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PhotoniClock

Modern meets retro with this VFD clock.

Introduction

When we set out to create the PhotoniClock, we had but one goal in mind: Create a timepiece that's worthy of occupying precious space on your table. To achieve that goal, we adhered to a set of simple rules.

  • Rule 1: Form should follow function — Its main purpose is keeping time, so it has to do that better than all other clocks in the house.

  • Rule 2: Keep it simple — Every feature should be concise, easy to use, and not superfluous.

  • Rule 3: The best things in life are fun — It has to look good and be interesting while providing an enjoyable experience.

After 1.5 years in the making, the PhotoniClock has finally arrived. If you're curious, most of that time was devoted to hardware and software. We perfected our hardware during development, exposing it to extreme temperatures, powering it with excess voltage, all to ensure the PhotoniClock is as robust as it is reliable. We critiqued our software, experimented with features, even ported components of the standard c++ library to the AVR platform.

We enjoyed creating the PhotoniClock and we hope you do as well.

Features

• Handcrafted Padauk wood, finished with a protective natural oil.
• Accurate timekeeping via temperature-compensated crystal oscillator.
• All components industrial temperature rated or better.
• RTC backup for +24hr power-loss time retention (unlike your microwave).
• Three alarms with individual day of the week settings.
• Configurable Date/Time formats and Power On/Off schedule.
• Ambient light sensing adapts display brightness to environment.
• Music database of 40+ songs.
• RGB LEDs provide colorful and unique lighting effects.
• Input voltage protection from Over/Under/Reverse conditions.
• Includes standard FTDI header for programming via Arduino IDE.
• Open-source software and hardware.

Photo Gallery

Seeing is believing as they say...

Background

The PhotoniClock utilizes Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) tubes, a specialized type of vacuum tube developed throughout the early 1960s into the late 1980s designed specifically for alphanumeric indication. The VFD tubes selected for this clock are called IV-11. They are a medium-sized, discrete, seven-segment display manufactured originally for the USSR by the Reflector plant in Saratov, Russia from the 1980s until 1993.

VFD tubes operate under the same principals of vacuum tubes. Each tube contains two very thin wires called filaments through which an electric current is passed. If you view the PhotoniClock in a dark environment and reduce the display brightness, you may see the two filaments faintly glowing. Each of the VFD tube's seven segments are electrically connected to a circuit which can toggle a high voltage on/off, +56V in this particular design. When this high voltage is applied to a segment, negatively charged electrons emitted from the filament are magnetically attracted towards the positively charged segment. Upon striking the segment, the electrons are absorbed by a phosphor coating which re-emits the energy in the form of visible light, specifically a characteristic blue-green light associated with VFDs.

User Manual

The PhotoniClock user manual can be downloaded from the link below.

Open-Source Software

The PhotoniClock project is open-source and available on GitHub from the following link:

https://github.com/photonicfusion/photoniclock