3 displays alarm-clock with TFT screen, developped with Arduino [170112]
3 displays alarm-clock with TFT screen, developped with Arduino
Current software can be found here
At the beginning, I wanted to build a 7 segments clock with Arduino . . . I found on Internet the little TFT screens (2.2’) able to display anything at very low price. But what to do first ? This clock ! It displays the time, but the way to display the time changes each hour.
1st display : at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24 hour: classic clock with hands
2nd display : at 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22 hour: the time is display with bars
3rd display : at 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23 hour: the time is displayed with seven segments
See the pictures.
The time is set in a SETTING screen to adjust the time and date, and the alarm-clock.
The setting is done by 3 keys : “-“ key, “+” key and “ok” key, used in the SETTING screen.
The day and month in local languages are defined in the program, but need too much bytes in the FlashRom. The tinker will recompile the software with the wanted language (only uncomment its language).
The alarm-clock (when set) rings during 1 minute. (3 times if snooze function)
The alarm-clock may be set or not, by a manual switch (to sleep the week-end without setting adjustment) and it is possible to snooze 2 times (5 minutes each). In case of power leakage, the alarm-clock setting (hour and minute) is saved in the EEPROM.
The power of the LEDs of the TFT screen is automatically adjusted by a solar cell, which dims the LEDs, for people who need a complete darkness to sleep (like me!). The screen remains readable in the dark.
The RTC is a DS1302 with 32kHz Xtal, the microprocessor is the famous ATMega328P, the TFT display is an ILI9341, and the associated libraries.
I developed all the displays by myself, and it was interesting to understand the components/libraries operation. This program (if published by Elektor) is interesting to use for other software developments.
I also used the Streaming library to display some strings: very nice results and very simple to use.
The ports RX and TX are not used, if someone wants to modify this software and transmit information to another system.
I designed the hardware to allow programming by the ISP port: this will make easier modification of the screen display (mainly the colours?).
The total consumption is about 40 mA.
The FlashROM is used at 29500 bytes (very near with the bootloader!), and 1160 bytes of the RAM are used.
At the beginning, I wanted to build a 7 segments clock with Arduino . . . I found on Internet the little TFT screens (2.2’) able to display anything at very low price. But what to do first ? This clock ! It displays the time, but the way to display the time changes each hour.
1st display : at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24 hour: classic clock with hands
2nd display : at 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22 hour: the time is display with bars
3rd display : at 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23 hour: the time is displayed with seven segments
See the pictures.
The time is set in a SETTING screen to adjust the time and date, and the alarm-clock.
The setting is done by 3 keys : “-“ key, “+” key and “ok” key, used in the SETTING screen.
The day and month in local languages are defined in the program, but need too much bytes in the FlashRom. The tinker will recompile the software with the wanted language (only uncomment its language).
The alarm-clock (when set) rings during 1 minute. (3 times if snooze function)
The alarm-clock may be set or not, by a manual switch (to sleep the week-end without setting adjustment) and it is possible to snooze 2 times (5 minutes each). In case of power leakage, the alarm-clock setting (hour and minute) is saved in the EEPROM.
The power of the LEDs of the TFT screen is automatically adjusted by a solar cell, which dims the LEDs, for people who need a complete darkness to sleep (like me!). The screen remains readable in the dark.
The RTC is a DS1302 with 32kHz Xtal, the microprocessor is the famous ATMega328P, the TFT display is an ILI9341, and the associated libraries.
I developed all the displays by myself, and it was interesting to understand the components/libraries operation. This program (if published by Elektor) is interesting to use for other software developments.
I also used the Streaming library to display some strings: very nice results and very simple to use.
The ports RX and TX are not used, if someone wants to modify this software and transmit information to another system.
I designed the hardware to allow programming by the ISP port: this will make easier modification of the screen display (mainly the colours?).
The total consumption is about 40 mA.
The FlashROM is used at 29500 bytes (very near with the bootloader!), and 1160 bytes of the RAM are used.
