{"id":8929,"date":"2017-08-25T10:45:11","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T18:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2017\/08\/25\/news-2702\/"},"modified":"2017-08-25T10:45:11","modified_gmt":"2017-08-25T18:45:11","slug":"news-2702","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2017\/08\/25\/news-2702\/","title":{"rendered":"This DIY, Light-Up Wooden Watch Was Made as a Delightfully Over-the-Top Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Credit to Author: Claire Downs| Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2017 18:06:27 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

In college, most of us hope for a roommate who won’t pass out naked on the floor, cradling a box of Cap’n Crunch. We spend semesters praying that the amber-colored elixir on the windowsill is just old apple juice, and not fermented urine. So when Harvard undergrad Harnek Gulati told his roommates Molly and Andrew that he was making them something special, they probably weren’t expecting something as intricate as the wooden watch you see above. <\/p>\n

The aptly named Wooden Word Watch<\/a> is a water-resistant, walnut-encased timepiece that uses LEDs to display the time both digitally and written-out through its 3D-carved characters. An embedded ATxmega microcontroller connected to a clock controls the LEDs, creating a very cool DIY watch that feels both retro and futuristic. Gulati programmed his first prototype for Andrew and as a project for an engineering class. But when he found that the battery only lasted an hour, he improved upon his first design and built Molly a more sturdy Spanish-language version with what he claims will be a two-year battery life.<\/p>\n