Robotic Doodle Clock

This clock has a robotic twist to it. It will show you the time by drawing it in dry-erase marker. There’s a bit of play in the arm joints and some loose motor precision which results in a wavy font that prompted [Ekaggrat] to name his project the Doodle Clock.

The shape and building material used here really make the timepiece look great. We think if the arm holding the acrylic writing surface had been at right angles this would not look nearly as pleasing. The video after the break shows the bot in action, at first flexing its wrist to switch back and forth between marker and eraser. From there it starts to draw the time, tracing the segments of each digit multiple times to achieve a readable number. The entire thing is driven by an Arduino compatible board mounted on the base of the clock.

This reminds us of that felt-tipped Turing Machine. A variation on that would also make a really nice clock display.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSdylL9qs7o&w=470]

10 thoughts on “Robotic Doodle Clock

  1. I love it.

    I do wonder about the marker drying out. Chalk would work. This could also use an ink well, and even a classic feather tailed pen.. Surely they make dry-erase ink for fountain pens and ink wells? No?

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