Build a Multilingual Speaking Clock

As most clocks do, this clock too displays time and date, and it does so on a small TFT screen. However, this clock also announces the time & date at predefined moments or at the press of a pushbutton. Because the user must record his/her own time messages, the clock is truly multilingual (and, in fact, can say anything you like).

When the nodes that make up a distributed system need to share a precise timebase, a time-server may be used. In this project the time-server is the atomic clock of a GPS satellite. GPS receivers provide the time to every node, and each node synchronizes its internal millisecond clock to this time.

This speaking clock displays the time (hour and date) on a TFT screen and speaks them as vocal message at predefined times on a loud speaker.

This is a mini-NTP based on a ESP32. Time will be provided from the GPS receiver and a DS3231 if no GPS-signal is avaliable, to server time to your networkcleints.

The Internet has loads of information on the past, from prehistoric to recent, yet I do not know of a system or tool capable of compiling all this information into a virtual reality like Google Street View, that lets the user stroll around in the past. I'd like to enter a date & place and get a feel of what things looked and were at that specific time, not just by watching a few photographs, but by actually walking around. Can you help me?

Here is a project that nobody actually needs but that everybody will want to own. It is a gadget, a device that is often thought of as a novelty, and that crosses the boundary between functionality and frivolity. The What-Remains-of-the-Day Clock — actually it’s a Day Remaining Clock — fits this definition nicely as it aims to make people more aware of the passing of time during the day.

Time-to-digital converters (TDCs) measure short time intervals with great precision. They are widely used in ranging devices, in positron emission tomography (PET) medical scanners, and in automated test equipment. A new, faster TDC with better precision measures time intervals at a resolution of up to 10 ps with a sampling rate of up to 70 MHz.

Any frequency meter is only as accurate as its timebase. Unfortunately, a high-precision timebase is expensive which is why many commercial frequency meters a.k.a. counters use quartz crystal standards for this important task. Some of these meters have an external 10 MHz reference input that can be used to improve their precision. All you have to do is to devise and connect a high-precision 10 MHz signal and away you go. But how do you calibrate your high-precision reference? Errm…

This time we take a closer look not only at the software that makes it all work, but also at the maths that made this tool possible in the first place. We will first look at the software of both the microprocessor and the PC. Little by little some mathematical principles will be introduced to transform you in a digital signal processing expert.

Elektor's clock galary / museum. Which clock to you like most?  Sputnik Time Machine.