GETULA

Description

A Bicycle chain lying randomly on the street gave inspiration for this art work. The simple idea of creating numericals out of a continuous chain quickly turned into a complex beast. The chain is made out of 3d printed linkages to keep the weight low with rubberized frictional joints to retain the position they are left in. Each digit consists of two chains as its is hard to maintain the shape of the letters with a long one piece chain. The chains are pushed forward by stepper motors and then bent into shape using servo motors. Four such digits make up the entire clock.

Details

The clock consists of 4 independent modules which work in sync to display the time. Each module consists of 2 28byj48 stepper motors and 2 9g metal gear servos. The stepper motors push the chains out one segment at a time and the servos bend them according to each digit. The chains home to know positions using magnets and hall sensors in the tips of the chains at the beginning of each digit. Currently I have only one of the digits working but eventually will get them all to work . One of the module consists of an additional ds1304 module to take care of the time and coordinate the rest over the serial link.

Components

1 × ARDUINO NANO

8 × A4988 Power Management ICs / Motion, Motor and Servo Control

8 × 9G SERVO

8 × 24BYJ48

Project Logs

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happy new year
ekaggrat singh kalsi • 01/03/2021 at 10:37 • 0 comments

I used the digits to create a 2020 goodbye display ...
further base design
ekaggrat singh kalsi • 01/03/2021 at 10:28 • 0 comments

More progress on making the module look nice and figuring out a way to make a combination of 4 modules
shaping the module
ekaggrat singh kalsi • 01/03/2021 at 10:25 • 0 comments

The next step was to figure out one complete module with the electronics fixed in the module itself so that it is completely independent.
initial chain
ekaggrat singh kalsi • 01/03/2021 at 10:18 • 0 comments

Initial prototypes:

The first several prototypes were used to figure out the working of the chain . I tried various configurations of 3d prints to get the friction right and finally figured out to make it with o rings in the joints.

View all 4 project logs

Discussions

Mike Szczys wrote 01/27/2021 at 15:32

Where do you get such wonderful ideas? I loved the sequin clock and was delighted to learn that you designed that one as well. But truly you have a half-dozen incredibly unique and all quite different clock designs in your collection of projects. Thank you for sharing so many details, it's fascinating to follow along!

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ekaggrat singh kalsi wrote 03/20/2021 at 09:40

thanks for liking my projects and publishing them it both on the blog and the podcast. Hackaday projects always inspire me with the clocks. more to come always in the future. :)

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Steve L wrote 01/06/2021 at 17:49

Utter insanity. Ingenious.

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ekaggrat singh kalsi wrote 01/07/2021 at 05:17

thanks !. insane sure. more of violently insane! :)

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Jan wrote 01/05/2021 at 21:17

What an absolute beast of a clock!!! I'd give 10 likes if I could :)

Cheers, Jan

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Dan Maloney wrote 01/04/2021 at 23:18

I really like this! Kind of reminds me of the interlocking chain drive @Greg Zumwalt used for his snake in a basket animatronic - https://hackaday.io/project/175915-snake-in-a-basket

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ekaggrat singh kalsi wrote 01/05/2021 at 01:46

thanks a lot ! . actually this one predates it by 2 years . its only recently that i got the time and drive to complete it.. That interlocking chain is just amazing .

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Dejan Ristic wrote 01/04/2021 at 22:45

That's just awesome! I think you came up with a quite unique clock concept there. Also made me chuckle watching those poor bike chains being abused like that.

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ekaggrat singh kalsi wrote 01/04/2021 at 23:05

thanks ! more than the chains it is the servos that take the most abuse

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GETULA

Description

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happy new year

further base design

shaping the module

initial chain

Discussions

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