JP Nixie Clock

prusaprinters

<p>Here is my nixie clock :</p> <p>6x IN14 russian tubes<br/> 6x Neopixels Leds<br/> 2x HV5530 high Voltage drivers<br/> 1x 210V High Voltage step up power supply<br/> 1x 5V step down power supply<br/> 1x ESP32 microcontroller<br/> 1x radar sensor<br/> 1x light sensor<br/> 1x (option) temperature + pression sensor<br/> 2x home made pcbs</p> <p>And one Android application speaking to the ESP32 with Bluetooth Low Energy</p> <p>Just add a piece of wood (from Vietnam :)) a CNC mill, a 3D printer (for spacers and leds' light under the tubes), one lathe (for aluminium rings) and a lot of hours.</p> <p>see it in action here : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I_mB28OVZ8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I\_mB28OVZ8</a></p> <h3> How I Designed This</h3> <p><strong>Hardware</strong></p> <p><div><p>The heart of the system is an ESP32 MCU. It drives the 2 HV5530 drivers.<br/> These drivers are powered by a 210 V DC step up converter. I bought this Power supply here : <a href="https://vfdclock.jimdo.com/2015/07/18/openhardware-10w-mc34063-based-high-voltage-power-supply-module-high-efficiency-small-size/"></a><a href="https://vfdclock.jimdo.com/2015/07/18/openhardware-10w-mc34063-based-high-voltage-power-supply-module-high-efficiency-small-size/">https://vfdclock.jimdo.com/2015/07/18/openhardware-10w-mc34063-based-high-voltage-power-supply-module-high-efficiency-small-size/</a></p> <p>The main DC voltage being 12V DC.<br/> 5V is needed to power the ESP32. A tiny step down converter is added.</p> <p>6x Neopixels Leds are used to produce light effects</p> <p>radar sensor allows to switch off the nixies when nobody is there (7m meters motion detection)<br/> light sensor allows to dim the nixies.</p> <p>the two boards are single sided and mounted one above the other to let the LEDs light penetrate the bottom of the nixies tubes.</p> <p>The nixies are directily soldered on the top pcb.</p> <p>The radar is mounted on the side, facing the clock.</p> <p>A wooden box is milled to cover the electronics. Absolutely no buttons is visible nor needed as the interface with the Android App is done via Bluetooth low energy.<br/> Using BLE allows to avoid pairing between the clock and the phone.. Everything is "no plug and play" :-)</p> <p><strong>first tests of the electronics, not yet finished at this stage !</strong></p> <p><strong>Milling the box</strong></p> </div></p> Category: Electronics