instructables

Lazy 7 / Mini

by parallyze

Hi all,
yes. Another 7 segment clock. But this one turned out too nice to be thrown away and it nally replaces my old "Tiny
Edition" design with something I'm a bit more... uhm... less unhappy about.
Actually I'm not really considering publishing further designs right now, but this one was almost done, so here it is.
This one is quite small and using a rather ugly LED strip layout. It does "waste" 7 LEDs. Should you choose to save them
you will have to modify the according arrays inside the sketch. A piece of WS2812B LED strip is required, 37 LEDs in total
(4x 7 for the digits, 2x for the dots = 30 in use). Doesn't look very nice from the inside and requires a massive amount of
depth added to the whole thing - but it does the trick.
L7/M is smaller than the old "Tiny Edition" and almost exactly the same size as my Lazy Mini Grid.
Biggest part is the outer case. This one is 151.8mm x 63.5mm x 48mm and rotated by 45° it will require a build volume of
148.72mm x 148.72mm x 48mm, so just like my Lazy Mini Grid this one should be printable on a wide range of printers.
I do not recommend this to beginners. You should know about the Arduino IDE and other things - but judging by the
past it's unlikely the ones who should REALLY pay attention are reading this at all. They're already in the comments
section, asking for this:
The pictures show the clock running ClockSketch v7. I highly recommend reading that Instructable before building any
of my designs.
Supplies:

Printed parts:
1x L7M-Case.STL
1x L7M-Case_Clips.STL
1x L7M-LED_Frame.STL
1x L7M-Clips_LR.STL
1x L7M-Elec_Case-All.STL (includes a small cable cover, the button clips and the case lid)
1x L7M-Di users-All

I recommend printing the di users using clear/natural material and the other parts using black. I've used black and
natural PLA. The amount of material depends on print settings, but it's roughly ~100g for the black parts and ~30g -
~50g for the di users.
Wall widths are always multiples of 0.50mm, so I recommend using an appropiate extrusion width.
Di usion seems to work better the more material you put into the di users. Try to use multiple angles (like 45, -45, 0, 90)
for solid in ll and avoid too few top layers which might make the in ll pattern visible quite easily.

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I recommend printing a single digit set at a time to check for the di usion e ect/tolerances. As the picture might suggest
I tried a lot of di erent designs and print settings...

Other parts/electronics:
WS2812B LEDs, 30 LEDs/m
You will need 37 LEDs for this*. The frame will not t waterproofed or coated strips, only the regular 10mm wide ones
which are rather thin (~1mm). There's some variants using very thick adhesive tape - those will work but aren't really a
pleasure to put in because of the pressure required.
30 LEDs will be used in the nished clock. 4 are "wasted" to avoid soldering between the rows and another 3 are not used
(yet) - the ones above/between/below the dots. If required those can be used by adding breakouts and use them for
whatever might come to your mind (am/pm, al1/al2 indicators...)
Note: As long as the FastLED library does support them, other LED chipsets will also work. Refer to the FastLED documentation
regarding the di erences and changes you have to make in that case.
*Obviously you can use 30 LEDs and solder them together for this but you will have to modify the sketch accordingly.

I recommend using a Arduino Nano (AtMega328P) and a DS3231 RTC module. Details can be found in the ClockSketch
v7-Instructable.
2x push buttons, 6mm x 6mm, shaft length 1.5mm - 4mm
1x USB cable
1x USB 5V power supply (sketch is limited to 500mA by default but requirements are also dependent on your
choice of hardware. A ESP8266 using WiFi will draw much more power than a Nano...)

At low brightness settings the clock will consume around 80-180mA, resulting in <1.0W power draw. So if you happen to
have an old USB charger from some device left with only ~350mA or so, this might be a way to utilize it.
Theoretically the maximum power consumption for the 37 LEDs is around 2.2A/11W - this is likely way too much for such
a small case printed from PLA, so be careful when playing around with sketches that do not enforce power limits and/or
might adress all LEDs!

https://youtu.be/A2obfL1uhc4

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Step 1: In a Nutshell

Here's an overview of how the parts are put together. The really interesting part is the LED_Frame and that'll be covered
in detail later.
Pictures show the following parts/steps:
Case, Di users put in, LED_Frame + Clips_LR, Electronics Case, Button and Case Clips, Electronics Cover
The case will t various combinations (microcontroller/rtc/whatever) and the small tabs on the bottom allow using cable
ties to hold everything in place.

