Joystick Controlled Alarm Clock

December 1, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 13 Comments

While it may sound like a dirty joke, turning off the alarm clock with a wiggle of your joystick is entirely possible here. [Sean] was inspired by the light gun alarm clock featured in Make magazine a while back and decided to build something similar. Instead of going the light gun route, he chose to use a joystick. You set the time on the clock using the joystick and the fire button works as a snooze button. Though it currently doesn’t have a snooze-waggle feature, it could without too much effort.

[Sean]’s server is small. He notes in his comments that he can’t handle the traffic from us. This is why we had to find it our selves instead of him submitting it. Tsk Tsk. To help, we have included the few other pictures of his build after the break. If you really want to overload his poor little server, you’ll find the link to his site here, instead of at the beginning of the article.

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The Snow Clock

July 1, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 20 Comments

Snow days are great, but generally you still have to wake up to find out if it is a snow day. [insingertech] decided to make a system to solve this problem. He made an alarm clock that would automatically de activate if school is cancelled. What a pleasant surprise it would be to just wake up and find that you had been allowed to sleep in. It is using an Arduino and a python script to control the state of the alarm based off of an online school closing announcement. You can download the software from the instructable.

Pneumatic Bed Alarm Clock

June 26, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 50 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ-l5PlDa-k]

For four years, this guy has been using this Pneumatic bed alarm clock to wake up. Apparently “I’m a really heavy sleeper” is an understatement. It is computer controlled and runs from two seperate air sources. He entered it in a radio show contest and we’re guessing he won. You can see the test run at the radio station after the break. We really can understand the fun of building this. But actually using it for four years, without suffering any major injuries, is an accomplishment of it’s own.

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Alarm Clock Automated Blinds

November 18, 2008 by Eliot 22 Comments

[Anupam Pathak] knows how jarring it can be to wake up to a traditional alarm clock. He decided to hack an alarm clock so that it would open the shades in his room to allow in natural light. He found the pin that went high when the alarm was triggered and used that to signal an ATtiny45. The microcontroller activates a servo connected directly to the blinds. He has switches on the side of the clock to manually control the blinds and to cut power to the audible alarm. Video embedded after the break. Continue reading “Alarm Clock Automated Blinds” →

Punch Your Alarm Clock

August 24, 2007 by Will O'Brien 14 Comments

This is probably the most entertaining “application note” I’ve ever seen. These things are usually a bit dry, ok, they make your eyes turn to a previously unknown state of matter. This one involves making your alarm clock snooze when you beat it. The trick? Wire an accelerometer to the snooze button. It takes a bit of supporting circuitry, but looks do-able for anyone worth of their soldering iron. Thanks to [Andy] for sending it in.

Hey, we have a tips line. Send in your hacks!

Interactive Pillow

January 18, 2007 by Will O'Brien 8 Comments

[nicolas büchi] sent in his groups latest project at Zurich University. This innocent pillow interacts with the user based on current light conditions and proximity sensing(pressure). The project pages are in German, but the video demonstration explains it. I like the idea of a vibrating pillow alarm clock – as long as you don’t loose it during the night. It reminds me of Clocky – which is actually for sale now.