Alarm clocks of old—and certainly many of those today—require several button pushes to set things up properly. Maker Michael Wessel, however, decided to implement his own take on a more intuitive clock, creating a device that features three separate eight-digit seven-segment LED panels. Eight buttons allow for direct manipulation of each of the digits, with their own dedicated LEDs.

The info on display includes time and date, as well as temperature, and it can even show how many days, hours, or minutes have passed since a special pre-programmed day. Up to seven audible alarms are available, which can be silenced by a loud noise (e.g. clapping your hands) via a sound sensor. 

The clock is controlled via an Arduino Mega, along with an RTC module to keep things accurate.

I remember I always had to set all digital clocks for my grandparents in the ’80s — these clocks and watches always required some complicated button juggling! So, here it is: a DIY LED alarm clock that my grandparents would have been able to set and use without my help! 

An Arduino-based LED clock with 7 individual alarms, highly intuitive user interface, temperature display, and display of days / hours / minutes passed since a special date, e.g., your birthday. An active / ringing alarm can be disabled by making a loud noise, e.g., by clapping your hands. Timer-based PWM sound output for alarm melodies. 

The Arduino’s EEPROM is being used to store the alarms of course, and the DS3231 RTC is battery backed up, so it survives a temporary power outage and you won’t be late for work the next morning. 

This was put together rather quickly, thanks to off the shelf components, Velcro and existing Arduino libraries for them! The clock can be built for about $30 – 40. 

While model skulls are generally relegated to Halloween, or biology class, this maker decided to construct a very unique clock out of one. 

The “hands” of the terrifying timepiece are represented by two eyes—right for hours, left for minutes—that are rotated about using a pair of 360-degree (but not continuous rotation) servos. If this wasn’t freaky enough, a third servo pulls the jawbone open with a thin cable, which then snaps shut with springs to “chime” the hour.

An Arduino is used for control of the assembly, along with a DS3232 RTC module to keep things accurate. A nice octagonal frame was built for it as well, giving this otherwise strange creation a classy home in which to reside. 

Code for the project can be found here and more pictures are up on Imgur.

Flament bulbs, commonly known as Edison bulbs, contain a variety of interesting LED lights. So interesting, in fact, that maker Andy Pugh decided to take these individual components up and turn them into a 7-segment display clock.

While making a clock isn’t an uncommon hacker pursuit, this Arduino-controlled device uses a series of wires to both power and support the clock’s four digits from a bent brass frame. This gives it a decidedly web-like appearance, so much so that Pugh notes it’s reminiscent of the cobweb writing in the book Charlotte’s Web. 

The clock also features the ability to sync the time via radio signals, though this functionality appears to still be in the experimental phase. 

Code for the build can be found here, and you can see it cycling through numbers in the video below.

Arduino boards and custom clock builds seem to be a great match, as illustrated by Görkem Bozkurt’s recent project. 

His 3D-printed marble clock uses a stepper-driven gear mechanism to lift 11mm steel spheres to the device’s top chute. The spheres then roll down to a five-minute rail, which empties when filled and transfers a single marble to another minute rail, graduated in five-minute increments up to 60. This then fills the hour rail in a similar process, letting you tell the time of day, or simply be mesmerized by its movement.

The main gear mechanism is powered by a small stepper motor, controlled by an Arduino Uno for timekeeping.

If you’d like to build your own, code is available on Bozkurt’s write-up, as well as the needed print files.

While we understand that the Earth rotates to produce day and night, and tilts on its axis to vary the day’s length, how is the planet positioned in relation to the sun right now? Unless you’re well-attuned to our solar system’s rotational dance, this is difficult to visualize. To help with this, hacker “SimonRob” came up with a clock that shows how the sun shines in real-time at all points on the Earth.

An array of LEDs provides artificial lighting for the device, which rotates a nicely painted physical globe around a daily axis, along with a much larger rotational axis that controls the Earth’s tilt. Both are controlled via stepper motors, which are in turn controlled by an Arduino Uno and a bevy of supporting electronics.

It’s a clever concept, and a well-executed build, so be sure to check out the project write-up for more information!

Tired of wondering what time it is at night, only to have to roll over to look at your alarm clock? If you’d like to avoid this nighttime inconvenience, then Kurt Andros has a great solution with his Arduino Mega-based Overhead Alarm Clock. 

The device consists of a nice wooden housing that gets mounted to a wall above where you sleep, and has separate displays for the alarm time and current time.

Instead of a menu system that you must navigate through to tune settings, the clock features buttons to change both current time and alarm time, as well as potentiometer knobs to modify brightness and alarm volume. The result is a simple interface that requires little thought to set up, and no snooze button since you can simply reprogram the wake-up time with a single button.

The overhead alarm clock offers the following features: 

• Time and alarm time can be read effortlessly and glare-free even in the dark; without glasses, without pressing buttons, without having to leave the right or left side position.

• The alarm clock can also be operated in the dark and with only one hand.

• The alarm clock can be used by a first-time user by looking at the control panel. Reading any operating instructions is not necessary.

• It wakes you up with a pleasant, volume adjustable sound (MP3 song).

• It also functions reliably in the event of a power failure.

• It is very accurate and independent of the reception of a radio signal, the power line frequency and the ambient temperature.

• It does not occupy space on the nightstand.

Sound like something you’d like in your bedroom? You can find Andros’ full project write-up here.

If you need to get creative with something useful, clocks are always great objects to hack together. One idea, in particular, is this Pong Clock from Brett Oliver.

Oliver’s Arduino-powered device is based off of a similar project by Nick Hall, and plays itself in Pong, winning and losing to show the correct time as the score. This version adds a temperature display, countdown timer, and an excellent enclosure made out of what was once a cheap jewelry box.

The results are excellent enough to place in a stylish kitchen or living room, and looks like an approachable build. You can check out the project in the video below and find more details Oliver’s write-up here.

After considering building a square word clock, Maker Roald Hendriks and his sister came up with something a bit more unique!

Clocks, being decorative, useful and easily hackable, have been targets for creative types, likely from when they were first invented. You’d think maybe all ideas for new clocks have been exhausted. Fortunately, human ingenuity never seems to run dry, and this latest device tells time using Arduino Uno-controlled LEDs.

Outer numbers on the modified IKEA PUGG wall clock illuminate to indicate the hour, while words on the inside represent the minutes. These minutes are literally spelled out in Dutch phrases reveal the particular time, but if you don’t speak the language, the position of the LEDs should give you some clue as to what is going on.

You can read more about the project on its website, and watch a demo below!