Strobeshnik hard drive clock displays time on its spinning platter

Posted by ketyung on Sun, Mar 7th, 10 at 10:00 am

We’ve seen quite a number of hard drive-made clocks, but nothing were as cool as the way that Strobeshnik hard drive clock shows time. The Strobeshnik clock was made using an old hard drive by modder Svofski. What makes this HDD clock unique is it displays time on its rapidly spinning platter.

The Strobeshnik hard drive uses stroboscopic effect, which makes the numbers to look like staying persistent on the spinning platter. The numbers were actually cut out on the platter, and there are some LEDs positioned beneath the platter.

A custom controller circuit is used to coordinate the rapidly blinking LEDs to illuminate precisely when the appropriate number window in the platter is lined up in the right location. The hard drive clock needs to spin up to the correct speed, when the motor is in phase with the lights, in order for the time to show. Watch the clip below on how it actually works and you can read more on the build log here.