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Simulating a flip clock on an Arduino-driven LCD screen

Arduino TeamAugust 20th, 2019

Although flip clocks may be extremely interesting electromechanical devices, with rolling flaps to show what time it is, they’re also fairly complicated if you want to build one yourself. Mark Wilson, however, took a different approach with his project, simulating the output on a 320×240 LCD display.

The clock is powered by an Arduino Uno and a DS3231 RTC module, allowing it to show the time, date, a blinking colon, and even the days until the trash/recycling needs to be put out. Alternate screens are available as well, including a Pong clock, triangle clock, and cube clock, which can be individually selected or set to randomly cycle if you so desire. 

For its housing, Wilson chose a minimal acrylic/standoff design that seems to suit it well, and you can see it in action in the short demo clip below.

Boards:Uno