Ā Word Clock is a special type of clock where the current time is highlighted within a set of words that can tell any possible time. There are many projects for making such a clock with microcontrollers, and usually the most difficult part to make is the "display", which consists of a large number of LEDs, many connections and wires from the LEDs to the controllers, and finally the mechanical performance of the case.
This time I will present you a very simple way to make such an interesting clock, where a ready-made led matrix is used as a display. The code is taken from printables.com where you can also download .stl files for 3D printed layout of the letters, as well as parts for the complete case.Ā
Ā Ā (https://www.printables.com/en/model/270025-word-clock-based-on-led-matrix). Ā I made this part in a slightly different way, using a 3D printed grid and a paper mask that can be printed on a regular laser printer.
Ā
Ā
Ā
Ā
Ā
Ā
Ā
Ā
Ā In this particular case, I am using the housing from one of my previous projects, and you can follow its construction later in the video. Regarding the code, it is uploaded as-is, without any modifications, and the Wi-Fi credentials are entered later via the web interface.
Ā Now let's see how the device works:Ā
Ā When turning on clock for the first time, on the screen nothing appears, and now the device is in Access Point mode. Ā Now we need to connect via Wi-Fi to this access point that has SSID: "Clock Settings 192.168.4.1", and the password is: "thirdstroke". Ā Next, we need to point web browser to 192.168.4.1 and we will see a web interface where we can:
Ā Enter Ā wifi SSID
Ā Enter Ā wifi password
Ā Select our timezone
Ā Select the colour of the clock text
Ā Control whether the seconds are displayed on the clock
Ā Control whether the clock dims at night
Ā Customise the dimming and rebrightening times (in case it disturbes your sleep)
Ā Control whether animations are shown

Ā At the end we press "Save", and clock will reboot and use this settings. If we ever want to change these settings, we hold down the button for more than 5 seconds, which resets the device back into Access Point mode where we can access the web interface and change the settings. Ā Finally, let's conclude that this is a great project that can be made even by beginners because it contains very few components and does not require any tweaking or modification of the code.
