This Smart Flip Clock Has a Few Extra Tricks

Flip clocks used to be common before digital clocks became commonplace, because they relied on split-flap displays that are purely electromechanical. Two or more wheels have a series of flat flaps arranged radially. As the wheels spin at a consistent and precise speed, the flaps flip around at predictable intervals, such as every minute and every hour. This is a great way to show known information, because you only need to control the motor speed. But these are normally limited to the time or the date. Thomas Barlow built a Smart Flip Clock that displays the time, but that also has a few extra tricks.

This device has four individual split-flap displays, which it uses to show the time: two digits for the hours and two digits for the minutes. But it can also provide information about the current weather. The user can switch the mode by pressing a button on the side of the device. When they do, the first two split-flap displays will show the current temperature in Fahrenheit. The third flap is blank (unless, presumably, the temperature is three digits). The fourth flap indicates the weather conditions, with a pictogram for sunny, cloudy, rainy, and so on.

The entire body of the device, the wheels, the flaps, and all the other mechanical parts are 3D-printed. Small stepper motors spin the four split-flap displays. A Raspberry Pi Zero W controls those stepper motors, though any Raspberry Pi model will work. Barlow's Python script pulls the time using Geocoder software and the weather information from Open Weather Map's API. Barlow uploaded that script and the 3D models to GitHub if you'd like to build your own Smart Flip Clock. You can also repurpose the mechanical design to display other kinds of information, if clocks aren't your thing.