This RGB LED Bonsai Tree Makes for a Very Peaceful Clock

Bonsai is the Japanese art of carefully pruning and cultivating small trees in order to make them resemble their larger cousins. The purpose of the practice is to find a place of calm meditation, and to keep up with the tree’s growth over a long period of time. It takes at least three years to grow a bonsai tree from a seed. While the patience is most of the point of bonsai, most of us don’t actually have the time for that. Fortunately, Redditor Bobbassoonguy found an alternative in the form of this RGB LED Bonsai Tree Clock.

This bonsai tree-inspired clock combines the careful planning of 3D modeling and 3D printing with the creativity artistry of freeform electronic sculptures. The planter is 3D-printed and contains all of the electronic components. That includes an Adafruit Metro 328 board for control, which is pin-compatible with the Arduino Uno and has very similar hardware. The time is displayed on a simple four-digit seven-segment display.

The branches and leaves of the bonsai tree are where the real craftsmanship comes into play. The branches of the tree are made of thick metal wire, and support the NeoPixel LED “leaves.” Each of those NeoPixels is, of course, individually addressable. That made it possible to create various animated effects that shimmer across the bonsai tree. Bobbassoonguy said this project took a little over a month to complete, which is much quicker than a real bonsai tree. Even so, we have to imagine the careful work gave Bobbassoonguy some time for peaceful meditation.