Week 4 Progress Report

This week, a breadboard, wire, and IC logic gates were obtained and wiring for the clock display was begun.

A setback was run into when it was found that the university could only supply us with AND, NOR, NOT, and NAND gates. The initial logic was designed using AND, OR, and NOT gates, and the lack of OR gates proved tedious to overcome.

We began considering alternatives to the described system, such as using a combination of multiplexers, decoders, and digital flip-flops. If this system is implemented, then only 5 outputs will have to be used, instead of 12.

Week 3 Progress Report

This week, we began work on laying out the electrical diagram for our clock.

Several clock designs were proposed. One of the most interesting involved forming a dome or sphere from the ITO coated plastic; it involved forming a sphere based on Goode homolosine projections that possibly would be rotated by a motor, but this design was deemed complicated and inefficient. General concensus was that the clock would most likely be a flat sheet of ITO coated plastic, but the group would like the incorporate better aesthetics if possible during or after the clock's construction.

Week 2 Progress Report

This week, the clock design has been agreed upon. The design will consist of a piece of PDLCD with numbers etched into it. The clock will be made to display numbers as needed with an electric current.

The PDLCD will consist of three main elements. The ITO coated glass from KINTEC costs approximately $10 for a sheet of 4 in x 6 in [2]. The polymer will be Norland Optical Adhesive 65, which will cost about $17 for 10 grams [4]. The liquid crystal that will be used is Merck nematic LC mixture BL-E7. The price could not be found.

The controller that will be used will be an Arduino Uno R3, which will cost approximately $30, with an expected cost breakdown of $10 per person [3].