Week 3 - The Bell Striker (with updates)

Still in the build process with more updates. Last week I got the first prototypes printed but the printer on the ITP floor keeps making it semi-spaghtetti and adding more friction to the gear than necessary. So tomorrow after class/work I am heading to LaGuardia Print Studio for a consultation and get advice on what material to print it there since they have more options, which will hopefully be cleaner prints. Once those are done I'll be able to actually test the full assembly and figure out what else needs tweaking before I print again. In the meantime I've been working on the arduino code, right now the goal is just getting the motor to spin on the hour, then I'll dial in the spin range and strike timing once I can see how it can actually move the gears. I had a friend adjust the 3d model I got from thingiverse last week to add a "belt" over the rack and create more clearance for the rack to be attached to the arm.

Setting the RTC has also been its own puzzle. THe idea is that the DS3231 keeps accurate real-world time even when the board loses power, but actually syncing it to the exact time is harder than it sounds, by the time you write the code and upload it about 10 seconds have already passed, so you try to overestimate and then it runs fast, or you don't compensate enough and it falls behind. Still figuring this out.

Bill of Materials:

Mannequin arm

behllhop bell

Arduino nano

RTC DS3231

1/2 servo motors

1/2 9V battery pack

3D printed rack and pinion assembly

Thoughts on Readings

Both readings sort of connected to this project in a way I didn't expect. Boym talks about nostolgia (Greek word) isn't really about a place it's a long for a different kind of time, a slower rhythm. Which the inspiration for this clock for me was the bell tower clock in my dads village, before cellphones, so for me it is nostalgic of both place and time together.

Rovelli's whole argument is that time's direction only exists because of heat and irreversibility, things phsyically can't go backwards. And a bell strike is literally that, you can't unring it. Also Rovelli brings up that heat travels from hot to cold not cold to hot, and I have always corrected people when they say "close the door you're letting in all the cold air" really they are letting out all the hot air from inside out.