A Hackaday Prize entry that didn’t make the semifinal cut but deserves its own featured post is this wireless alarm clock that simulates a sunrise in the morning. It was created by [Ceady] and connects to an in-wall dimmer that slowly but surely increases the light over 10 minutes to help gently wake a sleeping person up . The Wireless Interface controls the speed of the illumination mechanism and has the ability to turn the lights off when the snooze button is pressed. Is is a neat little hack that brings together a typical alarm system and in-house lighting in a nice internet-of-things type of way. We foresee items like this being used in everyday household bedrooms in the near future.
Circuit schematics have been uploaded to the Hackaday.io page, along with detailed project logs and a list of the component’s parts. A video of the alarm clock being tested out comes up after the break:
This project is an official entry to The Hackaday Prize that sadly didn’t make the quarterfinal selection. It’s still a great project, and worthy of a Hackaday post on its own.
It also comes in handy when you wake up with the munchies, apparently.
I’ve been doing this for over 20 years, using X10. What’s old is new again, I suppose
It’s remind me what I build 30 years ago: an analog ramping up dimmer for a 500W light bulb (had a diameter of 15 cm), when an external timer switched on, light get “smoothly” from incandescent filament to full power in 5 to 20 min selected with a potentiometer.
Good project for a Kickstarter funding.
Perhaps my favorite part is the asymmetrical (top-bottom) typeface. Really nice look.
I like symmetrical numbers
Sunrise simulators are very nice. Haven’t had to use alarm clock in ages, except for special cases like early train.
Here is my take on this: http://essentialscrap.com/wakeup_light/
Did he make the display himself?
I have one as well, very helpful. http://www.electrobob.com/sunrise_simulator/
Unless you end up somehow sleeping with the face in the pillow when no amount of light will help wake you up…
“4:20” am i the only one?
First thing I noticed ;)
hehe yeah same here
Jay Leno joked “I have one of those. It’s called a window.”