The Morning Monster is a plush electronic alarm clock. He has all of the normal alarm functions, set time, set alarm, snooze, etc. However, what makes him a monster is his ability to shine the sun on your face when the alarm goes off by opening the blinds. The blinds are also manually controlled my moving his left arm up and down and he will never over-crank them!
The code implements Rob Faludi’s open source Arduino clock project, and he made a post on his blog.
The video gives an explanation and demonstration of how it works.
Morning Monster from Nick Hardeman on Vimeo.
June 3, 2009 at 8:29 pm
I adore this project! I just blogged about it on fashioningtech.com.
June 11, 2009 at 10:41 am
Dude. Awesome. Exactly up POKE’s alley. Have you seen our BakerTweet? http://www.bakertweet.com
June 14, 2009 at 3:10 am
Really funny and cool idea, The arduino does not get enough cred…
June 17, 2009 at 12:55 pm
neat project:)
is the sourcecode available somewhere?
June 24, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Since this is based on open source code, how about showing us your routines you used for the alarm part please?
July 2, 2009 at 5:22 pm
@Glasshopper: The base of the clock routine was the open source clock project by rob faludi
http://7in7.tumblr.com/post/38066438/open-source-arduino-clock-project
July 4, 2009 at 10:58 pm
[quote]
@Glasshopper: The base of the clock routine was the open source clock project by rob faludi
http://7in7.tumblr.com/post/38066438/open-source-arduino-clock-project
[/quote]
Yes sir, I understand that but can Iwe see your alarm routine , please?
That one does not have alarm events.
October 26, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Does the clock run accurately?
October 28, 2009 at 6:42 pm
@ Al. Right now I do not have the clock running, I am not sure what happens when the time on the Arduino exceeds the max amount of memory that can be held by an int, if in fact does, or maybe it resets itself to zero. I used Rob Faludi’s code from his blog post at http://www.faludi.com/code/open-source-arduino-clock/
November 25, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Awesome project Nick!
I was thinking about something similar as I would love my blinds to open automatically when I wake up!
What did you use for the blinds controller? XBee and another Arduino with a motor?
February 1, 2010 at 6:06 am
Could you share the LCD code, your implementation looks really neat and I don’t know how you displayed that on a 16×2 LCD?
February 8, 2010 at 12:02 pm
@Glasshopper Not sure if you are still interested, but I am posting the source for download, located in the link above, in the post.
@Jess That custom character, and printing to the LCD screen is from this arduino forum post http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1235524565/0
@sweet Sorry for the long delay. For this project I am using the RF transmitter + receiver found here.
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=RF+Transmitter+315&x=0&y=0&search_section=products
Make sure that they have the same frequency. I believe I used 2400 bps at 315MHz.
August 2, 2010 at 6:38 am
This monster alarm clock project is cool. Makes you feel good every morning. That is if you don’t have a hangover. Lol
August 18, 2010 at 3:22 am
I love it! Its creative. I also somehow feel I would absolutely hate it….lol
August 20, 2010 at 4:06 pm
This is awsome is the morning monster for sale?
August 24, 2010 at 9:03 pm
🙁 Sorry, this was just a prototype.
September 15, 2010 at 5:16 am
Hi! May I ask for the schematic of your circuit, we want to duplicate your project.
Thanks
September 20, 2010 at 8:19 pm
@James, sorry I am a hack when it comes to electronics. I don’t even know how to make a proper circuit. I can send you more detailed pics of the monster’s guts if you like. 🙂
September 24, 2010 at 7:59 am
hello, i am new to arduino and it’s uses.. could you please tell me how much this project would cost me if i would build one like this.. i mean over all cost.. =]
thank you.. it would mean a lot..
September 25, 2010 at 4:01 pm
@Mark Anthony
This is a quick list, you can find the parts even cheaper. This is not the exact list of parts for the project, but could be made with the following. Sorry if I forget to list a part. This list does not include the materials to make the fabric body or the internal skeleton for the monster (both were cheap and varies on your monster type).
You could find the parts much cheaper, I just did a quick google search for each. But I think the minimum spent on this project is ~ $85.
Total for parts listed below : ~$126 (not including shipping)
Arduino Duemilanove – $30 – http://bit.ly/aI8KUN
( you can make you own arduino for about $8 and some more work. More info here http://hackduino.org/)
Flex Sensor – $13 – http://bit.ly/9IFqmD
Push On-Push Off Switch – ~$3 – http://bit.ly/cHUUzN
SPDT Switch Without Roller (4) – ~$3 each – http://bit.ly/94LNmT
Serial Enabled 16×2 LCD 5V – $25 – http://bit.ly/bvCZ0W
Piezo Buzzer – $2 – http://bit.ly/bKt7lm
RF Link Transmitter – 315MHz – $4 – http://bit.ly/9Qhe7Q
RF Link 2400bps Receiver – 315MHz – $5 – http://bit.ly/bRiQe1
12 V DC Power Supply – ~$10
12V Stepper Motor – ~$15 – http://bit.ly/9CknEZ (I can’t remember if it is bipolar or unipolar)
L293D Dual H-bridge – ~$3 – http://bit.ly/cRWBef (tutorial: http://bit.ly/b5PD7A)
Project Box – ~$4 – http://bit.ly/aG2Zbi
September 26, 2010 at 6:56 am
thanks a lot Nick.
October 8, 2010 at 3:41 am
A very clever gadget, it would bring a smile to my face every morning 🙂
Antique Clocks
January 31, 2011 at 6:25 pm
This is my first time i visit here. I found so many interesting stuff in your blog especially its discussion. From the tons of comments on your articles, I guess I am not the only one having all the enjoyment here! Sustain the great work.
February 3, 2011 at 3:22 am
This is brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! I also saw the list of the things needed. I’ll try to construct one myself. Thanks, Nick! 😀
March 21, 2011 at 3:05 pm
What a cute clock and uniquely functional. Opening up the blinds in the morning seems like a wonderful idea of waking up to whatever the weather has in store.
March 31, 2011 at 2:22 am
I love this Mornig Monster. Thanks for sharing it.
Locksmiths Chiswick
September 10, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Look that project. Very cool and original –> http://hackedgadgets.com/2010/06/23/multimeter-clock-styled-after-the-simpson-260-multimeter/
Can an ARDUINO project do the same thing ?