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[on:]

Clock with Tics is an Arduino-powered 24-hour digital clock that displays expletives at random intervals. Code, illustrations and video are at http://nscadesign.ca/mleblanc/?p=701

[Reply #1 on:]

that displays expletives at random intervals

;D Might I ask why?
Or is it instructing you to do so...
It's not very persuasive  8-)

Nice clock though despite the randomness. Perhaps you could get it to scroll some more useful messages  

[Reply #2 on:]

It's subtle, I know.

A clock 'ticks'. A 'tic' can be a mental disorder [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tic_disorder] and can manifest itself in a number of ways; most seriously, someone suffering from "Tourette's Syndrome" will blurt out swearwords involuntarily. I had thought of titling this piece "Time for Tourettes", but the clock itself is tasteless enough.   :

I'm working on a series of artworks that focus on 'failure' in design; in this case, who has not had an electrical widget that has 'gone on the fritz' and suffers from momentary lapses?

[Reply #3 on:]

Ahh I see.

I just had a very cool idea for a clock.  

Mowcius writes it down! Thanks for the random inspiration! Gonna keep it secret though - might code it tomorrow

[Reply #4 on:]

Pretty cool with the dot matrix LED display. I did a project with character LCD. There were way less wires than yours.
http://liudr.wordpress.com/2010/11/25/arduino-alarm-clock-with-phi-1-shield/

How did you make the 3-D drawing? It's pretty cool.

[Reply #5 on:]

How did you make the 3-D drawing? It's pretty cool.

Looks like sketchup to me although I may be wrong.

[Reply #6 on:]

Correct. It's Sketchup.

[Reply #7 on:]

I did a project with character LCD. There were way less wires than yours.

Nice. Using an HD44780-compatible LCD is the way to go if you don't want to fuss with wires, that's for sure.

Although I have great respect for anyone who can optimize either in parts, wires or code, part of my motivation for this project was to learn how to use the MAX7219 chip and make a clock that was really bright and 'in your face'.  

I'm used to working with CMOS and have little experience with LEDs... I was surprised about how much current this circuit requires. The MAX chips are warm to the touch but I suppose most of the current is being drawn by the display LEDs. I figure about 1000mA is being used, since the 7805 regulator runs hot and would probably fry without the heatsink.

[Reply #8 on:]

The LED matrices from sure electronics are popular around here.

~$10 and they save you the trouble of all the wiring and matrix driving.

Always good to learn though

[Reply #9 on:]

The LED matrices from sure electronics are popular around here.

Do you think the Sure Electronics units are fast enough to change the display quickly, as I am doing in this project?

[Reply #10 on:]

Do you think the Sure Electronics units are fast enough to change the display quickly, as I am doing in this project?

I would say so. If you go look at some of the videos of them, they are pretty fast

Mowcius

[Reply #11 on:]

That's awesome, I love the idea.

I read an article about deliberately flawed technology and it really interested me. One example included a table with a time display, if the table received a heavy knock the time display would go wonky.

[Reply #12 on:]

I read an article about deliberately flawed technology

Where did you read it?

[Reply #13 on:]

Interested in seeing a project... I hardly read what you did when I watched the video.

At first... I  didn't like it, "stupid swearing clock", but I made a 180 after reading.

As epileptic I'm not going to make an E-clock though, with _my_ memory loss I'll have to enter the right date/time again after every seizure  

[Reply #14 on:]

As epileptic I'm not going to make an E-clock though, with _my_ memory loss I'll have to enter the right date/time again after every seizure

You won't like my clock I'm coding then - It'll only take me 5 mins or so...

Back in a bit

[edit]Changed my mind slightly about how I'm doing it so another few minutes yet  [/edit]