Topsy Turvy Clock

A mantel clock with the numbers in Topsy Turvy locations. This project is a mixture of mechanics, electronics and embedded firmware. It won a prize in the Maplin Arduino competition.

Topsy Turvy Clock – FAQ

Topsy Turvy Clock - FAQ

There have been some questions about the Topsy Turvy Clock that I’ve entered in the SimplyAVR Design Contest Why?This is the question that I get asked the most and it shows the people who really know me vs those who

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A working Topsy Turvy Clock

A working Topsy Turvy Clock

Late last year I was watching a kids TV show and spotted a rather unusual clock, it was a simple mantel clock but the numbers were in topsy turvy locations. I wondered if I could make such a clock and

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RTC Revisited

RTC Revisited

It’s been quite some time since I last looked at the RTC module for the Topsy Turvy Clock. I’ve found a suitable rechargeable battery but until now I’ve been focusing on the motors and mechanisms. When I tried to get

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Clock Electronics Current

Clock Electronics Current

The initial design for the Topsy Turvy Clock had all of the circuits being driven through the regulator on the microcontroller. This is a MIC5219 regulator and is rated at 500mA but also has a very low dropout voltage. The

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Clock Software

Clock Software

For the software of the Topsy Turvy Clock the natural choice was to use the loader and tools provided by Arduino. This meant the coding would be in C++. It’s been a long time since I last used this language

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Other wierd and wonderful clocks

Other wierd and wonderful clocks

Whilst building the Topsy Turvy Clock, I’ve been on the lookout for other interesting clocks or other interesting clock modifications. There are quite a few examples of the Weasley Wizard Family Clock which has multiple hands to show the locations

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Clock Numerals

Clock Numerals

To make the new numbers for the clock I considered a few options. Firstly I thought about simply chopping up the existing numbers and resoldering them in the new positions. The problem with this is that the numbers have been

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Spindles finished

The final piece of mechanical engineering on the clock was the spindles. As previously mentioned I had a couple of different ideas on how these might work. I went with something roughtly like my second spindle design and that’s worked

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