NeoPixel rings

        This adorable wall clock from [Alf Muller] uses two NeoPixel rings to mark the time by illuminating the 3D printed rings. The minutes are shown in blue, and the grid inside the ring makes them more discrete. Green shows the time. [Alf] provides code to change the color scheme. It would be interesting to add seconds using a red LED or maybe a countdown triggered by a touch sensor…
        The watch consists of two Adafruit Neopixel rings, each equipped with 60 LEDs. They are mounted on a 3D printed shield that directs and softens the light, creating an element of time. This is all controlled by an ESP8266 controller that runs a program that gets the time from an NTP server and converts it into LEDs. The code is provided and [Alf] has documented it well so you can easily change the time zone, colors or other elements.
        Beautiful, similar to the light I made using wled and my own 3D printed design for the fixed LEDs (60 strips in total emitting light outwards), with wled you get a clock, wake up lights, IoT triggers, your own preset palette/effects /speed. combinations and tons of animation effects, dmx and a bunch of other protocols iirc.
        Unfortunately not, but WLED is a big project that Aircookie has been working on for many years. You can download the source code/binaries here: https://github.com/Aircookie/WLED. There is also an application for Android or you. The same functionality can be achieved by direct access via an IP address or whatever name you specify for your wled installation.
        WLED also has an active discord, the source code is updated regularly, and a huge wiki on github. There could also be a subreddit.
       I had to double check this because I think it was a project I wrote earlier this year.
        Cool project, I like the lack of numbers. I did something similar, but used raw time -> tone map to try and explore a new way of looking at time. Video here: https://youtube.com/shorts/SHXEvDRevZ8
        Some thoughts: I set my binary clock to a lower brightness between 19:00 and 7:00, but this can easily be done automatically. You can change colors via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. It seems like WLED is a one way path with ESP32, I tried using one and then using something else and it blocked it.
        Doesn’t esp32 use QuadSPI flash for programming? So, worst case scenario, you can always remove the 8-pin IC, erase it using an external USB flash programmer, and re-solder. But I’m surprised the hardcoded bootloader doesn’t have a simpler recovery mode built into it like pico, so you can really only softlock it and still be able to recover.
        Honestly I’m not sure I understand how you can lock esp32 with wled, if the wifi credentials are compromised then it’s an OTA update with its own hotspot and it doesn’t write to flash all the time. In the worst case, it will simply need to be plugged back into some type of computer to be flashed via the USB serial port. I’m not saying it’s impossible, just trying to figure out how it would break if it did.
       I have a mixed setup of 5 esp32/8266 WLEDs that have been in use for many years and each one works very well.
        With no intention of offending [Mueller] or anyone else who worked on the various versions of the watch, it is strange that the RBG ring has received so little attention. , only occasionally using a compass and a lot of watches.
        I myself suffer from pain when I draw emptiness, but I feel like there are some ideas just sitting at the edge of my mind that I cannot crystallize. Maybe I should make it a “busy mind” shaker and put it in front of me It might be nice to make a “busy mind” shaker that starts when you start typing and ends when you press Enter. You can stick it on the back of your laptop or something.
       The two LED rings are perfectly positioned for use as a clock: there are 12 LED rings and 60 LED rings, so it’s no surprise that many clocks are made from them.
        Of course there are other rings, and I briefly thought about a compass, but it’s not that useful. Think about it: a ring of 8 or 16 LEDs would do, telling you the wind/rain direction via weather app updates, or working with a magnetometer to tell you which way it’s facing.
        My family room looks like a Christmas tree at night with all the LEDs, modems, routers, computers, TVs, stereos, phones. It’s hard to sleep on the sofa. There is no need for another light source.
        Before reading the review, I also had no idea what time was on this watch. I prefer a simple dial with numbers, if it has one, it needs to be darkened at night.
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