Hard disk led clock driver#
Hard disk led clock android#
Hard disk led clock software#
Hard disk led clock Pc#

When everything is mounted, your HDD clock should look like this. The eagle files both for the schematics and the PCB are accessible here. Please refer to the electronics schematics log for more details. a few SMD components to 'make the glue'.an audio amplifier MAX9716 for the clock to speak (to be done).a real time clock calendar DS1337C used to keep time when the power is off.a Reflective photosensor (photoreflector) RPR220.

Hard disk led clock driver#

A triple H bridge driver L6234 used to pilot the motor.

It has also 9 hardware PWM ports which are perfect to drive motors. This 16 bits MCU has a native USB port which allows easy interface with a PC. So I decided to build a brand new board.Įlectronics is based on Microchip PIC 24FJ256GB10. Retro-ingeneering the HDD circuitry was far away my competences. The best method that I have found is to use a V shape mill and use a CNC.Īll the details can be found in the 'engraving the disk' log

To display the hours and minutes you will need to mark the disk. Follow these guidelines to add the photo Transistor. On the left side picture you can see half of the dark spot on the platter.ĭrilling this hole is not complex, but positionning it properly on the disk is a little more tricky. A dark spot is painted on the disk to be detected easily by the sensor. A hole is drilled in the disk enclosure for that. As we will engrave the platter with hours marks, we need to have a way to know 'where is noon'.Ī RPR220 phototransistor is soldered on the PCB (details will come) and its led focusses IR beam on the bottom platter of the disk. When the disk rotates you don't know what is its position. And we will see that the rest of the clock is much more digital! When I said that this clock would be 'analog and digital' I wasn't lying at all. Our HDD heads arm is almost a galvanometer but it must be equiped with a litlle torsion spring to convert it into a DIY moving-coil galvanometer.

The hand points at a scale indicating the electric current The coil twists, pushing against the spring, and moves the pointer. This field acts against the permanent magnet. When a direct current (DC) flows through the coil, the coil generates a magnetic field. A tiny torsion spring pulls the coil and pointer to the zero position. The coil is attached to a thin pointer that traverses a calibrated scale. The D'Arsonval/Weston galvanometer used today is constructed with a small pivoting coil of wire in the field of a permanent magnet. It is an analog electromechanical transducer that produces a rotary deflection of some type of pointer in response to electric current flowing through its coil in a magnetic field. Wikipedia tells us that a moving-coil galvanometer is a type of ammeter: an instrument for detecting and measuring electric current. Time should be kept in case of a power failure.

Hard disk led clock software#

a USB interface should provide access to a software to tune and setup the device (plug & play).

Hard disk led clock Pc#

the disk should be powered by any 5V coming either from a USB charger or directly from a PC USB host.

the device should be automatic on startup.

the rotating disk should indicate the hours.

the head arm should indicate the minutes.

as little visible modifications on the disk.

I decided to keep as much as possible of the original HDD to convert it into a working clock. It's a precise mechanism with a shining almost perfect mirror. We will see why later !Ī Hard disk drive is, by itself, a nice 'piece of art'. Almost any HDD will work but one important thing is mandatory : you must have at least two platters into the disk. Let's start by choosing the right disk model.

Hard disk led clock android#

This project was published on my Website ten years ago, but I will now publish the whole design, the source code, everything in open source and open hardware.Īnd, If I am not too lazy, I will as well try to port it on an ESP32 MCU and design an android App to get rid of the PC App which is a bit outdated today! Now let's see how all this works and how you can do your own 'HDD clock'.