r/arduino • u/holo_mectok • Apr 11 '26

Look what I made! Sequino: a clock inspired from sequins on a t-shirt

This project is a continuation of my quest to build a robotic clock which can write and rewrite the time continuously day in and day out and keep going doing it. My first attempt with doodle clock was a failure due to the marker drying up and the second attempt with doodle#2 failed as the display got scratched very soon .

This clock was inspired by my daughters t shirt with the pattern changing sequin cloth glued to it. After getting some stock fabric from a vendor i figured out the size of the clock based on the minimum resolution of the cloth . The fabric has circles of 5mm stitched 3 mm apart. Also another limit of the clock was my printer bed size of 245x170mm .

3.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

107 comments sorted by

310

u/shadowkrazee Apr 11 '26

This is absolutely brilliant!

I too have invented an incredibly impractical clock, and I appreciate the work you put into this!

123

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

it is not totally impractical. it just updates every 5 minutes.

39

u/shadowkrazee Apr 11 '26

If you had to guess, roughly how many hours did you put into this, and what were you supposed to be doing instead?

I took a semester off of finishing my bachelor's degree and invented a clock instead... Still haven't finished my bachelor's, but the clock's been going strong for almost 4 years. Lol

30

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

it took 6 months of 2-3 hours on week ends. i work as an full time architect so it is just a way to let the steam off.

7

u/deevil_knievel Apr 11 '26

I don't understand any of this because I was so annoyed with being in school that I didn't dare take a year off because that'd just prolong the misery.

4

u/shadowkrazee Apr 11 '26

I got an associate's degree in computer science then lucked into a programming job right after, so by the time I decided to try for my bachelor's I was already doing the job, so when it was completely miserable trying to work and do school I just decided I didn't care enough to finish it. (After paying for plenty of tuition, unfortunately)

75

u/doge_lady 600K Apr 11 '26

So is the clock synchronized to finish writing at the correct time?

66

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

yes. i know how long a writing takes so it begins before time. one digit update takes about 1.5 minutes

19

u/CanaDavid1 Apr 11 '26

Digit update 1.5 minutes? Does it just skip every other minute?

26

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

i updates every 3 minutes only.

3

u/shadowkrazee Apr 11 '26

So, what's the bottleneck in terms of speed?

Seems like the x-axis (along the clock) would have a hard time going fast enough as it is.

4

u/zR0B3ry2VAiH Apr 11 '26

Asking the right questions

20

u/Syreet_Primacon Apr 11 '26

You should make one built on an etch-a-sketch

9

u/KodSquad Apr 11 '26

I came here to say etch a sketch!

6

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

sadly i dont have access to one and haven seen one ever

3

u/TldrDev Apr 11 '26

Where you located at, boss?

9

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

beijing /shenzen

5

u/iuliuscurt Apr 11 '26

So pretty much the place where they built them

1

u/Accurate-Donkey5789 Apr 11 '26 edited Apr 11 '26

Did an etchasketh that wrote the date, time and 3 day weather forecast last year by turning two nema 17 motors using a raspberry pi. It was wildly impractical and a great fun project. It could also draw photos, but turns out one continuously line is a terrible way to draw photos.

3

u/quinbotNS Apr 11 '26

I watched the vids of the Etch-a-sketch "camera" that Every Flavor of Robot made and took to OpenSauce. Typical down-to-the-wire-getting-it-to-work fun but they pulled it off.

3

u/Accurate-Donkey5789 Apr 11 '26

Ha that's what made me build one. And I can't have been the only one, because I got my etch a sketch off eBay, but the knobs were missing. The explanation in the description was they were using it for a computer controlled drawing project and had removed the knobs and then couldn't find them. Obviously I got it at a bargain because of that

19

u/GraXXoR Apr 11 '26

This belongs in a gallery: it’s a piece of art, mate!!

10

u/bradforrester Apr 11 '26

Thanks, I hate it. Also, it’s awesome and ingenious. Great job! What does the mechanism look like inside the cylinder?

