scottbez1
commented
3 years ago Hi @SpeedGP !
Great question. It should be doable without too much work. The code right now gets input over Serial from a computer and calls GoToFlapIndex for each module, after mapping the character (A-Z, 0-9, etc) to the positional index on the spool (0-39).
You would just need to replace this code (and the rest of the surrounding code that reads from Serial) with code to check the current time and call GoToFlapIndex with the correct index for each digit in the time if it's changed.
I'd also recommend using an external Real Time Clock (RTC) module which will keep the time better than just checking millis() (which will slowly drift over time) and allow the clock to keep the correct time even if it's unplugged for a while (since RTC modules have their own battery).
The other thing to consider is whether you'd want the clock to still have the A-Z flaps available (and flip through them every time a digit wraps around from 9 to 0) or just numbers. Making the display only have numbers is a bit challenging, because the radius of the flap spool decreases by 4x when the number of flaps goes from 40 to 10 which is difficult to make work mechanically using laser-cut parts. That issue is discussed further in #16 and would require some modifications to the 3d model to make it work, but even then you end up with pretty large gaps between the upper and lower flap -- see https://github.com/scottbez1/splitflap/issues/16#issuecomment-553883245
If you have additional questions, I'd encourage you to join the split-flap Slack group, which I find easier to have discussions and see what others have been building: https://join.slack.com/t/splitflap/shared_invite/zt-dpvol87b-3zUaxXrUd8WauPXr1uBj5Q Other people there may also have additional tips to offer.
I absolutely love your project!
I was curious if there could ever be a 4 segment stand-alone clock variant. I don't know much about coding, but might give it a shot if someone wanted to point me in the right direction.
Thanks!!