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Perpetual Projection Time Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Step 6: Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
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http://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Projection-Time-Machine/
Author:msuzuki777
Lazy Old Geek
Image Notes
1. My old alarm clock.
Image Notes
1. Current time projected. Note that the time is oriented so that it is easily read
when the head is laying on a pillow.
2. Time Projector. This is an earlier version. The two wires to the solar panel are
not shown.
3. Pushbutton.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Projection-Time-Machine/
Image Notes
1. Unlit clock.
Image Notes
1. Keychain solar light.
Image Notes
1. Keychain solar light.
Image Notes
http://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Projection-Time-Machine/
Image Notes
1. T Hinge. It's might be called a 2".
Image Notes
1. Salvaged pushbutton on a scrapped PCB.
Image Notes
1. Binder clip that will fit on a 1/2" board.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Projection-Time-Machine/
Next I removed the little PC board assembly sitting in the bottom. This took a little maneuvering and prying to get it out. (see picture)
On the bottom of the PCB, you can see the three buttons. The one to the left is the Light button. Basically, these buttons are just metal domes. The PCB has a circle
that contacts the outer rim of the button and another contact in the middle of the circle. When the button is pushed, the circle is shorted to the center. So it was fairly easy
to follow the outer ring but I had trouble figuring out where the center contact went.
Having worked with these before, theres a piece of clear tape holding the button in place. I carefully lifted the tape until the metal dome was lifted and I could see where
the center contact went. Then I put the button and tape back on.
There's not much room, so I used some 30 AWG wire wrap wire. One of the contacts went to the LED, so I soldered one wire to that side of the LED.
The other contact went to a little via(contact) that passed through to the other side of the PCB. I used an Xacto knife to carefully scrap away some of the solder mask
exposing more of the copper. Then I soldered the other wire there.
Image Notes
1. Ignore these wires for now. In the final version, there are four wires coming
out.
2. Two batteries
3. Screw.
Image Notes
1. Lens.
2. Window aperture.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Projection-Time-Machine/
Image Notes
1. Top.
2. Lens.
3. Window aperture.
4. Bottom.
Image Notes
1. Bottom of projection clock. The PCB can be maneuvered out the right side of
the case.
Image Notes
1. The "light" button taped to the PCB
2. Wire attached to PCB connected to the center of the light button.
3. The negative power wire is soldered here.
4. The other wire is attached to the LED on the top side of the PCB.
Image Notes
1. Wire attached to LED which is also connected to the outer ring of the 'Light'
button.
2. Proejection screen.
3. The positive power wire is soldered to this metal plate.
Image Notes
1. Two power wires.
2. Two wires to pushbutton.
Image Notes
1. The "light" button taped to the PCB
2. Wire attached to PCB connected to the center of the light button.
3. The negative power wire is soldered here.
4. The other wire is attached to the LED on the top side of the PCB.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Projection-Time-Machine/
Image Notes
1. Wire attached to LED which is also connected to the outer ring of the 'Light'
button.
2. Proejection screen.
3. The positive power wire is soldered to this metal plate.
Image Notes
1. I made a slight bend in the hinge so the arm was more or less parallel to the
PCB.
2. Make sure the pushbutton is 'pushed' by the hinge arm.
Image Notes
http://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Projection-Time-Machine/
1. Pushbutton.
2. T Hinge.
3. Scrounged PCB.
Image Notes
1. Bolt and washer to hold the binder clamp and one end of the hinge on the
other side.
2. Pushbutton is located here.
Image Notes
1. 14 AWG wire wrapped around one side of the binder clip.
2. 14 AWG wrapped carefully around the projection clock. The wire is adjusted so
that it projects time on the wall.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Projection-Time-Machine/
Image Notes
1. Two wires to pushbutton.
2. Pushbutton under the hinge. The tape is just to keep it from flopping around.
3. Two wires to solar panel for power.
4. Binder clip attached to my headboard bookcase.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Projection-Time-Machine/
Image Notes
1. Solar panel.
Image Notes
1. Negative side of rechargeable battery. Solder one of the wires here.
2. Positive side of the battery. Solder the other wire here.
3. This is the diode that prevents the solar panel from draining the battery when
the panel is not activated.
Image Notes
1. This telephone wire is very stiff. I hot glued the wires to the PCB>
2. I used a tie wrap to help strain relief the cable.
Step 6: Conclusions
Now place the solar panel where it will get a lot of light during the day. Since my bedroom/work room is fairly dark, i have my bed lamp on most of the day so I put the
solar panel under it.
I measured the current for the projection clock. It was about 90mA. The clock also requires a little bit of power to keep the correct time. The LIR2032 battery is rated at
35mAH. That would mean if the battery was fully charged, the projected time would last about 20 minutes. However, the way I use this at night, its only on about 2
seconds at a time.
So, theoretically, the battery should be kept charged enough to last in perpetuity, a perpetual time machine for less than $3.
Technobabble: Yes the solar panel is rated at 3.6V and the two batteries in the projection clock are 1.5V each. So I am theoretically applying 3.6V instead of the 3 volts
needed. I am assuming there is enough tolerance to handle the higher voltage. So far it has worked fine.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Projection-Time-Machine/
Image Notes
1. Current time projected. Note that the time is oriented so that it is easily read when the head is laying on a pillow.
2. Time Projector. This is an earlier version. The two wires to the solar panel are not shown.
3. Pushbutton.
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Comments
7 comments
Add Comment
TR.Parson says:
Was anyone else expecting an Instructable on how to build a real "time machine"?
theawesomeninja says:
msuzuki777 says:
Absolutely! Although some people might think of it as a clock, I like Time Machine!
LOG
wazzup105 says:
Hey, I have one of these projection thingies (dealextreme :))... Nice idea.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Projection-Time-Machine/
msuzuki777 says:
ramaseshan says:
msuzuki777 says:
Wow! That is a nice project you built. Did you have to buy the solar panels?
LOG
http://www.instructables.com/id/Perpetual-Projection-Time-Machine/