philippedc
Published © GPL3+

Arduino Uno recyled 5'1/4 HDD Nipkow disc clock

This is an example of recycling an old 5'1/4 HDD to a funny 6 digits clock

BeginnerFull instructions provided3 hours1,216
Arduino Uno recyled 5'1/4 HDD Nipkow disc clock

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino UNO
Arduino UNO
×1
DHT11 Temperature & Humidity Sensor (4 pins)
DHT11 Temperature & Humidity Sensor (4 pins)
×1
Real Time Clock (RTC)
Real Time Clock (RTC)
×1
Tactile Switch, Top Actuated
Tactile Switch, Top Actuated
×3
High Brightness LED, White
High Brightness LED, White
×4
sn754410
×1

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE
Arduino IDE

Story

Read more

Custom parts and enclosures

manual how to build the Nipkow disc clock

Github

Schematics

diagram of the Nopkow disc clock

Code

code for LEDS

Arduino
/* 
How to use an old HDD as a Nipkow disc to display time.
_________________________________________________________________
|                                                               |
|       author : Philippe de Craene <dcphilippe@yahoo.fr        |
|       Any feedback is welcome                                 |
                                                                |
_________________________________________________________________

Materials :
 1* Arduino Uno R3 - IDE version 1.8.10
 1* HDD with a 3 phases delta motor, the one used was a 24 coils motor
 1* SN754410 to drive the motor
 1* infrared motor speed detector, otherwise 1 IF LED and 1 fast IF phototransistor detector
 1* DS1307 module to keep time
 4* 3W LEDs
 1* push-buttons


Arduino Uno / ATMega328p pinup :
 - io A0 (analog 0)   PC0 pin23 => minutes setup input
 - io A1 (analog 1)   PC1 pin24 => hours setup input
 - io A4 (analog 4)   PC4 pin27 => SDA output for DS1307
 - io A5 (analog 5)   PC5 pin28 => SCL output for DS1307
 - io  2 (numeric 2)  PD2 pin4  => IF detector input
 - io  3 (numeric 3)  PD3 pin5  => DHT11 temperature & hygrometry sensor
 - io  9 (numeric 9)  PB1 pin15 => 1/3 output motor driver
 - io 10 (numeric 10) PB2 pin16 => 2/3 output motor driver
 - io 11 (numeric 11) PB3 pin17 => 3/3 output motor driver
 - io 12 (numeric 12) PB4 pin18 => power output for ws2812 LEDs
 
Versions chronology:
 V0.7  -  2 feb 2020  => 1st working version with a 4 holes Nipkow disc, various unsuccessfull tests with 5, 6 and 8 holes
 V1.0  -  5 feb 2020  => considerably increase of stability by drivong the motor with Timer1 interrupts
 V1.1  -  7 feb 2020  => add temperature and hygrometry with shift digit for displaying
 V1.2  -  8 feb 2020  => chararcters size from 4x5 to 5x5 - disk holes 1.5mm
 V1.3  -  4 mar 2020  => DHT11 + installed on PCB
 V1.4  - 23 mar 2020  => sleep after the show + improvment of stability
 
*/

#include <TimerOne.h>     // https://github.com/PaulStoffregen/TimerOne
#include <TimeLib.h>      // https://github.com/PaulStoffregen/Time
#include <DS1307RTC.h>    // https://github.com/PaulStoffregen/DS1307RTC
#include <DHT.h>          // https://github.com/adafruit/DHT-sensor-library
                          // https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_Sensor
#include <avr/sleep.h>    // http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=11497 
#include <avr/power.h>

// Arduino Uno pinup 
const byte motorPin1   = 9;
const byte motorPin2   = 10;
const byte motorPin3   = 11;
const byte ledPin      = 12;
const byte synchroPin  = 2;
const byte MbuttonPin  = 0;
const byte HbuttonPin  = 1;
const byte dhtPin      = 3;

