Modded Hard Drives Become Incredible LED Clocks

Strobeshnik Numeric Clock

Using the stroboscopic effect with LEDs and a spinning hard drive platter, this clock give the illusion of a persistant numeric display. The hard drive platter is all 10 digits, a colon, and dash marks cut through it. A PCB containing groups of diffused LEDs sies behind the platter on the HDD chassis. Each LED strobes independently and are timed to give the illusion of the still-standing numbers.

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Propeller Clock

A few years back, this stunning propeller clock was built by the modder “mb1988″. Housed in acrylic and powered by a hard drive motor, a PCV with mounted LEDs spins to give the illusion of a persistant image. Using the ATmega32 processor, 32 LEDs, four display driver, a real-time clock module and an optoelectic sensor to sync the display with the rotation speed, this clock is beautiful and runs nearly silent.

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Colorful RGB HDDClock

Done by the same modder as the Propeller Clock above, the RGB HDDClock takes it to another level. Because this type of HDD clock can only display solid lines of radii, it lacks the ability to display text; the resulting display, however, is far more colorful and stunning. Using a remote control, different animations, color schemes and clock modes can easily be toggled. The housing for the clock is also a work of art: custom molded and etched with original artwork.

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LED Hard Drive Clock

With a thin slot cut into the hard drive platter, at high speeds LEDs beneath the platter can be timed to give the illusion of clock hands or other patterns. This clock uses an 18″ strip that contains 30 tri-color LEDs, a PIC microcontroller (PIC18F252), and spins at 5400 RPM using 12V. The video below demonstrates some of the capabilities of the hardware and software that power this clock.

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