Motion Clock

According to Craig, he sometimes has a hard time sleeping and light from sources such as a clock radio seem to be part of the problem. One night while he was trying to sleep he got the idea that he could create a clock that only displayed the time/date on command, thus facilitating him actually going to sleep.

The next morning he remembered this idea, and arose to rummage through his parts drawer, procuring a LILYGO T-Display ESP32 WiFi/Bluetooth/screen module to form the heart of his new Motion Clock. He also included a PIR motion sensor, switch, and a 1200 mAH LiPo, taking advantage of the T-Display’s charging circuitry to handle battery management.

Craig designed a small display for the new clock in OpenSCAD and 3D-printed the body. He also added a front panel machined out of translucent red acrylic. The PIR is mounted to this acrylic, and when the system detects motion it logs on to Craig’s network and checks the NTP time. This is sequentially displayed as digits, AM or PM, the day of the week, month, day of the month, and year. This might seem drawn out if you’re wide awake, but is easier for Craig to understand when he’s half asleep.

The system in programmed in ESP32Forth. The code, along with other examples, are downloadable as a .zip file on the project write-up. It’s a clever and simple solution to an all-too-common problem. Hopefully it will help keep Craig well rested so he can come up with other awesome projects!