July 30 - Brainstorming, research, BOM

Hours spent: 10

I've been wanting to make this clock for a long time, it was mesmerizing and also looked like a fun hardware and programming challenge, so I wanted to do it.

But, to make it my own, I wanted to include certain features that would make it desirable for my workspace:

So, today I researched and found these resources, while working on my BOM:

Some tutorials I was inspired by: - https://www.electroniclinic.com/bluetooth-speaker-using-esp32-and-max98357-i2s-digital-amplifier/ - https://www.instructables.com/Clockception-How-to-Build-a-Clock-Made-From-Clocks/

Though I am aware the majority of the clock will look similar to the tutorial, I think my unique features and configuring the necessary hardware for these features will make it worth 6 points for the custom category. Tomorrow, I hope to make the wiring diagram and finish CAD, especially as it is the last day of Highway!

July 31 - Wiring diagram, CAD for components

Hours spent: 15

For one of my previous projects, the wiring was simple so I made it on Canva, but for this project, I believed that making a proper schematic diagram would be appropriate. However, I am not very experienced, so my wiring diagram is a big mess. The wiring itself is fine, I just didn't know how to organize my page, so all the wires seem to overlap randomly. I also realized that some components weren't in the KiCAD software by default, so I had to improvise and find a similar model. This applied to the LED and the motor driver specifically, and while the LED ended up working fine, I had to use a similar model LED driver for the motor driver. I also realized it wont work for the 3 pin servo motor cables, so I didn't end up connecting the wires for the motors and the motor driver, hoping that it is obvious how to connect 16 motors to the 16 channels. I didn't know how buttons worked until today, but after research I figured out that part too. I had to pull up guides for every component, which was time consuming but I'm sure it will help me later on. Here's the finalized wiring diagram:

For the CAD, I ended up almost recreating my own version of the key functional components for the individual clocks, which were fairly simple, but making a frame and assembling the model took a while. For a clock of such size, it is not possible to 3D print an entire frame, so I explored options like magnetically attaching fourths of the clock.

August 1 - CAD for frame and components, assembly and clean up

Hours spent: 15

I realized that I could just be printing multiple clocks directly on the flat surface of the big clock and split the whole clock into 4 for 3D printing purposes that can be screwed together, so I changed the clock body file and made it work. The assembly took a while, as it was mostly repetitive but I made it work.

Then, I thought of making a frame to connect everything together, but it can't printed as one piece either, so I made individual components with holes for screws. Most of the frame's body was symmetrical so I had to design 2 components specifically and mirror the parts, ending up here:

But for the last edge, I needed it to be different as it had to hold a speaker and a screen, so I custom designed them (which was repetitive and took a while) but I finished it in a few hours. I had to make a lot of makeshift components as rectangular prism placeholders as it was impractical and unnecessary to find individual CAD models for this purpose. I also changed the colors of the frame, makeshift components, wood, etc. to make it look appealing and I finally made small adjustments to make sure everything could be screwed to wood. Final pictures are in the README file. Also had to make a Notes to Reviewers section to make sure I could communicate everything neatly. With this, I hope this project goes through :D (and I can finally get some sleep T-T)

August 4 - Some quick CAD things

Hours spent: 3

I forgot to add some customizations like engraving, so I did that real quick. From unofficial reviewers, I found out that I should make my makeshift components look similar to the actual electronics, so I fixed those. Acon also asked to explain the problem with the wiring diagram, so I added an illustration and explanation to the README. Here's some screenshots: