Maker Arturo Abruzzini has constructed a clock with a distinction, combining the worlds of artwork and arithmetic to show the time in a Piet Mondrian-inspired paintings utilizing a modified Fibonacci sequence.
“This can be a remake of one thing I got here up with 10 years in the past in highschool,” Abruzzini explains, “once I was so bored by my biology classes that I began doodling a Fibonacci based mostly binary sequence. On the time I made it right into a laser reduce spiral with LEDs on it powered by an Arduino, which has since damaged and I have not gotten spherical to fixing.”
Needing one other uncommon timepiece to fill the outlet left by the unique, Abruzzini determined to take a distinct method to the identical idea. Whereas nonetheless utilizing a modified Fibonacci sequence — named for Leonardo of Pisa, and historically a sequence through which every quantity is made up of the sum of the previous two numbers — the acquainted golden-ratio curve shouldn’t be clearly seen, and as a replacement are blocks of major colours impressed by the summary artwork of Piet Mondrian.
“I first tried to overcomplicate it through the use of thermochromic pigments to color a canvas and customized sized heating pads to show them ‘on’ and ‘off,'” Abruzzini recollects, “however bumped into points controlling the pads quick sufficient for it to work. Extra not too long ago I bought renewed power to make it work once more and began LED panels as a approach to obtain the identical impact, with the concept of diffusing the lights onto some paper. This snowballed into me shopping for a 3D printer to attain this, however I am fairly pleased with the end result!”
The clock hides 4 RGB LED matrices, pushed by a Raspberry Pi Pico W-based controller. (📷: Arturo Abruzzini)
Behind the diffuser, hidden contained in the body of the construct, is a quartet of 32×32 RGB LED matrices linked to an Interstate 75 W driver — itself serving as a provider board for a Raspberry Pi Pico W and its RP2040 microcontroller. Every part is powered by a dramatically over-specced 200W 5V energy provide from Abruzzini’s spares drawer — “although 20W is greater than sufficient,” the maker notes.
“The extra poetic tackle this clock is that it makes it very troublesome to inform the time,” Abruzzini admits, “though all the info is there, and the form might be sufficient of a touch to have the ability to decode it with out prior data (just one buddy of mine has managed that feat thus far). Perhaps one thing about displaying time as an summary idea by disguising it as summary artwork…”
A construct information and supply code for the undertaking can be found on Abruzzini’s Instructables page.
