3D printed "plotclock" - draws the time then rubs it out !!!

20 Mar 2014

Hi all..

ok, I badly want one of these... AND.. I have a 3D printer..

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:248009

So what's the problem ? I don't have an arduino to run it, I have an mbed, and I just don't have time to work out how to port the code.

Here's the deal.. I'll print you one and post it to you for FREE, if you have time to port the code that runs it to an mbed!

(infact,.. I'll print you a few if you want them!)

drop me a line, I'll do the printing, you do the porting.. and we have plotclocks to put on our desks and wow our friends.

anyone else fancy one ? Let me know....

Dave.

20 Mar 2014

Ah those, saw a vid of them recently, barely one step above the most useless machine ever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z86V_ICUCD4) in usefulness, but that is what makes it cool :P.

And it would be nice if it runs on an mbed, but for you personally, buying an arduino will most likely be cheaper than the shipping cost. At least it is probably relevant on which continent you live for shipping cost :).

20 Mar 2014

Yeah, I'm all Arduino phobic ! For no particular reason, it's just microcontrollers are not my first love and having learnt how an mbed works, I just don't have the time/inclination to work out how Arduino works. (even if it's easy, or do I need a programmer? or is that something different?)

So... the offer still stands. Free plotclock including postage (!!) if you can port the code to mbed.

(Because then I can print one for myself too !)

21 Mar 2014

Arduinos don't need an external programmer either.

I checked out the code a bit, and it looks fairly straight forward to port, I am sure you can do it in a quite reasonable amount of time :D. But if you do prefer that someone else ports it in return for one of them I wouldn't mind doing it :).

Short edit: I do have quite a bit of other stuff to do also, so if there is someone else who likes to do it, go ahead.

21 Mar 2014

pm sent before I saw the short edit, just let me know, cheers, Dave.

Meanwhile,.. really? I thought everyone would want one ! ;-)

21 Mar 2014

I'm intrigued, I have a few questions and like Erik I also have a few projects on the go..

which mbed would you want it on? I have a few and some would lend them selves better than others.

are you against making tweaks, for example the source of the time?

Chris

21 Mar 2014

Looking at Dave's profile he has the LPC1768 and LPC11u24. If he doesn't care which one is used, the LPC1768 makes sense, indeed since it has an integrated RTC and doesn't need an external one.

21 Mar 2014

Aye, either works for me, but 1768 is probably best. I'm not against tweaks being made or making them! It's just I have a 3D printer, want a plotclock, but don't have time to port the code.

So thought I'd offer to print one for anyone that does have time to port the code.

PM me a postal address if you have time to port the code and would like one ;-)

21 Mar 2014

I'm going to give it a go, I also have a 3d printer, so don't worry about printing anything. I am short on the servos though. I think a friend has some I could borrow, but will have to ask.

Anyone any idea if servo's signal pin can be driven from the mbeds 3V3, I think they can, but thought I'd check. I know I'd need another 5V psu..

21 Mar 2014

Not much to it really:

Import programPlotclock

Port of the Arduino based Plotclock, initial commit untested.

I've used: a few defines to make the delays work; used the mbed RTC with funtions to return hours and minutes in GMT; setup PWMs to control the servos and added a define for pi.

I have removed what looks like power saving code, but lets see if it works first. Let me know if you give it a go Dave and I'll post something if I manage to build one.

Chris

21 Mar 2014

Brilliant!! I shall be printing one in the morning, I have some servos, I'll post up the results.

24 Mar 2014

Going slower than I wanted. Managed to print one today and screw the servos into it, now I just have to connect it up to an mbed. I'll update when I have!

25 Mar 2014

Sounds like you've made good progress so far, will be good to know if it works..