Comments on cheaphack: The Turing Alarm Clock

Thanks a lot for sharing this amazing knowledge wi...

2011-10-28T08:55:31.851-04:00

Thanks a lot for sharing this amazing knowledge with us. This site is fantastic. I always find great knowledge from it.outsource development

Very nice clock! I would like to create a similar ...

2010-11-30T14:44:58.247-05:00

Very nice clock! I would like to create a similar clock as a school project however I dont know If I have the stuff to create it. Could you please reply or ad my MSN: msebbe@live.se

//Sebastian

This is very nice post thanks for share with us.I ...

2010-04-07T07:53:04.291-04:00

This is very nice post thanks for share with us.I found some good info about Printed Circuit Board(PCB)

Thank you!

Is there any commercial production of this product...

2008-09-02T11:09:00.000-04:00

Is there any commercial production of this product. Can I purchase it from somewhere?

2008-08-07T10:11:00.000-04:00

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

2008-07-31T06:21:00.000-04:00

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

How about software programmers write a program lik...

2008-04-20T01:56:00.000-04:00

How about software programmers write a program like this as software for the iphone or symbian phones?

this absolutely rocks.

2008-04-12T23:00:00.000-04:00

this absolutely rocks.

i would love to make it but i'm not sure i can, if...

2008-03-08T02:02:00.000-05:00

i would love to make it but i'm not sure i can, if I have the slightest trouble could i contact you for help ?

Why not just put your alarm clock far from your be...

2008-03-06T15:12:00.000-05:00

Why not just put your alarm clock far from your bed, so you have to get up to turn it off?

hey would u happen to have a design for a single l...

2008-03-01T16:38:00.000-05:00

hey would u happen to have a design for a single layer board, i make my own boards from scratch but am limited to single layer ones. I tried moving some traces and components but space is really limited any ideas would be great.

Thanks Jason

@nathan

I hadn't thought of that! I guess ...

2008-03-01T08:20:00.000-05:00

@nathan

I hadn't thought of that! I guess a backup battery would help but the ultimate solution would perhaps be to use some other form of time synchonisation like adding a radio clock module. Here in the UK, MSF modules are quite cheap.

With regards to:

CALL PutChar
MOVLW 'n'
CALL PutChar
MOVLW 'g'
etc.

This was one bit of the code I wasn't thrilled by. It could be made clearer using suitable macro definitions, at the very least:

CHAR Macro Character
MOVLW Character
CALL PutChar
ENDM
...
CHAR 'H'
CHAR 'e'
CHAR 'l'
...

And there's no doubt some way to pass a complete string to a macro and have the assembler expand it into the appropriate MOVLW/CALL instructions.

Recently I've used MPASM's 14-bit ASCII packing ("DA SomeString"), suitably coded macros and the PIC16F87x's self-read support to great (and memory-efficient) effect, allowing me to use single line like 'Draw_String "Hello, World!"'.

As was pointed out, the PIC16F716 cannot read its own program memory. A suitable upgrade path for added features might be the PIC16F87, a pin- and code- compatible chip with double the program memory and lots of extra features, including self-read/write. It is just over double the price, however.

As I may have some wake up issues, I like this ala...

2008-03-01T02:56:00.000-05:00

As I may have some wake up issues, I like this alarm clock. Could it be extended to assist in identifying those (few) days when you shouldn't work with C programming. So I can stay in bed instead of making more bugs ..

fuck yeah, dude, just linked to this from make. so...

2008-02-29T19:50:00.000-05:00

fuck yeah, dude, just linked to this from make. somehow missed it the first time around but recognized your voice in the rss video. concongrats on getting into school, by the way.

@matt, anon -

Assuming you have all the too...

2008-02-26T21:05:00.000-05:00

@matt, anon -

Assuming you have all the tools already--even weird ones like pic programmers--it cost me about $40-50 to build.

Let's see:
- lcd @ all electronics = $4
- enclosure @ radioshack =~ $5
- speaker @ all electronics < $3
- wall wart @ all electronics = $6
- pic16f716 @ mouser = $1
- resistors @ mouser < $1
- capacitors @ mouser < $1
- xtal @ mouser < $1
- 7805 @ mouser < $1
- pcb manufacture @ expresspcb = $59/3

I am undoubtedly forgetting something; if so, it is a minor cost. Also, I've neglected s/h charges in the above list, worst case add $5/merchant.

Most of that cost was in PCB manufacture (about $20/board). You can save money by etching your own boards at home. Instructables has many tutorials for at-home etching.

@ matt
True, happen to remember how much your ...

2008-02-26T18:27:00.000-05:00

@ matt
True, happen to remember how much your clock cost when you made it, since I don't have a big budget to work with.

@0xadf

The problem with running such a thin...