// Parameters
//__________________________

// motor speed parameter
const int final_motorDelay = 1500;  // ~1400 under 5V,
                                    // 1500 => 36.128 ms for 24 coils
                                    // 1970 => 47.660 ms

// synchro & display parameters :
//
// Timer1.initialize(motorDelay/pixelsbycoil) => set the total number of pixel = 24*(pixelsbycoil)
// lineLengh = digiLengh*(total number of digits)

const byte pixelsbycoil = 15;   // so the total number of pixels is 24*15 = 360
const byte lineLengh = 72;      // 360 total pixels divide 5 lines  = 72 pixels per line  
const byte digitLengh = 6;      // must be a multiple of lineLengh, 5 for characrter + 1 'space' give 12 digits
//byte message[6] = { 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 };  // contains the list of characters to display 

// autostop
unsigned int autostop = 180;        // 300 for 300 seconds

// define the characters to display  // PROGMEM ne fonctionne pas ????
const byte character[][5] = {
{ 0b01110, 0b10001, 0b10001, 0b10001, 0b01110 }, // 0
{ 0b00100, 0b01100, 0b00100, 0b00100, 0b00100 }, // 1
{ 0b01110, 0b10001, 0b00010, 0b00100, 0b11111 }, // 2
{ 0b11110, 0b00001, 0b01110, 0b00001, 0b11110 }, // 3
{ 0b10001, 0b10001, 0b11111, 0b00001, 0b00001 }, // 4
{ 0b11111, 0b10000, 0b11110, 0b00001, 0b11110 }, // 5
{ 0b01110, 0b10000, 0b11110, 0b10001, 0b01110 }, // 6
{ 0b11111, 0b00001, 0b00010, 0b00100, 0b01000 }, // 7
{ 0b01110, 0b10001, 0b01110, 0b10001, 0b01110 }, // 8
{ 0b01110, 0b10001, 0b01111, 0b00001, 0b11110 }, // 9
{ 0b00000, 0b00000, 0b00000, 0b00000, 0b00000 }, // 10 = ' '
{ 0b00000, 0b00100, 0b00000, 0b00100, 0b00000 }, // 11 = :
{ 0b00100, 0b00000, 0b01100, 0b00100, 0b01100 }, // 12 = I
{ 0b10000, 0b10000, 0b10000, 0b10000, 0b11111 }, // 13 = L
{ 0b11111, 0b10000, 0b11110, 0b10000, 0b10000 }, // 14 = F
{ 0b01110, 0b10001, 0b11111, 0b10001, 0b10001 }, // 15 = A
{ 0b11111, 0b00100, 0b00100, 0b00100, 0b00100 }, // 16 = T
{ 0b11111, 0b10000, 0b11110, 0b10000, 0b11111 }, // 17 = E
{ 0b00100, 0b01010, 0b00100, 0b00000, 0b00000 }, // 18 = 
{ 0b01110, 0b10000, 0b10000, 0b10000, 0b01110 }, // 19 = C
{ 0b10001, 0b00010, 0b00100, 0b01000, 0b10001 }, // 20 = %
{ 0b00000, 0b00000, 0b00000, 0b00000, 0b00100 }, // 21 = .
};

// Other variables
//__________________________

// motor variables
unsigned int motorDelay = 50000;        // initial motor step delay
byte indice = 0;
byte pixelsbycoilCount = pixelsbycoil;

// synchro & display
volatile bool synchroFlag = false;      // interrupt flag become true for each infrared detection
int pixelCount = 0;                     // count the number of steps between 2 interrupts
byte digitCount = 0;                    // counter for digit syncho
byte lineNumber, digitNumber, digitNow;
int twodigits;                          // buffer for shift display

// time
time_t t;
byte H, Hd, Hu, M, Md, Mu, S, memo_S, Sd, Su, dp;
bool deuxpoints = false;

// DHT11 sensor
DHT dht(dhtPin, DHT11);
byte T, Td, Tu, U, Ud, Uu;

