Transparent Alarm Clock Runs Linux

May 30, 2015 by Bryan Cockfield 24 Comments

[Benoit] was using an extremely old alarm clock which normally ran on mains power, and he plugged it in to his computer’s UPS to keep it operational during power outages. He noticed that when the UPS switched on that the clock would run fast, though, and apparently it was keeping time by watching the power system frequency. To solve this problem he created his own feature-dense clock which runs Linux.

This alarm clock has everything: seven-segment displays housed in clear epoxy, a touch interface, battery backup, the ability to retrieve the time from an NTP server, and a web interface to change the clock’s settings over the network. That was a large part of [Benoit]’s decision to have the clock run Linux; the network capabilities add a lot of functionality to the clock like the ability to send commands to other devices at particular times. The clock runs on an Aria G25 SOM and has a custom case that looks very professional.

We’re suckers for a high-quality clock builds here, and [Benoit]’s most recent project hits all of our buttons. Even though it doesn’t currently drive people insane or tell confusing time, the Linux and networking capabilities could certainly open up options!

Exposed Clock Is Flippin’ Cool

September 25, 2014 by Marsh 24 Comments

Some hacks are triumphs of cleverness, others…are just cool. [Super Cameraman’s] exposed retro flip clock tends toward the latter half of that spectrum—it may not be the most complex, but we’re relieved that for once there isn’t an Arduino crammed into the back of it.

You can buy pared down, exposed flip clocks at museums for an arm and a leg, or you can trudge through eBay and local thrift shops until you come across a cheapo clock radio. [Super Cameraman’s] clock cost him exactly $2, and is split into two sections: a clock side and a radio side. Prying off the knobs and popping open the case reveals all the shiny mechanisms and electronics, most of which he trashed. The radio and even the transformer were removed, leaving only the flip clock, which he re-wired directly to the plug—it seems these types of clocks run straight off 120VAC. Check out the video below.

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[Sprite_TM] Puts Linux In A Clock Radio

September 18, 2014 by Brian Benchoff 11 Comments

[Sprite] needs an alarm clock to wake up in the morning, and although his phone has an infinitely programmable alarm clock, his ancient Phillips AJ-3040 has never failed him. It’s served him well for 15 years, and there’s no reason to throw it out. Upgrading it was the only way, with OLED displays and Linux systems inside this cheap box of consumer electronics.

After opening up the radio, [Sprite] found two boards. The first was the radio PCB, and the existing board could be slightly modified with a switch to input another audio source. The clock PCB was built around an old chip that used mains frequency as the time base. This was torn out of the enclosure along with the old multiplexed LCD.

A new display and brain for the clock was needed, and [Sprite] reached into his parts drawer and pulled out an old 288×48 pixel OLED display. When shining though a bit of translucent red plastic, it’s can be a reasonable facsimile of the old LEDs. The brains of the clock would be a Carambola Linux module. After writing a kernel module for the OLED, [Sprite] had a fully functional Linux computer that would fit inside a clock radio.

After having a board fabbed with the power supplies, I2C expanders, USB stereo DAC, and SPI port for the OLED, [Sprite] had a clock radio that booted Linux on an OLED screen. In the video below, [Sprite] walks through the functions of the clock, including setting one of the many alarms, streaming audio from the Internet, and changing the font of the display. There’s also a web UI for the clock that allows alarms to be set remotely – from a phone, even, if [Sprite] is so inclined.

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Extrinsic Motivation: Integrated Room Sunrise Simulator

August 28, 2014 by Matt Terndrup 13 Comments

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.

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Controlling Music With The Wave Of A Hand

August 6, 2014 by Matt Terndrup 14 Comments

[Thomas] created a magical music player that gives the listener the ability to change songs and alter the volume levels without having to touch anything but air. Called the LighTouch, this device puts the control in the hands of the user by interpreting input from an ultrasonic sensor and plays back tracks based on waving gestures.

It is the 2nd iteration of a prototype that he completed about a year ago and functions as a streaming radio/alarm clock. The sensor is hooked up to a Raspberry Pi with a fading LED. Everything is highly customizable including the distances used for playback features. The criteria [Thomas] put in place has the pause method trigger when an object is detected between 0-10cm from the sensor. The volume control on the next level up brightens and dims the LED light just for some added flair.

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Piezoelectric Crystal Speaker For Clock Radio Is Alarmingly Easy To Make

March 20, 2014 by Kristina Panos 33 Comments

Let’s face it: most of us have trouble getting out of bed. Many times it’s because the alarm isn’t loud enough to rouse us from our viking dreams. [RimstarOrg]’s homeowner’s association won’t let him keep a rooster in the backyard, so he fashioned a piezoelectric crystal speaker to pump up the volume.

[RimstarOrg]’s speaker uses a Rochelle salt crystal strapped to a bean can diaphragm. In his demonstration, he begins by connecting an old clock radio directly to the crystal. This isn’t very loud at all, so he adds a doorbell transformer in reverse. This is louder, but it still won’t get [RimstarOrg] out of bed.

Enter the microwave oven transformer. Now it’s sufficiently loud, though it’s no fire bell alarm. He also demonstrates the speaker using a piezo igniter from one of those long barbecue lighters and a crystal radio earpiece. As always, the video is after the jump. [RimstarOrg] has a lot of relevant linkage in the summary so you can learn how to grow your own Rochelle crystals.

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Scooby-Doo Alarm Clock Repair

January 13, 2014 by Todd Harrison 60 Comments

This is more of a hack than a repair which is a good reason for me to feature my Scooby-Doo alarm clock repair. I started out trying to simply fix some broken hardware mounts that hold the display and button mechanism within the alarm clock that looks like the Scooby-Doo Mystery Van. During testing I noticed the display was very dim suggesting an unusual current load or other malfunction, plus the alarm was not functional.

One of the coolest features of the alarm was that it made a car honking noise when the alarm was activated. Unfortunately, it turned out that the chip-onboard which produced the honking sound was shorted internally causing some transistor overheating and the dim display. It was impossible to restore functionality of the custom chip-onboard, but lucky for me the data sheets for the LM8560 clock chip revealed that it could directly output a standard alarm beeping sound to a speaker. This required the PCB and some circuitry be configured differently.

In the end the clock’s current load came down to normal parameters, the display was once again bright and the alarm functioned using the standard beeping alarm sound that comes from the LM8560 clock chip. It is sad that the coolness factor of the alarm clock cannot be restored with the honking car sound alarm but my son is quite happy to have his favorite Scooby-Doo alarm clock functioning once again.

The circuit modifications may not have been the cleverest or the best solution, so if you have other suggestions please leave them in the comments below. You can watch the video of the circuit evaluation and repair modifications after the break.

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