I had this kitchen scale. It was off. The spring used for the scaling tension (or what it’s called) was out of calibration. Actually seemed bend, or whatever it’s called when it’s a spring.
I like the way the scale looked though. I wanted to use it for something, but what?
A scale is an indicator after all. And while indicators are cool; what do I need to indicate at home?
Well.. I’ve allways had a soft spot for those analog “24-hours” clocks. Those with 24 segments around it’s face, 1 hand and running at half speed.
The way they force one to not focus on the exact time or even just minutes.
So let’s build a clock!
All code, schematics etc is in this git repo (also linked to, at the top under title).
Clocking in So how does one convert a scale to a clock. It should be quite simple. Squeeze a motor in somewhere between the tray and the hand. I might even be able to use the “pushing down” of the tray to activate a button. That should be enough for a working clock.
Materials If I wanted to make a “normal” clock. One with 12 hours. I could probably have used a ready made module....
Well that was quite the break.. I’m back in school for a short time, and don’t have my commute time on the train. But here’s a bit about the code. There will not be invented any wheels here, but i thought I would write a bit about it anyway. I do recommend to read the code in the repo, though. The code is well commented.
First of all. Here is a temporary setup of the hardware collected in the last post....
Coupling and stands Last time I got the software side of the build together. Now is it time to connect all the hardware more permanently. The most interesting connection is the coupling between the motor and the hand of the weight. The hand gets turned by a rack and pinion mechanism. With the rack connected to the tray (linear motion) and the pinion on the shaft connected to the hand. The pinion was a perfect place to couple the motor onto....