Gecko Tide Clock

Last year Robert Werner constructed what he believes to be the world’s largest time clock, tracking the tides at his home in Anchorage, Alaska. Now he's at it again, with a tropical-themed gecko tide clock made for a friend who lives near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. At this location, being able to walk to a certain nearby beach is tide dependent, and while one could just consult a phone, looking at an animated Gecko is, of course, much more entertaining.

The design features a 3D-printed gecko, which slides up and down a piece of bamboo to indicate the tide. Linear travel is actuated by a stepper motor and leadscrew, via an opening in the front, and the gecko can rotate thanks to a stepper motor attached to the gecko carriage assembly. Finally there's a decorative spinning bird on top per a Portlandia reference.

Movement is controlled via TTGO ESP32 board, which pulls data from worldtides.info to predict the local ocean undulations. This board includes a built-in TFT screen, which can be seen from the bottom of the housing for status indication.

For the mechanical design, the bamboo section was photographed and used as a template for the 3D-printed adapters inside. While STL files for 3D-printing are provided, it's unlikely they'll fit other bamboo sections perfectly.

Werner is happy to provide the design upon request, which should be helpful if you’d like to modify things for your own tide indicator. Alternatively, there’s also a PVC pipe version, which should be more straightforward mechanics-wise, but a certainly a bit less fun!