Budget RBG Word Clock

This project includes the CAD files for my Budget RGB Word Clock.
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updated January 29, 2025

Description

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This thing includes the CAD files for my Budget RGB Word Clock.

A full guide on how to build this project can be found on instructables at the link below.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Budget-Arduino-RGB-Word-Clock/

 

BOM

 

The Bill of Materials (BOM) for this project should come to £13.21 for 1 complete word clocks.

 

Guide

 

The enclosure angled the clock at 10° to give it a better viewing angle. The letter layout has to be slightly larger than the Adafruit version as the 8x8 RGB LED matrix I chose to use is roughly 64 mm x 64 mm instead of the 60 mm x 60 mm of the Adafruit NeoMatrix.

The enclosure has 6 parts,

  1. Front Panel - This has the letters positioned in-front of the LED Matrix.
  2. Mid Panel (Angled) - This hold the matrix in place as well as connecting to the Front Panel & Back Panel. This section is at a 10°.
  3. Back Panel (Angled) - This panel houses the power adaptor and connects to the middle panel.
  4. Power Adaptor Lock - This is a small part that holds the adaptor in place.
  5. Divider Grid - This is used to help isolate the light from each LED, reducing the light bleed into adjacent letters.
  6. LED Diffuser - This is a clear PLA part that helps blend the RGB leds light, this also helps the intelligibility of the letters (Note that you will need to print 64 of this part, one for each LED of the matrix).

The whole enclosure is mounted together using the M3 35mm & M3 15mm screws.

 

Getting Arduino IDE

For this project you will first need the Arduino IDE which can be download here - Link

 

Getting the Code Base

This projects the code has been put made by Adafruit and can be found on GIT Hub here - Link

For anyone who has not used GIT Hub before, its really simple! To get the code downloaded and into the Arduino IDE follow these steps.

  1. Click the Link to the GIT Repo
  2. Click on the 'Clone or download' button (Green) then select Download ZIP
  3. Extract the downloaded ZIP somewhere
  4. Open the Arduino IDE
  5. In the Arduino IDE go to File Open
  6. Then navigate to the WordClock_NeoMatrix8x8.ino found in the unzipped folder (Example Directory - C:\Users\xxxxxx\WordClock-NeoMatrix8x8-master\WordClock-NeoMatrix8x8-master\WordClock_NeoMatrix8x8.ino)

Now you have opened the code!

 

Making the Modification to the Code

We then need to make a very minor modification to the code Adafruit provided as we are using a different micro controller to the original project.

In the WordClock_NeoMatrix8x8.ino we want to modify some of the //define pins,

We need to change RTCGND to A4 & RTCPWR to A5 this tells the code where the SDA & SCL connections are on the Arduino Nano.

We will also need to change NEOPIN to D3 so that it knows where the 8x8 RBG Matrix Din is connected.

If you are not certain you did this correctly, you can download the attached Modified WordClock_NeoMatrix8x8.ino and replace the one in your directory.

 

Getting the Required Library's

Finally before programming you will need to download all the required Library's,

Adafruit has included links to all of these in the comments of the

Or you can click them here,

  1. RTClib https://github.com/adafruit/RTClib
  2. DST_RTC https://github.com/andydoro/DST_RTC
  3. Adafruit_GFX https://github.com/andydoro/DST_RTC
  4. Adafruit_NeoPixel https://github.com/andydoro/DST_RTC
  5. Adafruit_NeoMatrix https://github.com/andydoro/DST_RTC

For anyone who has not installed Arduino IDE Library's before follow these steps,

  1. All of the links above are to GIT Hub repositories, you will need to click the 'Clone or download' button
  2. Select download ZIP
  3. Now open up the Arduino IDE
  4. Click on the 'Sketch' tab on the top menu
  5. Hover over Include Library, then select 'Add.ZIP Library...'
  6. Navigate to the location you download the .ZIP library to and select it
  7. Now the Library has been installed, you will need to repeat these steps for each of the 5 Library's linked above.

Programming the Arduino Nano

Now the IDE environment is ready and its time for you to program the Arduino Nano!

Ensure that the Arduino IDE has been setup to compile for the Arduino Nano board, to verify this,

  1. Click on the 'Tools' tab
  2. Hover over the 'Boards: ' option and select the "Arduino Nano"
  3. Plug the Arduino Nano into your PC & select the correct COM Port

Once the above steps have been followed you can press the upload button to program the Arduno Nano!

 

Guide

Now that you have the 3D parts, Code & Electronics ready its time to assemble the word clock.

  1. Place the Standard Front flat on a desk and insert the 64 LED Diffusers.
  2. Ensure that all the diffusers have been inserted flat.
  3. Place the Divider Grid into the Standard Front Assembly.
  4. Prepare the electronics discussed on the previous step.
  5. Place the Angled Back Flat on the desk
  6. Insert the USB charger Module into the slot in Angled Back part
  7. Ensure that the USB Port is aligned through the rear cut-out on Angled Back
  8. Place Angled Mid over the electronics and align with Angled Back, then insert the electronics
  9. Place the LED matrix over the electronics, the panel should align on the Angled Mids slots.
  10. Place the Angled assembly onto the Standard Front and insert the M3 35mm screws
  11. Tighten the screws and place the 4 rubber feet on the base
  12. Congratulations you have completed the assembly, time to power it up see the time!

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The author marked this model as their own original creation.

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