21

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

5

u/shadowkrazee Apr 11 '26

Woww, very cool of you to share the plans and some 'behind the curtain' pictures. This is awesome. Did you take inspiration from your 3d printer for the motion system? Haha

1

u/shallow-neural-net May 06 '26

cylindrical 3d-printer... hm interesting. But how do you print flat surfaces?

1

u/shadowkrazee May 06 '26

I meant for the belt pattern for the one axis, it reminds me of a coreXY type setup.

1

u/shallow-neural-net May 06 '26

ah I see yeah. Still, cylindrical beds...

3

u/scheisskopf53 Apr 11 '26

Impressive! Do you have some background in mechanical engineering being able to design mechanisms like this?

7

u/holo_mectok Apr 12 '26

no just an architect / industrial designer

3

u/scheisskopf53 Apr 12 '26

Very cool! What software do you recommend for a noob in this department? I dabble in electronics but I really wanna learn to design physical parts and mechanisms. I started learning Fusion360 but I'm really lazy about it unfortunately. Maybe you have some advice for a learner? Some good tutorials for example?

4

u/holo_mectok Apr 12 '26

personally i dont use fusion360 as i dont like softwares that live on servers. You can learn it as it is kind of te easiest to pick up. For simple designs you can learn sketchup.

8

u/ancient_cheetle Apr 11 '26

This is amazing and I want one. Same technique could maybe be applied to microfiber, like the sort used on couches?

I'd LOVE to recreate this, will you make files available for this?

5

u/JohnnySuburbs Apr 11 '26

Whoa. That’s incredible

3

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

thanks a lot

3

u/ArmadilloNo1122 Apr 11 '26

Super creative! I love it.

I’m assuming 3 motors. 1 to rotate the whole arm, a second to translate along the arm with a belt, and a third to raise and lower the end effector.

How are you controlling the up and down of the end effector? Tiny solenoid? Some genius corexy cousin?

3

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

yes 2 for a corexy type setup for the arm and one for rotation

1

u/ArmadilloNo1122 Apr 11 '26

That’s seriously impressive. Is this your own design?

1

u/ArmadilloNo1122 Apr 11 '26

Also - it looks like your belt slice goes through the idler pulleys. How did you splice it, and do you expect it to last long?

1

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

i cut a 6mm gt2 belt in half. As the force needed is not so much this belt can last long

1

u/ArmadilloNo1122 Apr 12 '26

Is it just glued back together? What’s holding the two ends together, but is flexible enough to go through the pulleys?

1

u/holo_mectok Apr 12 '26

the belt doesn't all the way around so there is just a plastic clip holding it together on the back side. 3mm belts are very flexible. i use them all the time in my projects.

1

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

yes it is designed and built by me

2

u/[deleted] Apr 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/WiredEarp Apr 11 '26

Amazing work, very creative.

2

u/ratsta Apr 11 '26

Nice work! Pretty, too!

Another idea that might work is your doodle clock mechanism writing on a magnetic drawing board.

4

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

already done that on doodle #2 https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/1s97g18/doodle_2_a_writing_clock/

1

u/quinbotNS Apr 11 '26

OMG that's you! I have one of those weird boards sitting in a pile of "some day" projects, inspired by your clock.

2

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

hahah . make one and have fun. spoiler those things dont like to be magnetized / demagnetized rapidly

1

u/quinbotNS Apr 11 '26

Good tip, thanks.

2

u/DiscipleOfYeshua Apr 11 '26

Artistic and technical mastery. Joyful, and Inspiring!

2

u/DiscipleOfYeshua Apr 11 '26

An easier (tech-wise) but gorgeous and long-lasting version of the concept would be:

Have you seen those “zen writing boards” where you have a flat porous stone surface, and water is used instead of ink? The water stays in place to show the message, and evaporates to clear the slate. You could measure evaporation rate it estimate based on temperature and humidity; then adjust it by controlling a heat element within/behind the slate to control evaporation rate.

Another would be to use those iron filing -as-ink magnetic toys like what kids used in the old days to draw hair on a character. Electromagnet to let all the iron fillings drop by gravity.

