual on their usage. It would also be nice to list the requirements for the USB PSU. I like using the acrylic material however, it is prone to cracking. I would be interested in building other projects with the Pico RTC/driver board, but I don`t see it anywhere on the Elektor site.

      B
      Birger T.
      Sand Clock - Herausforderungen

      Ab Software V1.4 funktioniert der autonome Modus in V1.3 war die RTC nach einem Powerup wieder auf 01.01.2000 zurückgesetzt.
      Ach und die Baudrate: keine Angabe in der Anleitung (9600 im Kommentar der ino) aber `Serial.begin(11520)`.
      Auf der Basisplatine sind 3 Taster, 1 x Uhrzeitausgabe und 2 x nicht dokumentiert.
      Und was macht der Messingstift unter dem Pico?!

      Sehr kleine Schräubchen 2mm, 2,5mm, 3mm.. und keine Stückliste, wie viel Schräubchen benötigt werden (es bleiben ein paar übrig), es werden 3 Hände mit kleinen Fingern für die Montage der Servos benötigt.
      Keine deutschsprachige Dokumentation!?

      Kit kommt inklusive Sand, von dem aber nur die Hälfte verwendet werden sollte. Die Vibration braucht dann ca. 10 Sek. zum Glätten der `Anzeige`.

      Neue Herausforderungen:
      - Uhrzeitgravur um 180° gedreht ausgeben, damit der Pantograf hinter dem Sandbett positioniert werden kann.
      - Angabe der Startzeiten für Intervall 5 bzw. 15Min.

      M
      MNF
      Sand Clock

      A neat kit - relatively easy to assemble with a few `fiddly` moments (if someone could come up with an easy way to remove the protective film). Watch the video and read the manual first and apart from one or two moments everything is clear.
      Calibration and testing went well - but autonomous mode just runs the vibration motors using the code supplied but should be an easy fix. They are rather noisy too - if thinking of running it as a clock.
      So - an interesting project and a neat conversation starter.

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