ClockTHREE completed!

My previous post on ClockTHREE, a while back, was about my first impressions. The work I did then, starting to assemble the clock, consisted in a lot of tedious soldering and did not require a lot of thinking and analysis. Yet, not surprisingly, the clock passed all the software tests.

Now that I received the long-awaited blue LEDs, standoffs and faceplates (thanks again Justin), I was able to finalize my ClockTHREE. And let me tell you something: this is the most under-rated Arduino-based project in the history of Arduino, seriously. I am just now impressed with the amount of work that went into this project, from designing the PCB, to writing the scripts to generate the faceplates, to developing the software/firmware. I did a few of my own and I know what goes into this kind of endeavors. ClockTHREE is one complex piece of engineering: electronics, mechanical structure, software.

Here are a few more observations:

• the top frame fits perfectly on top of the baffles (the inside baffles being a tad taller, to compensate for the thickness of the frame), holding them down and keeping them square (as shown in the next two photos);

Frame on top of the baffles:

• everything (top and bottom covers, faceplate, baffles and frame, board) is held solidly in place with just 6 sets of hardware (standoff, screws, washers);
• the software works impeccably right off the bat (I was going to set the RTC time using an older library, then I found the operating instructions);
• the software has quite a few features implemented already (e.g. setting the display color, few display modes etc);
• the visual aspect of the clock is as elegant as that of QlockTWO.

Justin and Anool did an impressive job on ClockTHREE. Come to mind Steve Wozniak's words: "I would have loved to have invented that".