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Tower Clock code now on GitHub
06/27/2021 at 22:23 • 0 commentsI just uploaded software: custom firmware for closed loop stepper motors - see https://github.com/flyingdogsoftware/TowerClock
and Tower Clock Wifi for ESP-01 - see
https://github.com/flyingdogsoftware/Tower-Clock-Wifi
I will upload STL files soon on Thingiverse.
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NTP Bug fixed
06/23/2021 at 23:53 • 0 commentsWith the help of the developer of the great NTP library (https://github.com/sstaub/NTP) I could rewrite NTP part so it works fine now. I will upload project files soon.
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Real life test!
05/16/2021 at 22:48 • 0 commentsThe clock is running now for around two weeks in real life scenario meaning mounted in clock hole of house and clock hands are ouside.
It runs smoothly - nearly perfect - but with one huge issue: at midnight it changes the time and goes back one hour. This happens only at first day midnight after power on and next days it still has got same time difference of -1 hour unchanged.
I first thought it is a mechanical problem but it is not! So the NTP time goes wrong from midnight. I can see NTP time on display and in web interface. It is a software issue only.
So I decided to put same software version on another ESP-01 just for testing. And now for around a week no issue there. Time is perfect no jumping back once. Crazy!
I also gave code to two other software developers and they could not find the bug which might be in NTP library I am using: https://github.com/sstaub/NTP
So what are the differences now:
- asking once a minute for time triggered from serial and doing ntp.update(); it loses one hour at first midnight
- asking once a second for time it should work. If have not tested it but it is the example from NTP lib
- just running and asking for time only a few times a day it is also working (separate ESP)
So I cannot make a ticket for that library on Github because in test it just works and it would be impossible to reproduce for anybody else.
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Finished!
05/02/2021 at 14:38 • 0 commentsI am glad to announce that I have finished modification for external sensor and already made internal tests. So everything works fine now!
On image there is new magnetic encoder at 1) and there is also magnet on hour axes at 2).
Next step would be longer tests in reallife - put it in orginal location where it belongs in front fasade of house.
I also want to start uploading files later - first source code on GitHub.
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Status update
04/26/2021 at 00:09 • 0 commentsAfter finished first version I ran into two problems:
- minute hand was not working at all
- hours got wrong offset after each turnaround
1. solution was just a parameter in firmware - took me some time and was just a bug in orginal firmware I got this from - now it works fine.
2. each diameter of each pulley is slightly different so it adds an error for each turnaround but the solution is also not difficult: add magnetic encoder at hour hand
For magnetic encoder I need little changes in CAD design. But using Fusion 360 is a huge mess. It is full of strange bugs. It is software with most bugs I know and my construction is not very difficult. A very frustrating experience! So I decided do give Shapr a try and this looks much better and is more intuitive. But I have to learn new concepts and I have to make whole CAD design in Shapr again. So this takes some time now but I hope to finish everything this week.
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Firmware finished!
04/05/2021 at 14:01 • 0 commentsFirst version of firmware is finished. Some options in menu would be nice but using web interface it is fully functional. IP address is also shown now.
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Crazy mode!
04/05/2021 at 12:47 • 0 commentsBig news:
- some bugs are fixed and code is almost finished and ready to publish to GitHub. Just need to show IP address on OLED - this is still missing
- Crazy mode now implemented! So clock hands are move to random location in random direction.
- Testing of mechanics looks fine so far. no issues on latest version.