Open-Source Kit for VFD/Nixie Alarm Clock

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Hello - I am working on a design for an open-source hardware project to produce an Alarm Clock kit that could drive VFD (Vacuum-Fluorescent) displays or Nixie tubes.

There has been a great deal of activity in recent years with individual developers making clocks that drive Nixie or VFD tubes, with an amazing variety of designs and tube types.

Case in point: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=vfd+nixie+clock

Products such as the Arduinix Shield ( http://arduinix.com/ ) fill a need for developers who want to drive exotic displays from an Arduino.

Would anyone here be interested in an all-in-one kit that had all of the required components to support a variety of clock designs with a variety of hardware requirements?

Here is a wish list of requirements. I am currently working on a schematic. Let me know what you think:

Basic requirements:

• Based on ATMega168 (Possibly Arduino bootloader)

• Programmable by ISP or USB

• Accurate clock circuit based on DS107

• On-board Piezo when no external alarm is used

• First version can drive a variety of both Vacuum-Fluorescent using MAX6921

• Second version can be configured drive both VFDs or Nixies using 74141

• Possibly use a modular approach, with a separate daughter card for the display unit

PSU:

• 12v input

• 5 VDC for uC

• adjustable 6-12 VDC for electromechanical alarm actuator (solenoid)

• adjustable 1-5 VAC for VFD filament (required to drive larger VFDs may need filament driver chip)

• adjustable 15-180 VDC for VFD or Nixie grid/anodes

• 8 user interface inputs: buttons, sensors, rotary encoder, etc…

I/O:

• 2 user interface outputs (LED indicators, alarm, etc…)

• 0-12v external alarm output (to drive solenoid,

• 40 High-Voltage display outputs: (can be multiplexed to drive up to 200 elements in a 20x20 configuration)

Nice to have / Future incarnations:

• 12v Battery backup for up to 24hrs - includes charging circuit and auto switching in event of power failure

• Motion (or proximity) sensor to control fade-in / fade out of display to save power

• GPS interface for automatic time (and time zone) setting

• Ethernet / WiFi interface

• Automatically download alerts (E-mail, Twitter, facebook, Google Calendar, etc…)

• iPod support

• 120V switchable outlet (turn a light on instead of alarm)

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Might be interesting. I just got a notice that some of my VFD tubes have arrived at the post office. Likely the IV-18s as those shipped first. I’m probably going to go with the PIC32 though, just because I like the programming better for it and it has an RTCC I have yet to play with.

I thought it would be kinda cool to use those nixie bargraph tubes to make an analog clock, but I’d be into it close to $200 for the tubes alone. Little much.

I’m curious, what are you planning to use for the driver and multiplexing for more outputs?

Have you found a decently cheap way to talk to a network? I looked into ethernet and wireless (802.11g) but the hobby friendly stuff is expensive. I thought about using the USB host on the PIC32 with some hardware with open specs like Atheros, but that’s a LOT of custom driver work.

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I’m curious, what are you planning to use for the driver and multiplexing for more outputs?

If the kit is VFD-only, which it might have to be for simplicity, I would likely use the MAX6921 http://datasheets.maxim-ic.com/en/ds/MA … AX6931.pdf

For a kit that supports Nixies, I would use the 74141 http://www.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-p … 74141.html

The Arduinix project ( http://arduinix.com/ ) uses the 74141 driver and claims that it can be used for VFDs but I have not seen any working examples of this yet, so I am not sure it would be practical to make one board for both VFDs and nixies, as they have different voltage requirements.

Using two 6921’s would give you up to 400 outputs in a 20x20 configuration.

My plan would be to use two chips and multiplex them. Using two 74141’s would give you up to 100 outputs in a 10x10 configuration.

I would likely make the first version of the kit VFD-only, as the parts are easier to source for the driver and the tubes.

Have you found a decently cheap way to talk to a network? I looked into ethernet and wireless (802.11g) but the hobby friendly stuff is expensive. I thought about using the USB host on the PIC32 with some hardware with open specs like Atheros, but that’s a LOT of custom driver work.

I haven’t done this myself but there is a clock here that pulls through ethernet for an NTP-based clock:

http://tuxgraphics.org/electronics/2007 … #0lfindex4