// animation
byte i = 0, j = 0, k = 0;
bool shift = false;

//
// SETUP
//_____________________________________________________________________________________________

void setup() {
  
  pinMode(motorPin1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(motorPin2, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(motorPin3, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(synchroPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(HbuttonPin, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(MbuttonPin, INPUT_PULLUP);
  pinMode(dhtPin,     INPUT_PULLUP);
  
  Serial.begin(250000);
  Serial.println("Start....");

// the function to get the time from the RTC DS1307
  setSyncProvider(RTC.get);
  t = now(); 
  H = hour(t);
  M = minute(t);
  
// temperature & hygrometry at startup because it is a very long process
  dht.begin();                          // initialise the DHT11 sensor
  while( T == 0 ) {
    T = dht.readTemperature();
    U = dht.readHumidity(); 
    // just a short show bedore starting the motor
    digitalWrite( ledPin, HIGH); delay(10); digitalWrite( ledPin, LOW);
  }
  Td = T/10; Tu = T%10; Ud = U/10; Uu = U%10;
  
// start interrupt with IR sensor on Arduino Uno pin 2
  attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(synchroPin), Synchro_detect, FALLING);
  // documentation : https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/language/functions/external-interrupts/attachinterrupt/

// start motor sequence
  SpeedupMotor();

// start synchro timing on interruptions (only once the motor is running)
  Timer1.initialize(motorDelay/pixelsbycoil);   
                                      // motorDelay is the delay for 24 pixels as it is a 24 coils motor
                                      // motorDelay/2 makes 48 steps=pixels
                                      // motorDelay/4 makes 96 steps=pixels
                                      // motorDelay/8 makes 192 steps=pixels
                                      // motorDelay/10 makes 240 steps=pixels
                                      // motorDelay/12 makes 288 steps=pixels
  Timer1.attachInterrupt(BlinkLed);   // BlinkLed is called (motorDelay/pixelsbycoil) times per interrupt

}    // end of setup

//
// Synchro_detect : what is done at each interruption
//____________________________________________________________________________________________

void Synchro_detect() { synchroFlag = true; }


// BlinkLed : what is done at each Timer1 period
//____________________________________________________________________________________________

void BlinkLed() { 
  
  if( synchroFlag == true ) {
    pixelCount = 0;                     // reset the trame pixel count at each interrupt
    digitNumber = 0;                    // reset the digit position 
    synchroFlag = false;
  }
  
  if( pixelsbycoilCount == pixelsbycoil ) {   // change the motor drive sequance 24 times per interrupt
    MotorControl();
    pixelsbycoilCount = 0 ;
  }

  if( digitCount == digitLengh ) {      // each time a new digit treatment must start
    digitCount = 0;
    lineNumber = pixelCount / lineLengh;                         // get actual line number
    if( digitNumber == lineLengh/digitLengh ) digitNumber = 0;   // reset the actual digit position each new line
    if( shift == true ) {
      if( ++k > 40 ) k=0;               // k is the shift speed
      if( digitNumber == 0 && k == 0 ) {
        j++;
        if( j == 35 ) shift = false;    // the number of digit to shift
      }  // end of test oncePerSecond
    }    // end of test shift
    else j=0;

    byte message[46] = { 10, 10, Hd, Hu, dp, Md, Mu, dp, Sd, Su, 10, 10, 12, 13, 10, 14, 15, 12, 16, 10, Td, Tu, 18, 19, 10, 17, 16, 10, Ud, Uu, 20, 21, 21, 21, 10, 10, Hd, Hu, dp, Md, Mu, dp, Sd, Su, 10, 10 };
    
    digitNow = character[message[digitNumber+j]][lineNumber] & 0b00011111;
    digitNumber++;                      // digit position in the line is increased
  }      // end of test digitCount

  if( (digitNow & 0b10000) == 0b10000 ) PORTB |= B00010000; else PORTB &= B11101111;  // PB4 set to HIGH (io 12) digitalWrite is very slow
  digitNow = digitNow << 1;             // shift left to be able to compare the next bit 
  
  digitCount++;
  pixelsbycoilCount++;
  pixelCount++;                         // increase pixel counter
  