2008-02-26T17:36:00.000-05:00

@0xadf

The problem with running such a thing off AC only is you will quickly learn to sleepily pull the plug when it goes off.

I have made a similar system but I only did software - I run it on an old laptop that is plugged in but has a battery. I was afraid I might pull the battery out so I superglued it to the laptop chassis.

hey, i was just wondering how much this would cost...

2008-02-25T20:34:00.000-05:00

hey, i was just wondering how much this would cost for me to make and if i could get some detailed instructions. this will be the first electronic thing make and im sure it will be tough. thanks (btw, i sent you an email)

@anonymous, quoting my code:

Yeah, this is ...

2008-02-23T11:32:00.000-05:00

@anonymous, quoting my code:

Yeah, this is how one writes assembly. Why would I have both a putchar function and a "writeo" method? Because:

MOVLW 'O'
CALL PutChar

Takes two words. If, however, I use some letter (such as 'o' or space) enough, I can save space by doing it like this:

CALL WriteO

...

WriteO:
MOVLW 'O'
GOTO PutChar

This is important on the pic, since I have 2048 words for program space. I only use 918 of those words, so I have room for expansion.

A better question might be: why don't I just have a function WriteString, and then store the string "Good morning" in memory somewhere? Because the PIC16 architecture doesn't include any instruction to read data from the program memory.

@Anon on feb 18:

WriteGoodMorning:
MOVL...

2008-02-22T17:24:00.000-05:00

@Anon on feb 18:

WriteGoodMorning:
MOVLW 'G'
CALL PutChar
CALL WriteO
CALL WriteO
MOVLW 'd'
CALL PutChar
CALL WriteSpace
MOVLW 'm'
CALL PutChar
CALL WriteO
MOVLW 'r'
CALL PutChar
MOVLW 'n'
CALL PutChar
MOVLW 'i'
CALL PutChar
MOVLW 'n'
CALL PutChar
MOVLW 'g'
CALL PutChar
CALL WriteBang

...LOL wut?

@norm

I'm glad you caught that. It's a hom...

2008-02-22T12:29:00.000-05:00

@norm

I'm glad you caught that. It's a homage to the Turing Test, which was posed by the same Alan Turing as a general intelligence test. I like to think of the alarm clock as administering an intelligence test to make a distinctionion between awake and not awake.

If you get it working with the Si4701 or any other radio, please let me know! My problems were that (1) you run out of i/o lines on the PIC, and (2) you have to do level conversion, which I thought was a pain (radio must run at 3v3, lcd must run at 5v, pic could run at either).

came here through the best website in the whole wi...

2008-02-22T09:56:00.000-05:00

came here through the best website in the whole wide world.. hack-a-day..
great stuff.. i will go for this project.. i'll try to implement the radio IC you suggested, along with the mute button suggested by an hackaday member..
a question, did you call it a turing clock for homage to a turing machine? or is there some resemblance to a turing machine that i fail to see?

p.s.
go ahead and compliment daya on her beauty, for she deserves a compliment.. and hey, it might make her day.. :)

Just watch out - you will learn to do this in yo...

2008-02-21T18:40:00.000-05:00

Just watch out - you *will* learn to do this in your sleep if you keep it up, and you will become a terrible monster that we all fear.

You know I'd love to put this next to my wife's si...

2008-02-21T16:23:00.000-05:00

You know I'd love to put this next to my wife's side of the bed...She'd kill me in my sleep though.

Comments on cheaphack: The Turing Alarm Clock

Thanks a lot for sharing this amazing knowledge wi...

Very nice clock! I would like to create a similar ...

This is very nice post thanks for share with us.I ...

Thank you!

Is there any commercial production of this product...

How about software programmers write a program lik...

this absolutely rocks.

i would love to make it but i'm not sure i can, if...

Why not just put your alarm clock far from your be...

hey would u happen to have a design for a single l...

@nathanI hadn't thought of that! I guess ...

As I may have some wake up issues, I like this ala...

fuck yeah, dude, just linked to this from make. so...

@matt, anon -Assuming you have all the too...

@ matt True, happen to remember how much your ...

@0xadfThe problem with running such a thin...

hey, i was just wondering how much this would cost...

@anonymous, quoting my code:Yeah, this is ...

@Anon on feb 18:WriteGoodMorning: MOVL...

@normI'm glad you caught that. It's a hom...

came here through the best website in the whole wi...

Just watch out - you *will* learn to do this in yo...

You know I'd love to put this next to my wife's si...

@nathan

I hadn't thought of that! I guess ...

@matt, anon -

Assuming you have all the too...

@ matt
True, happen to remember how much your ...

@0xadf

The problem with running such a thin...

@anonymous, quoting my code:

Yeah, this is ...

@Anon on feb 18:

WriteGoodMorning:
MOVL...

@norm

I'm glad you caught that. It's a hom...

Just watch out - you will learn to do this in yo...