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Linear Clock (2021)
My latest clock project has been the longest and most challenging to complete. There have been times when I’ve been tempted to can it or thought I’d reached a dead-end but persevered. I had to keep reminding myself that I do these projects primarily for the challenge, to learn new things and to further my knowledge: if it were simple I wouldn’t have started.
Pondering over other mechanical advantages: inclining the track depending on direction, moving the magnet…all felt like over-complexity and dilution of the idea - I wanted the ball to roll with no apparent assistance. The step also creates a better area for the position indicators, LED and easier viewing of both balls when reading at eye level so wasn’t a complete compromise. There was one gotcha in the split that did require some hardware debugging: the cut disconnected the top layer ground plane, resulting in the DRV8833s working at low power (5 V/3 A) but not the intended 9 V/3 A.
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