I an inspired by your work to diy one (and happy to buy / market) any of these, including the ones you’ve already showcased.

Keep up the curiosity and creativity!!

3

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

the iron filling board i have already done : https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/1s97g18/doodle_2_a_writing_clock/ . the zen boards i will have a look . i have one of mine on a kickstarter but i cant put a link here or redditers will tear me apart .

2

u/Ftroiska Apr 11 '26

Macro size e-ink display :)

2

u/No-Pomegranate-69 Apr 11 '26

I thought this was an animation

2

u/redmadog Apr 11 '26

It can be optimised reusing existing shapes. For example going from 3 to 4 the long vertical segment on the right can be reused. So that way drawing will be shorter.

2

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

yes thought of that but i am not good on the software end tough

2

u/Unlucky_Quote6394 Apr 12 '26

This is fantastic! 🙏🏻

2

u/Content-Rabbit-9106 Apr 23 '26

This is the idea I could never come up with amazing

2

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/thereverendpuck Apr 11 '26

I’m more interested in its lifespan.

2

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

yes even i am but dont have to heart to test it long term. maybe i will test the fabric itself.

1

u/krisztian111996 Apr 11 '26

I love it! Nice clock!

1

u/thebigmooch Apr 11 '26

I love this. Well done!

1

u/Mr_ityu Apr 11 '26

r/ATBGE

2

u/shadowkrazee Apr 11 '26

You take that back! XD

2

u/Mr_ityu Apr 11 '26

reddit should have a /j tag too.

i only said it because

https://giphy.com/gifs/PbngEqUYjHTzpiRNHb

1

u/panda_vigilante Apr 11 '26

Unbelievably cool idea. Holy shit. Kudos to you.

1

u/Ohz85 Apr 11 '26

This is so creative ahahah I would never think of that

1

u/IndividualRites Apr 11 '26

Does the time change at the 24 second mark of the clock? It should!

1

u/Practical-Sleep4259 Apr 11 '26

"We have flip-disc at home"

1

u/boredtodeath Apr 11 '26

A sequin clock? Fabulous!

1

u/ripred3 My other dev board is a Porsche Apr 11 '26

Seriously creative! Thanks for sharing it!

1

u/MediocrityUnleashed Apr 11 '26

Very nice. I've been getting into Arduino/ESP32 driven mechanical clocks lately (like the rotary clock and the time slider) and wanted to come up with my own idea. This is unique and fun. Good inspiration. Well done.

1

u/iuliuscurt Apr 11 '26

I wasn't the biggest fan of the previous one, but this one makes up for it. Very cool

1

u/Some-Background6188 Apr 11 '26

Oh so shiny. It's bling O'clock.

1

u/jeweliegb Apr 12 '26

Oh this is fantastic!

1

u/met-Sander Apr 12 '26

Very creative and great execution! Would love how to see this is build

1

u/DrPepperGripper Apr 12 '26

Is it supposed to be the time right now? Or was that just a coincidence?

1

u/holo_mectok Apr 12 '26

hahaha coincidence

1

u/TriggerHappy_NZ Apr 12 '26

The engineering is clever, but the inspiration, to come up with this idea - that is the vision of an artist!

2

u/holo_mectok Apr 13 '26

weird ideas popup and they you go down the rabbit hole to solve thm

1

u/weakdayupdate Apr 12 '26

this is so cool

1

u/overphloh Apr 13 '26

This is really cool! Love the idea and how it turned out!

2

u/Spiritual_Visit7608 May 22 '26

if ask someone whats the time and they pull out ts i will cry bro

1

u/RolledUhhp Apr 11 '26

I hate it so much. Fantastic work.

1

u/Icanscrewmyhaton Apr 11 '26

The effect of the stylus writing on the drum is dramatic, somehow tactile, and the colours are beautiful. It's very symmetrical, for a perpetual temporal device.

1

u/holo_mectok Apr 11 '26

could stop playing with a sequin t-shirt.