Discussion (8 comments)
daniu 5 years ago
Looking for an alarm clock I am quite impressed by that.
Wonder if it would be possible to change the software in the following way:
Instead of having this one set of alarms it would be cool to have 2 (or maybe even 3) sets and be able to name them.
Then it would be cool to define rules on which day/time to shift from one set to the other. That would be cool for people who work shifts (which I don't - I would use it for work/holiday).
Generally I would improve the alarm display. Normally times are not displayed as "12 hours 20 minutes" but just as 12:20. That would look much nicer. With the space gained by that I would add (at least for the next alarm or up to lets say 99hours - after that it would probably be useless) the remaining time until that alarm goes off.
Another idea would be: having a "standard" set of alarms. One for each weekday.
Plus an additional possibility to adjust the alarm time only for the next alarm of that (next) day switching back to standard after the alarm went off. I guess I am not the only person who has a general weekly wake-up plan that needs to get altered once in a while. Having to change back to standard is a bit of a hassle and can be forgotten (since it needs to be done after the alarm).
Generally it would be cool to be able to set that (next day) alarm based on the remaining sleep time. In the weekend I often set my alarm to sleep 10h (depending on my sleep lack) no matter when that will be.
I would be willing to buy the watch and try all that myself but an estimate if something like that might work with the amount of remaining memory would be great (unfortunately there is no mention of how much memory the software consumes after the mentioned optimizations). I could live with or would prefer a digital clock if that helps. I also do not need the seconds - maybe besides in some setup display
If that is definitely possible the other 2 things that would make that clock perfect would be:
Dcf77 (not instead but in addition to etc)
Mp3 - could be really simple - no need to be able to choose the sound in the software.
How about that?
Would be really cool to receive some feedback on that
Wonder if it would be possible to change the software in the following way:
Instead of having this one set of alarms it would be cool to have 2 (or maybe even 3) sets and be able to name them.
Then it would be cool to define rules on which day/time to shift from one set to the other. That would be cool for people who work shifts (which I don't - I would use it for work/holiday).
Generally I would improve the alarm display. Normally times are not displayed as "12 hours 20 minutes" but just as 12:20. That would look much nicer. With the space gained by that I would add (at least for the next alarm or up to lets say 99hours - after that it would probably be useless) the remaining time until that alarm goes off.
Another idea would be: having a "standard" set of alarms. One for each weekday.
Plus an additional possibility to adjust the alarm time only for the next alarm of that (next) day switching back to standard after the alarm went off. I guess I am not the only person who has a general weekly wake-up plan that needs to get altered once in a while. Having to change back to standard is a bit of a hassle and can be forgotten (since it needs to be done after the alarm).
Generally it would be cool to be able to set that (next day) alarm based on the remaining sleep time. In the weekend I often set my alarm to sleep 10h (depending on my sleep lack) no matter when that will be.
I would be willing to buy the watch and try all that myself but an estimate if something like that might work with the amount of remaining memory would be great (unfortunately there is no mention of how much memory the software consumes after the mentioned optimizations). I could live with or would prefer a digital clock if that helps. I also do not need the seconds - maybe besides in some setup display
If that is definitely possible the other 2 things that would make that clock perfect would be:
Dcf77 (not instead but in addition to etc)
Mp3 - could be really simple - no need to be able to choose the sound in the software.
How about that?
Would be really cool to receive some feedback on that
Reply
ElektorLabs 5 years ago
Hello daniu,
the memory ( RAM ) has not much space left and is even low for the normal opperation of the current software. Also there is only some kByte Flash left for new functions. So adding new functions to the current firmware is not much of an option as this will result in a heavy demand for optimizations and may even a swap of the MCU for one with slightly more RAM and Flash.
Regards
Elektor Labs
the memory ( RAM ) has not much space left and is even low for the normal opperation of the current software. Also there is only some kByte Flash left for new functions. So adding new functions to the current firmware is not much of an option as this will result in a heavy demand for optimizations and may even a swap of the MCU for one with slightly more RAM and Flash.
