Tired of a rough start to your day?

Autobotsunite introduces Bubblebot - your happy alarm clock.

As part of our Mechatronics Course at DTU, we were assigned to design and create an innovative alarm clock.

Please check out this video and our blog for more information about our project, design challenges, and much more!

Also, check out the instructions to learn how to make your own.

/Autobotsunite

So you want to build your own alarm clock?

Here's what you will need:

Materials

• Two 600x450x4 mm acrylic sheets
• One 3 mm transparent acrylic sheet
• A single 350x190x3 mm mdf sheet
• A lot of soap bubble blowers
• 8 Ø4x15 mm screws
• A strong glue

Hardware

• Arduino Mega 2560
• Dc motor 5v (should run at about 15 RPM)
• Blowing fan
• 6 Buttons
• LCD-display
• Switch (On/off)
• RTC
• Ø10 x 115 Metal shaft
• Power supply 12v 2a
• Relay
• Piezo element
• Diodes
• Breadboard
• Resistors
• A lot of wires

Software

Please use this Arduino code.
For proper wiring, use the above circuit diagram.

Build it

To build the alarm clock, follow these steps.

• Open the attached pdf-files and lasercut them. The living hinges should be cut on the mdf-sheets, and the rest of the components on the acrylic sheets. The basin should be cut on the thin transparent sheet, and the rest of the housing on the 4mm sheets. NOTE: The settings needed to cut the individual materials, depend on your lasercutter. You should always check the precice settings for the material BEFORE cutting, as the results greatly depend on these.

• Open the boblearm.stl file and print TWO of these on your 3D-printer. We suggest using light-medium-infill and a decent layer thickness. The overall robustness of this component is however not a huge concer, so if you are in a hurry, you can choose a high layer thickness without compromising the result too much.

• To put the housing together, start with gluing all the acrylic parts together (EXCEPT THE BACK AND TOP). To ensure the basin holds water, we suggest applying acetone on the inside. Once the glue is dry, you can apply the living hinges, by first gluing to one of the acrylic sides, wait for the glue to dry, then gently bent the hinge and glue it to the other acrylic part. Repeat this step for the remaining hinges. Check out the attached pictures for exact placement of components.

Now you're ready to install the electronics in the housing.

• First install the motor, by screwing it to the interior wall. Now mount the shaft on the motor by screwing it on.
• Add the arduinoboard, by also screwing it to the inteior wall
• Add the breadboard to the interior wall (most breadboards have double-adhesive on the back.
• Add the buttons and LCD to the side. We glued them on.
• Add the switch and screw it on.
• Screw the fan to the lasercut mount, and install in on the top side using glue.

Now you are ready to wire the whole thing. For this, please refer to the circuit diagram.

Finally you can upload the program to the arduino, and the alarm clock should be good to go!

We added some magnets to the backside of the cabinet, to ensure it stays on.

Happy prototyping!

/Autobotsunite