Arduino driven BlokClok (using 74HC595 Shift Registers and an RGB Dot Matrix Display)

Arduino driver clock. Unique concept using an 8x8 RGB Dot Matrix Display. The time is indicated using blocks of colour. The central 6x6 grid is split into 4 x (3x3) grids and each 3x3 block is a different colour. The number of LED's per 3x3 grid indicate the digit. i.e. if the first 3x3 grid has 1 LED lit then the first digit is 1, the second has 7 then the 2nd digit is 7, etc. The top two grids are the hour digits and the bottom 2 the minutes. Around the edge the unused LED's have a moving light that shows the approximate position of the seconds.

The display is driven by 4 x 74HC595 Shift Registers controlled from the Arduino. Each register controls a colour (r, g & B) with the final register multiplexing the rows. The time is obtained from an DS1307 Real Time Clock chip with battery backup so that the device can be powered down and will resume at the correct time when powered back up again.

The blues and purples look the same on the video which was done using only a cheap standard definition camcorder. To the human eye they are very clearly different colours.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• arduino
• shift register
• 595
• 74HC595
• RGB
• Dot Matrix
• clock
• electronics
• embedded
• microcontroller

[zooto68]

Erik Mongrain - Airtap

[Zofim239]

are you using resistances at the input of the matrix display, if not are they necessary?

[rabbit1k973]

Nice job. Tinkering rules. Whose music is this?

[graymalkin1234]

It took me a while but I get it, I think the changing colours and paterns in the squares confused me a bit :S. I might make a GLCD version of this.

Very cool

[jakeontheweb]

Love it. Very Creative.

Whos the music by?

[wellyb00t]

Nice job!