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Step 2: Placing the LEDs Inside the LED_Frame

Here's the important part of this Instructable, the direction/routing of the LED strip. Otherwise it's identical to most of my
other designs, so I won't go into detail about wiring etc.

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Di erent variants I had a look at all came with the resistor almost in the exact same spot. Should this be di erent on your
strip it should still be possible to push the LEDs in - just be careful not to accidentally knock o some resistors or LEDs.
Be careful when bending the LED strip. While this does work quite well the LEDs absolutely don't like very sharp bends,
especially if you're too close to the solder pads - they might break, causing problems later on. Avoid bending directly at
the corners of the LEDs, try to keep ~1mm distance.
All LED strips come in pieces of 50cm, soldered together. So in this design you will come across two spots where the LED
strip is soldered together - depending on the position this might require more or less ddling around. At worst you might
have to o set the strip by 1-2 LEDs or disconnect/resolder the joint in question.

Start by placing the LED_Frame in front of you, make sure the "TOP" marking is pointing upwards. The top left corner is
where we will start.
Slide the LED strip under one of the tabs and align the LED with the hole. Push in the LED strip then so it sits below the
tabs on both sides, "trapping" the LED. Proceed to the next LED. As distances are di erent between LEDs you will have to
bend the strip accordingly.
At the end of each row we will waste a single LED to save some soldering.
(The way it's bent here really reminds me of the "old days" with IDE/SCSI ribbon cables inside a pc case... when getting proper
air ow could be a real challenge ^^)
Once all LEDs are inserted you should end up with something like can be seen in the last pictures. LED strip starting with
DATA IN at the top left and ending at the bottom right corner, 37 LEDs in total.
Carefully bend the wasted LEDs so they're not reaching over the frame borders.
Now it is time to add the Clips_LR parts as seen in the pictures. Make sure no parts of the strip are taller than the clips!

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Step 3: LED_Frame Connections

Not much to do here. Like in my other designs there's 3 wires connected to the start of the LED strip, this is where the
microcontroller will be connected later on. Also there's a USB cable soldered to the end of the LED strip to power
everything. Once those connections are made and you double checked the wires won't interfere with the electronics
case resting on the clips, place the LED_Frame inside the case and route the wires to the top left corner.
Now place the electronics case on top of the LED_Frame/Clips_LR and install the case clips to hold everything in place.
Place the clip with the lower tab inside the cavity of the electronics case plate, push both sides down and towards the
outside case wall. The design has slightly changed after recording the video/rendering to allow for better removal of the
clips, but the orientation in the drawing/render is the same.
I'm using wires with 3 pin connectors because I'm not planning to keep this clock. The Arduino Pro Mini, Buttons and RTC from
the pictures are leftovers of some design which I put into place solely for the purpose of testing various platforms and taking
pictures - so don't use these as reference for wiring work!

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Step 4: Finishing Things Up

I think there's not much left to say here. Depending on what microcontroller/rtc you choose you should be able to t
them inside the case without much problems. There's a few places where you can add cable ties, I highly recommend
one securing the power cable in place. The pictures aren't in the proper order, the small cable cover was added after all
was done, so there's just 2 quick screen caps and it isn't visible in all pictures.
The lid is put in place by sliding in the two tabs at the bottom rst, then pushing down on the top one and carefully
bending the upper wall slightly outwards. Removal is done in reverse, one of those "spudgers" to open devices can be
helpful here (or a guitar pick).
Buttons/Arduino Pro Mini/DS3231 are for illustration purposes, details about supported features and electronics can be found
in the CS7-Instructable.

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