RGB LED Destkop Clock

[Stellarcore]

I had an idea for this project quite a while ago, and I finally got around to making it. It's an LED clock that has 12 RGB LEDs that make up the clock face. The hour, minute, and second hands are red green and blue respectively, and as the hands revolve around the face of the clock the colours mix.

The clock runs from one AA battery and uses a SWPS to boost the voltage to 5 volts to power the microcontroller and LEDs. The RTC used is a DS1307N with its own battery backup.

Here is a video where I show the clock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hxZRCponks

And a link to the project page I setup at my website: https://www.stellarcore.com/projects/led-desktop-clock/

Let me know what you guys think, and if you would be interested in building one. I'm thinking about making this into a kit that would be priced around $30 - $40.

 

[kchriste]

Very nice PCB & layout. I like how you put the MAX1674 to sleep and wake it up again. Now all it needs is a pretty face.

 

[Stellarcore]

Thanks Kchriste,

The PCB is a little sad looking. This was also the first PCB i've made in many years, and I was still quite happy with how well it turned out. I needed a few jumper wires to fix broken traces and the such, but not TOO many.

IIRC, the traces are typically 12 mils wide with the same clearance. I think I may end up masking the LEDs and buttons and painting the prototype black to make it look a little nicer.

Also, another tip that a friend told me a while back that I forgot to mention on the project page was that it would be pretty easy to modify to work from a wall wart or USB cable, and I think I'll add that to the finished kit. The idea being that if plugged in to steady power it will stay on permantently.