Hi everyone, In this Instructable, I´ll show you how I built a Roman letter clock, that uses an 8 by 8 neopixel matrix. I just bought the ws2812b 8*8 led matrix for making an ordinary clock, but when I started the project I realised that I need a minimum of 5 led row for showing a single-digit. Because of this, I can only show either Hour digit or minute digit. This problem can be solved by using a 10*10 or 10*8 neopixel matrix but it is not commonly available. So I thought about some software solutions, the first solution came across my mind was that avoiding the hour digit but it's doesn't make sense, so I thought about showing hour digit in a different way that's a binary method but it may not understandable to everyone. Finally, I chose to show the hour digit in Roman letters and minute digit in ordinary digits. The clock is based on Arduino Nano and an RTC Module(DS1307) and it also consists of an hc05 Bluetooth module. And the clock is fully controlled by an android app created in the app-inventor. By using the app we can adjust the time set alarm, and we can show 8bit pixel emoji in the clock and some animation and also we can control the brightness of the led. In an upcoming update, I'll bring some texts in the clock and will also update the boring UI of my android app.

Step 1: Components

Electronic Components

Arduino pro mini
WS2812 8×8 64 LED Matrix
ds1307 RTC module
hc 05 Bluetooth module
TP4056 1A Li-Ion Lithium Battery Charging Module
Li- Ion Battery 3.7v/2000mah
General Purpose Dot PCB

Toolsand Utilities

Soldering iron,
Soldering Iron Stand,
Solder Wire,
Flux – Paste,
D-Solder Wire
Wire Stripper Cutter
Screwdriver
Hot glue gun
Fabric glue
A small box for the outer body
Black cotton fabric

Step 2: Circuit

The Arduino pro mini is the brain of the Circuit. The rtc module provides the Time and the Arduino process it and displays in the neopixel matrix. The hc05 is used for communication between the mobile phone and the clock using Bluetooth. A 5V buzzer is used in the circuit for making an alarm sound. The TP4056 module is used for charging the li-ion battery with protection. Connect the components using the circuit

Step 3: Arduino Code

Download the Arduino code. (i know the code is messy but it does the job😑)

final_detailed_31_3_2020.ino
Download

Step 4: Android App

The clock is fully controlled by an android app created in the app-inventor. By using the app we can adjust the time set alarm, and we can show 8bit pixel emoji in the clock and some animation and also we can control the brightness of the led. For downloading the app visit my Github profile or mail me