Unlike old-school mechanical alarm clocks that you have to set manually, DJ’s Internet-connected alarm clock provides three primary features: automatic time setting on power-up, streaming MP3 music, and remote management. The PIC24FJ64-based clock is connected to an ENC28J60 Ethernet chip, an MP3 decoder chip, an organic LED graphical display, and a 24LC512 EEPROM for storage.
Most alarm clocks use a radio, beeper, or CD player to wake you up. My clock accesses my MP3 collection on the server in my home office via an Ethernet port. The network connection enables me to remotely manage the clock as well. I can easily set alarms and choose music from my office without waking up my wife. The clock also has a built-in GUI so I can manage it locally. Its OLED display and photocell enable it to adapt to different lighting conditions (from bright sun to pitch black).
Now you too can build a customized alarm clock. In this article, I’ll describe the design process from start to finish.
Source: Copyright DJ Delorie
