Arduino operated Leonardo Da Vinci Clock

Question

I assembled this Leonardo Da Vinci Clocks: I would like to use Arduino to operate the levers. I'm a beginner, so any tips on how I can do that and set it to keep fairly accurate time?

beacon_dave · Answer

Looking at the clock plans in the photos on Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Academy-18150-da-Vinci-Clock/dp/B00I38PCKE

it looks like you have a few options depending on your end goals.

Replace the long cord gravity weight cord with a belt loop and drive it from a motor.
Replace the long cord gravity weight cord with a fixed dummy cord for aesthetics and attach a motor to the vertical pendulum drive shaft.
Disengage the gear train and drive the hands directly from servo motors. You can then use a real time clock or time signal to position the clock hands and keep accurate time.

You could also think about adding sensors to provide feedback of rotation speed or gear positions to help keep better time. With it being an open frame design, then one of the challenges might be in keeping the aesthetics looking clean.

phoenixcomm · Answer

gaedel1 this begs the question do you want it to keep real-time that is on a second? Drive a Stepper Moter from the Arduino. Now for time? you could call time() on a Linux system which is in milliseconds from the epoch. better yet grab a network shield and then you can use the NTP (Network Time Protocol) which you can grab for free. then all you have to do is watch for the second and run the stepper motor.

~~Cris

Arduino operated Leonardo Da Vinci Clock

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