Quacking Egg Timer

[Tom] managed to build a geeky, quirky digital timer for the kitchen. Where most would have used a few seven segment displays along with some buttons and called it done, he found a way to make it a lot more fun. The plush addition on top is a yellow ducky with an orange beak. When time runs out the duck will quack, call you back to the kitchen.

As you can see in the video after the break, [Tom’s] got his hands full with the family. This project was quick enough for him to fit it in during what dwindling free time he manages to hold onto. He used one of the chips that came with his MSP430 Launchpad. Since this family of processors offer extremely low-power modes when asleep they’re perfect for this type of battery-powered application. As for the duck, it’s a toy that had a couple of watch batteries and a small PCB inside. Some poking around led him to a pad that activates the quacking when grounded.

11 thoughts on “Quacking Egg Timer

  1. After looking at it a bit more, I’m not sure the quacking will be heard from another room. And the low-fi quacking from the toy might sound unpleasant if amplified. Perhaps add a secondary, traditional piezo beeper; which only activates if it’s not shut off after 30 seconds of quacking.

  2. It’s a nice build (except for the protruding 7 segments display) but there’s really no need for a low power mode or even a sleep mode on this kind of appliance.
    The power should be provided to the chip ONLY at the press of one “on” button and, after being idle for a while, the micro should automatically disable the power supply. Soft latching power switch is the key and the battery will last for years.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foc9R0dC2iI

  3. This gets the Quicker Quacker Award, but the toy looks like a boiled egg.
    I would like to kill all the noise makers that make more noise on top of the noise already present or having just ended. Considering how quick a microwave is, waiting a few seconds or wasting more time not wanting the results now is a bit weird.

Leave a Reply

Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.