Regards
Elektor Labs
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Wer Weis 6 years ago
...nun ist das gehäuse und das innenleben komplett...
sieht gut aus...
nun aber noch ne frage für's otto normal verständnis. gibts für die einzelnen softwareversionen z.b. rev.1.0; rev.2.6.1; rev.2.6.3 noch kurzbeschreibungen was sich verändert hat - ohne techn. kauderwelsch mit klammer auf oder zu...
z.b. 1. 2. 3... z.b. im kopf der *.ino
wäre prima
sieht gut aus...
nun aber noch ne frage für's otto normal verständnis. gibts für die einzelnen softwareversionen z.b. rev.1.0; rev.2.6.1; rev.2.6.3 noch kurzbeschreibungen was sich verändert hat - ohne techn. kauderwelsch mit klammer auf oder zu...
z.b. 1. 2. 3... z.b. im kopf der *.ino
wäre prima
Reply
Mathias_Claussen(Elektor) 6 years ago
Hallo,
der Code ist leider komplett in eine .ino gepackt worden. Das zerlegen in einzelen Teile wird noch etwas Zeit in anspruch nehmen. Für die Firmware und den Versionsverlauf ist Github eine gute Anlaufstelle. Releasenotes werden noch die Tage hinzugefügt.
der Code ist leider komplett in eine .ino gepackt worden. Das zerlegen in einzelen Teile wird noch etwas Zeit in anspruch nehmen. Für die Firmware und den Versionsverlauf ist Github eine gute Anlaufstelle. Releasenotes werden noch die Tage hinzugefügt.
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HaSch 6 years ago
Hello,
I rebuilt the project but something doasn't work. If the clock is started the last row of the display contains several characters. The last 10 characters are changing every second. I can set the clock but the time isn't stored. It always looks as in the picture, the time remain always the same.
What have I done wrong? The soldering seems to be ok, all components are right.
Kind regards,
Hans
I rebuilt the project but something doasn't work. If the clock is started the last row of the display contains several characters. The last 10 characters are changing every second. I can set the clock but the time isn't stored. It always looks as in the picture, the time remain always the same.
What have I done wrong? The soldering seems to be ok, all components are right.
Kind regards,
Hans
Reply
HaSch 6 years ago
A new version 2.5 of the firmware is available that solved the issue with dimming. You can find the software here.
Reply
HaSch 6 years ago
Exactly that doesn't work for me! I have Elektor set with ATmega328P-PU and it's as I described above. In your sketch "pinMode(9, OUTPUT)" is in comments and it makes no difference if "//" are deleted or not. I controlled the value of "lights" in serial console and it's within the allowed range. It becomes 255 and it becomes 1 but there is no effect on the LED.
Reply
TechDoc 6 years ago
My program says (lines 393 to 403, in the main tab):
//=========================== DIMMING OF THE TFT SCREEN LEDs ==============================
// Read the value of the light cell
light = analogRead(A1); light = (900 - light) / 3; // conversion of the light value
if (light > 250) {light = 255;} // max = 255
if (light < 10) {light = 1;}
Serial.println (light);
// Control the LEDs value
analogWrite(6, light);
}
This works fine .
My prototype works with 5V supply + level shifters for the screen, the Elektor set works with 3.3 V (Atmega328 and screen).
Don't hesitate to contact me again.
//=========================== DIMMING OF THE TFT SCREEN LEDs ==============================
// Read the value of the light cell
light = analogRead(A1); light = (900 - light) / 3; // conversion of the light value
if (light > 250) {light = 255;} // max = 255
if (light < 10) {light = 1;}
Serial.println (light);
// Control the LEDs value
analogWrite(6, light);
}
This works fine .
My prototype works with 5V supply + level shifters for the screen, the Elektor set works with 3.3 V (Atmega328 and screen).
Don't hesitate to contact me again.
Reply
HaSch 6 years ago
I don't know how it should work. For getting digitalWrite(9, light) to work first pin9 has to be defined as output: pinMode(9, OUTPUT). This line is commented out! digitalWrite(9, light) can only switch pin9 on or off, on if light is HIGH, off if light is LOW.
