September 08, 2014

Build a custom Word Clock with Arduino

One of the more popular advance Arduino projects to build is a "Word Clock" - a clock that displays the time in actual words, in a sentence form as you would articulate in speech. Wouter Devinck has taken this idea to another level and made a clock that more than meets the standards of a commercial product.

Based around an Arduino-compatible circuit Wouter's clock is constructed with custom PCBs, a glass panel that has been cut to shape and a sticker containing the cutouts of all the letters with which the LEDs can illuminate to create the required text. And unlike other versions, each LED is addressable which gives the user more options to create interesting displays of data or simply patterns between displaying the time. You can view the clock in action through the following video:

For information about the build and links to all the design files, visit the word clock's project page. And for more, we're on facebooktwitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.

If you're looking to learn how to use an Arduino with LEDs, sensors and much more, you can't go past reading a copy of "Arduino Workshop -  A Hands-On Introduction with 65 Projects” by John Boxall.

Arduino Workshop takes the reader from having zero knowledge about the Arduino platform, electronics and programming and leaves them with the know-how and instructions on everything from blinking an LED, to robotics, wireless data, cellular communications, motor control, sensors, Internet connected systems and more. For more information including a sample chapter and table of contents, visit the book page.

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