I now have a prototype in use at the bedside for beta-testing. The components are not all inside the clock itself – there is a box below with the main circuit on a breadboard, which is connected to the clock case with a ribbon cable – this allows me to make adjustments as I go without having to make a PCB.

The clock isn’t working perfectly, but it is waking me up in the morning. A few things I have noticed:

• The clock occasionally  “crashes” when adjusting the alarm time – some programming glitches remain to be worked out
• The display is way too bright, even with the tinted glass. Adjustable or  automatic dimming will definitely need to be an option.
• The doorbell mechanism for the alarm is way to metallic sounding
• The interval for the alarm is set so that the alarm goes off once every 30 seconds. With the doorbell mechanism I am currently using, this is really annoying. This will definitely need to be an adjustable setting.

Nice.

If you’ve stumbled upon this, please take a moment to fill out this survey about Alarm Clocks – and add your contact info if you are interested in participating in development through future surveys, focus-groups, beta-testing, etc…

http://magneticcreative.ca/machform/view.php?id=23