I think that analogWrite(9, light) (after defining pi9 as output) would make a better job because "light" can be a value between 0 and 255. But this command doesn't neither work because it uses a timer for PWM and the timer is taken for the buttons and the buzzer of the clock. Am I right?
Isn't it possible to take another timer for PWM? Maybe there isn't enough flashROM left for this change?
How can I get dimming work as is?
I think that analogWrite(9, light) (after defining pi9 as output) would make a better job because "light" can be a value between 0 and 255. But this command doesn't neither work because it uses a timer for PWM and the timer is taken for the buttons and the buzzer of the clock. Am I right?
Isn't it possible to take another timer for PWM? Maybe there isn't enough flashROM left for this change?
How can I get dimming work as is?
Reply
TechDoc 6 years ago
Yes, I think you will have to calibrate the light sensor, the most important is the max value (with full sun light). The TFT screen LED min value can be 0 (impossible to read in the complete darkness) or 1, or 2, to make the screen "readable".
Wrong RTC => wrong display !
Regards.
Wrong RTC => wrong display !
Regards.
Reply
TechDoc 6 years ago
- Wrong date display : I think you have to check the character arrays of the days and months names. Reset/recompile the language with the french or english language. Check the length of these arrays. Increase the arrays length.
- Time not stored : You have to check the connections/solderings/socket of the RTC DS1302, mainly the supply. Did check using and oscilloscope ?
Kind regards
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HaSch 6 years ago
On elektor.de shop you can find a kit with a nice 3d printed enclosure. Where can I find .stl files for that enclosure?
Reply
Thierry DARTOIS 6 years ago
Good evening,
In French edition of Elektor N° 471, it is written in page 28 that the reader can realize the enclosure by itself because the file are availabke in download. These files are STL files realized with 123Design. I don't understand that it is not the case. I conclude that Mariline Thiebaut do not meet her commitment. Regards.
In French edition of Elektor N° 471, it is written in page 28 that the reader can realize the enclosure by itself because the file are availabke in download. These files are STL files realized with 123Design. I don't understand that it is not the case. I conclude that Mariline Thiebaut do not meet her commitment. Regards.
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Updates from the author
TechDoc 8 years ago
The supply
The ATMega328 and the DS1302 are powered in 5 volts, the screen is powered in 3.3volts. The screen is connected to the microprocessor via level shifters (5V <->3.3V converters). The ATMega328 is powered in 5 V to have the best frequency (16MHz).
The screen library
I use the UCG screen library . . . why not ? It seems to run correctly !
The screen and the keys
I don't use a touch screen but keys . . . because it is still a good projects. And the FlashRom is full.
. . . the bugs
As the pictures show, the microprocessor time is fully used by the display : the display of the second are lightly bugged.
chang 7 years ago
TechDoc 7 years ago
Hum . . .
I didn't upload the code because some details needed to be improved : I use now a LDR rather than a solar cell (not easy tu buy): I received last week-end the LDR, and I needed to adust the values.
I have 1 more improvement to write and I will upload the code. All the displays show the date and time. The display by hands doesn't show AM or PM.
And I worked on other projects these last times.
TREINROVER 7 years ago
I don't know how to open de schematic file. Can anyone help me or convert the file to a more common type? Looks like a very nice project!!
Thank you for sharing.
TechDoc 7 years ago
You will find nextly the schematic ( . . . scan of PDF file . . . I got some problem withe the PDF file generation ! )
I am preparing the circuit on breadboard (baord with holes), and then build a box. I'll make pictures of all these steps, and share them.
Thanks for your interrest.
Regards
Wer Weis 6 years ago
chen shanfu 6 years ago
I want to gerber file for PCB!!!!!!!!!!
rjv 6 years ago
you can purchase the pcb here in our shop:
https://www.elektor.com/3-way-display-alarm-with-2-2-inch-tft-screen-8697?utm_source=MagazineSite&utm_medium=ProductLink
kind regards
Jan Elektor