Art Engineering - Dave Bruckenstein


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Artwork Engineering

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David Bruckenstein
"Lukie" Clock
July 2021

This is the eighth collaborative clock project that Dave and I have completed. It is named after Dave's beloved dog Lukie who died while we were making this piece. The original idea began with some kind of vertical moving components that would display time. In my research I discovered these linear actuators that I found to be intrinsically beautiful. In earlier design concepts, they would have been hidden inside a base or pedestal, but when we both saw them, it became clear that they should be visible. Once we decided to use these, the design fell together fairly quickly. One original concept was to have large shiny ball bearings that would roll up and down the outside of the case that would be held in place by powerful magnets on the moving component. We eventually decided to simplify it down to arrows that point to a scale that is essentially a 12 inch ruler.

Time is interpreted by looking at the two arrows that are pointing to the scale in the center that represents hours and minutes. The left-hand pointer represents hours and the right hand one indicates minutes. Both arrows start at the top at 12 AM or p.m. and move down as time progresses. At 12 PM the clock does a performance where both arrows move all the way down to the bottom making a subtle whining sound that is typical of stepper motors. Then they move all the way to the top, and finally each one moves down to the actual time positions. I actually programmed speeds of the motors to create interesting sounds as they move.

This clock is in constant but subtle motion as the motor on the right moves in very small increments every minute. Then when the minutes pointer has reached the bottom, it moves all the way up to the top and the hour pointer on the left moves down 1" to the next hour.

Shown at right are all of the functioning components of this clock. There are two linear actuators driven by stepper motors that are secured to each other with a top and the bottom plate.

I was able to use largely off-the-shelf parts that include a DC power supply and two stepper motor controllers. I had to build a small control board shown on the right that includes the microcontroller in real time clock circuitry. all the parts are mounted to an aluminum plate that gets mounted to the bottom of the wood case.

We brought in my friend John Rogers to make the wood base from walnut. Then I mounted all of the parts to it including the button you press to trigger a motorized performance which also serves to re-index and home the two stepper motors.

I mounted two small gray buttons on the back that are used to set the hours and minutes. the electronics include a real-time clock that remembers the time even if the clock were to be unplugged for several days or months.

Visible at the bottom of the mechanism are two small switches. These are used to sense the bottom position of the lead screws. Stepper motors always require some kind of home/index position in order to determine relative positions from there.

After completing each piece, I get to keep it for a week or so to enjoy before I send it down to Dave in North Carolina. I particularly enjoyed having this clock around because of all of the fun little sounds and movements that it makes.

Visit Dave's web site:
DAB's Clocks

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This is the eighth collaborative clock project that Dave and I have completed. It is named after Dave's beloved dog Lukie who died while we were making this piece. The original idea began with some kind of vertical moving components that would display time. In my research I discovered these linear actuators that I found to be intrinsically beautiful. In earlier design concepts, they would have been hidden inside a base or pedestal, but when we both saw them, it became clear that they should be visible. Once we decided to use these, the design fell together fairly quickly. One original concept was to have large shiny ball bearings that would roll up and down the outside of the case that would be held in place by powerful magnets on the moving component. We eventually decided to simplify it down to arrows that point to a scale that is essentially a 12 inch ruler. Time is interpreted by looking at the two arrows that are pointing to the scale in the center that represents hours and minutes. The left-hand pointer represents hours and the right hand one indicates minutes. Both arrows start at the top at 12 AM or p.m. and move down as time progresses. At 12 PM the clock does a performance where both arrows move all the way down to the bottom making a subtle whining sound that is typical of stepper motors. Then they move all the way to the top, and finally each one moves down to the actual time positions. I actually programmed speeds of the motors to create interesting sounds as they move. This clock is in constant but subtle motion as the motor on the right moves in very small increments every minute. Then when the minutes pointer has reached the bottom, it moves all the way up to the top and the hour pointer on the left moves down 1" to the next hour.
Shown at right are all of the functioning components of this clock. There are two linear actuators driven by stepper motors that are secured to each other with a top and the bottom plate.
I was able to use largely off-the-shelf parts that include a DC power supply and two stepper motor controllers. I had to build a small control board shown on the right that includes the microcontroller in real time clock circuitry. all the parts are mounted to an aluminum plate that gets mounted to the bottom of the wood case.
We brought in my friend John Rogers to make the wood base from walnut. Then I mounted all of the parts to it including the button you press to trigger a motorized performance which also serves to re-index and home the two stepper motors.
I mounted two small gray buttons on the back that are used to set the hours and minutes. the electronics include a real-time clock that remembers the time even if the clock were to be unplugged for several days or months. Visible at the bottom of the mechanism are two small switches. These are used to sense the bottom position of the lead screws. Stepper motors always require some kind of home/index position in order to determine relative positions from there.

After completing each piece, I get to keep it for a week or so to enjoy before I send it down to Dave in North Carolina. I particularly enjoyed having this clock around because of all of the fun little sounds and movements that it makes.