Using the Arduino development platform you can create a never-ending variety of clocks, and some enthusiasts often use the network-time protocol method via the Internet to keep their clocks accurate. One great example of this has been published by Australian enthusiast Beau Walker who has fitted an Ethernet-enabled Arduino board and numeric LED display circuit inside the housing of an alarm clock found in a typical discount department store.
The project uses our Freetronics EtherTen board, and the MAX7219 LED display driver IC to easily control the four digits on the display without any fuss. There's plenty of room inside the housing, and it makes for a neat finished project - and also leaves open options for the display of other data that could be sourced from the Internet.
To find out how this project was finished, including links to the required hardware and Arduino sketches, check out Beau's project website. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
If you're making your own Ethernet-enabled Arduino project - save time, space and money with the Freetronics EtherTen. Apart from being fully Arduino Uno-compatible, it has onboard Ethernet, microSD socket, full USB interface (so you don't need a costly FTDI cable just to upload a sketch!) and supports optional Power-over-Ethernet.
