Plywood Based Bulbdial Clock

Overview

The project utilizes a 16MHz crystal oscillator and an ATmega168 microcontroller as the main parts in order to produce a modern Bulbdial clock.

Explanation

Three rings of LEDs at different heights are used to build this Bulbdial clock and they are made of 6mm plywood that has been applied with the laser cutter to provide precision. The rings are kept above the base with the clock face by shaped spacers along with a hardwood dowel rod. There are 12 LEDs in each of the rings which are mounted in place since each ring have pairs of small holes which makes the project a 3-dimensional type. The red, green, and blue LEDs are used for the 3 rings which make each shadow of the clock a different color.

An AVR microcontroller handles the timekeeping part of the project as well as efficiently multiplexing the 36 LEDs since each ring has 12 LEDs. The ATmega168 microcontroller was programmed through a USBtinyISP. The device also contains 3 tactile button switches and 3 AA battery box with switch. Since only one LED is ON at a time, only one resistor, out of 3 resistors, is required for each color.