}       // end of BlinkLed()

//
// LOOP
//_____________________________________________________________________________________________

void loop() {
  
// after the code below all is run only once per second
  memo_S = S;
  S = second();
  if( memo_S == S ) return;

// time set
  if( analogRead(HbuttonPin) < 2 ) {
    t = now(); t+=3600; RTC.set(t);          // set the RTC and the system time to the new value
    H++;
  }
  if( analogRead(MbuttonPin) < 2 ) {
    t = now(); t+=60; RTC.set(t);            // set the RTC and the system time to the new value
    M++;
  }

// time display
  if( S%2 == 0 ) deuxpoints =! deuxpoints;
  if(deuxpoints) dp = 11; else dp = 10;
  if( S == 0 ) M++;
  if( M > 59 ) { M = 0; H++; }
  if( H > 23 ) H = 0;

  Hd = H/10; Hu = H%10; 
  Md = M/10; Mu = M%10;
  Sd = S/10; Su = S%10;

// display animation
  if( S == 30 ) shift = true;

// autostop
  if( --autostop == 0 ) GotoSleep();

}     // end of loop

//
// SpeedupMotor()    
//_____________________________________________________________________________________________

void SpeedupMotor() {

  unsigned long memo_tempo = 0;
  //unsigned long synchroNow = 0, memo_synchroNow;
  
// pseudo-logarithm increase of rotation speed
  while( motorDelay > final_motorDelay ) {    
    if(synchroFlag == true) {           // done for each IR sensor detection (synchro interrupt) 
      synchroFlag = false;
      if( motorDelay > 15000 ) motorDelay = motorDelay - motorDelay/5;          //15000
      else if( motorDelay > 11000 ) motorDelay = motorDelay - motorDelay/10;    //10000 -> 12000
      else if( motorDelay > 2000 ) motorDelay = motorDelay - motorDelay/100;    //1900
      else motorDelay--;
/*
// display startup disk turn duration
      memo_synchroNow = synchroNow;
      synchroNow = micros();
      Serial.print(motorDelay); Serial.print("\t"); Serial.println(synchroNow - memo_synchroNow);
*/
    }  // end of test synchroFlag

    if( (micros() - memo_tempo) > motorDelay ) {       // time to change the step
      memo_tempo = micros();
      MotorControl();
    }
  }    // end of while motorDelay
}      // end of SpeedupMotor()

//
// MotorControl()    
//_____________________________________________________________________________________________

void MotorControl() {

  if( ++indice > 5 ) indice = 0;        // the counter to generate ghe 3 phases motor drive sequence
  switch( indice ) {
    case 0: PORTB |= B000010; break;    // output  9 to HIGH
    case 1: PORTB &= B111011; break;    // output 10 to LOW
    case 2: PORTB |= B001000; break;    // output 11 to HIGH
    case 3: PORTB &= B111101; break;    // output  9 to LOW
    case 4: PORTB |= B000100; break;    // output 10 to HIGH
    case 5: PORTB &= B110111; break;    // output 11 to LOW
  }    // end of switch
}      // end of MotorControl()

//
// GotoSleep()    
//_____________________________________________________________________________________________

void GotoSleep() {

  power_all_disable ();              // turn off all modules
  noInterrupts();                    // required with IDE 1.8.x
  set_sleep_mode(SLEEP_MODE_PWR_DOWN);   // keep Timers in working states
  sleep_enable();                    // enable the sleep mode
  interrupts();
  for( byte p=2; p<19; p++) {
    pinMode( p, OUTPUT );
    digitalWrite( p, LOW );
  }
  sleep_cpu();                       // activate the sleep mode
}      // end of GotoSleep() 

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philippedc

philippedc

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