In the article FibonacciClock – An unusual time indicator I presented the cool idea of Philippe Chrétien. As mentioned in the post, I think the idea is cool and then began to rebuild the whole thing. However, I’ve come up with an own “construction” that I want to make available here.
For this purpose, the structure of the whole is described in the following article.
Hints for our lovely english readers: Basically, many of the articles on Nerdiy.de are translations from the original german articles. Therefore, it may happen here and there that some illustrations are not available in english and that some translations are weird/strange/full of mistakes or generally totaly wrong. So if you find some obvious (or also not obvious) mistakes don't hesitate to leave us a hint about that in the comment section.
Also please don't get confused, that instead of a "dot" often a "comma" is used as decimal separator. 🙂
Inhalte
- 1 Safety instructions
- 2 Affiliate links / advertising links
- 3 Requirements
- 4 Construction of the Fibonacci clock
- 5 Print the required 3D parts
- 6 Solder LED’s
- 7 Installation of the buttons
- 8 Soldering the Arduino Nano
- 9 Installation of the DS3231 RTC module
- 10 Installation of the I2C OLED display
- 11 Installation of an LDR for automatic brightness control
- 12 Installation of the fully assembled circuit board in the watch case
- 13 Have fun with the project
Safety instructions
I know the following hints are always a bit annoying and seem unnecessary. But unfortunately, many people who knew it "better" from carelessness lost their eyes, fingers or other things or hurt themselves. In comparison, a loss of data is almost not worth mentioning, but even these can be really annoying. Therefore, please take five minutes to read the safety instructions. Even the coolest project is worth no injury or other annoyance. https://www.nerdiy.de/en/sicherheitshinweise/
Affiliate links / advertising links
The links to online shops listed here are so-called affiliate links. If you click on such an affiliate link and shop via this link, Nerdiy.de receives a commission from the online shop or provider concerned. The price doesn't change for you. If you do your purchases via these links, you will support Nerdiy.de in being able to offer further useful projects in the future. 🙂
Requirements
In order to successfully complete the construction of the Fibonacci clock, you need tools and the necessary parts, as well as simple soldering skills. In the following list I list everything necessary.
Helpful Articles:
To build the Fibonacci clock, you have to master simple soldering tasks. For the basic construction of the clock only THT components and no SMD components are used. Only for the installation of an LDR’s two 0805 SMD resistors must be soldered. The following articles contain tips.
Electronics – My friend the soldering iron
Electronics – Solder THT components by hand
Electronics – Solder SMD parts by hand
Needed tools:
In the following list you will find all the tools you need to implement this article.
If you want to print the housing parts yourself, you also need a 3D printer (if you can not get the parts in the shop under www.nerdiy.de/produkt-kategorie/fibonacciuhr/)
Needed Material:
In the following list you will find all the parts you need to implement this article.
All required parts can also be found in the shop at: www.nerdiy.de/produkt-kategorie/fibonacciuhr/
Construction of the Fibonacci clock
To start building, you should now have all the components in front of you.

Print the required 3D parts
Download all required STL files: FibonacciUhr – Zusammenbau
Frame:
Ihr könnt die 3D-Ansicht der STL-Datei mit gedrückter Maustaste rotieren. Rein- und Raus-Zoomen könnt Ihr mit dem Mausrad.
Cover:
Ihr könnt die 3D-Ansicht der STL-Datei mit gedrückter Maustaste rotieren. Rein- und Raus-Zoomen könnt Ihr mit dem Mausrad.
Grid:
Ihr könnt die 3D-Ansicht der STL-Datei mit gedrückter Maustaste rotieren. Rein- und Raus-Zoomen könnt Ihr mit dem Mausrad.
Solder LED’s
The LED’s which become the display of the Clock later are available as a LED strip.
In order to be able to solder these individually, the LEDs must first be separated at the appropriate places.



Now it’s time to solder the individual LEDs on the board.





Now it’s time to solder the buttons with which the clock will be operated and set later.


Soldering the Arduino Nano
The Arduino Nano is the “brain” of the FibonacciClock. This gets programmed later so that it is responsible for the display of the time and all other functions. Before this happens, however, the Arduino Nano must first be soldered to the board.








Installation of the DS3231 RTC module
The DS3231 RTC module is a battery backed real time clock. This has two functions, once the module ensures that the time is also stored (and counted further) when sometimes the power fails. Second, it can count the time very accurately. This has the advantage that the time always runs correctly even over a long period of time.







Installation of the I2C OLED display
(This step is optional. For the basic function of the clock no OLED display is necessary.)
The OLED display is not needed for the actual function of the clock. However, it helps to read the clock at the very beginning, as it allows you to quickly check the time read on the back of the watch. Apart from this, the OLED display also displays additional information such as the date, the set mode, the current brightness and more, without having to connect the clock to a computer and display this information.


Installation of an LDR for automatic brightness control
(This step is optional. For the basic function of the clock no LDR is necessary)
An LDR is a light-dependent resistor that allows the watch to automatically adjust its brightness to the current brightness of the ambient light. This has the advantage that the clock is not too bright in a dark environment and not to dark in a bright environment as it often happens when you set a fixed brightness.

Installation of the fully assembled circuit board in the watch case
After the board of the clock has been completely equipped with all components, it can be installed in the watch case. For this you need the case frame, the grid and a milky/satined Plexiglas plate with the dimensions 160x80x3mm. The housing parts you can either print yourself using a 3D printer or you get them from the shop.











Before starting up, you should now follow the tips from the article Electronics – Commissioning a new circuit.
What you have to do to program your Fibonacci clock I described in this article:
FibonacciClock – Programming
For later operation you can also find a user manual here:
FibonacciClock – User Manual
Have fun with the project
I hope everything worked as described. If not or you have any other questions or suggestions, please let me know in the comments. Also, ideas for new projects are always welcome. 🙂
P.S. Many of these projects - especially the hardware projects - cost a lot of time and money. Of course I do this because I enjoy it, but if you appreciate it that I share these information with you, I would be happy about a small donation to the coffee box. 🙂
Hi Nerdiy!!! I’ve just discovered your website and I am really impressed about the amount of extraordinary projects you have develope for such a short period of time. i am a maker myself and I like to make new things with electronics and 3D printers. I fell in love with your Fibonacci clock and i would like to know how to get the PCB and the components to make my own. Otgher thing I am really interested in is your steppers project, Clockception. I’ve seen that you have already created your own library to control your devices. It’s fantastic to be able to create your own code adapted to the special requirements of your projects. Congratulations. Thanks a lot for sharing!!!
Hey Jose,
thanks a lot for your kind words. 🙂
Uh that PCB thing is a good point. I just realized that I didnt publish the manufacture files for it.
I will prepare this and then let you know. 🙂
Best regards
Fab