Reversed Time Progress Bar Wall Clock

We aimed to create a visual way to track the passage of a day, showing how much time has passed and how much remains. Imagine a wall-mounted bar in your workspace that displays your remaining "glass of time" for the day. This visual cue can boost productivity by highlighting the time left.

This guide will help you create a unique wall clock named "Reversed Time Progress Bar". Designed like a progress bar, this clock uses LEDs to display the passing of time backward, encouraging productivity by visually representing how much time remains in the day.

ESP32-WROVER microcontroller

58-LED strip with WS2812B chip

3D printer and transparent white PLA filament

Soldering kit

Wires and connectors

1. Design the clock case in Fusion 360, ensuring it fits within your 3D printer's build volume.
2. Print the case in parts using a Prusa MK3 3D printer with transparent white PLA filament.
3. Assemble the printed parts into a single clock case.

We added a row for mounting the top cap and created space at the bottom for the circuits and plug. The modular design allows each section to fit into the next, making the frame expandable or reducible.

We initially considered shaded glass or plexiglass but anticipated rattling issues. Instead, we designed an integrated body and cap with a hashed front view and printed it using white transparent filament.

1. Insert the LED strip into the clock case.
2. Pass the wires through the holes to the back of the clock.
3. Solder the wires to the ESP32 microcontroller.

Initially, we considered discrete LEDs, but this limited design options. Instead, we found a WS2812B LED strip on Amazon, controllable with a data wire and two power wires.

For power, we used a 5V 2A Apple adapter and a microUSB2 cable. We powered the LED strip directly from the development board, though a future upgrade could include a voltage regulator for consistency with different LED lengths.

1. Connect the ESP32 to your computer and open the Arduino IDE.
2. Install necessary libraries: Adafruit_NeoPixel and WiFi.
3. Upload the provided Arduino code to the ESP32.
4. The code connects to WiFi, fetches the current time from an NTP server, and updates the LED strip each second.

1. Secure the ESP32 and wires inside the clock case.
2. Close the case and ensure all components are fixed securely.