Planet Arduino

Whether for work or play, and now for various video/voice socials that have been set up, “chebe” spends most of the day at their desk — so much so that, in some instances they lose track of time. To address the issue, this maker dug out a vintage Arduino Duemilanove circa 2010 to create a unique new clock.

The build consists of other parts from chebe’s electronics stash as well, including a SparkFun RTC module and a 7-segment 4-digit display to show the hour and minutes. An LoLshield that was soldered up nine years ago was also implemented, producing an extra glowing effect through the unit’s translucent cover.

Impressively, the only component obtained specifically for the project was a Proto Shield for attaching things together.

[JohnathonT] has a two-year-old who can’t reliably tell time just yet. Every morning, he gets up before the rooster crows and barges into his parents’ room, ready to face the day.

In an effort to catch a few more Zs, [JohnathonT] built a simple but sanity-saving clock that tells time in a visual, kid-friendly way. Sure, this is a simple build. But if a toddler is part of your reality, who has time to make one from logic gates? The hardware is what you’d expect to see: Arduino Nano, a DS1307 RTC, plus the LEDs and resistors. We think an RGB LED would be a nice way to mix up the standard stoplight hues a bit.

At a glance, little Mr. Rise and Shine can see if it’s time to spread cheer, or if he has to stay in his room and play a bit longer. At 6:00AM, the light powers on and glows red. At 6:50, it turns yellow for 10 minutes. At the first reasonable hour of the day, 7:00AM, it finally turns green. In reading the code, we noticed that it also goes red at 8:00PM for 45 minutes, which tells us it also functions as a go-to-sleep indicator.

When his son is a little older, maybe [JohnathonT] could build him  a clock that associates colors with activities.