Stonehenge robot clock arm tells time by arranging little cards

Posted by Cory Doctorow, August 8, 2008 12:09 AM |

The Stonehenge Robotic Clock from Norris Labs is a robot arm that tells time by plucking numbered cards from an array around its body, setting them down in front of itself, waiting, then doing it again with fresh cards. Depending on the time-change, it can take more than a minute to advance by one minute -- the robot knows this, so it skips those minutes and jumps straight to the next one, timing its motions to finish the advance right on the dot. Stonehenge - A Robotic Digital Clock (via Make)
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#1 posted by O_P , August 8, 2008 2:35 AM

Chuck Norris is so awesome he has a robot to tell him him the time.
Wait, what?

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#2 posted by tikaro , August 8, 2008 3:25 AM

Canonical companion video (I think I saw this on BB a while ago) -- more robot-arm clocks, but with what I assume is a zillion-dollar robot arm:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpxD01oRMlI

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#3 posted by PaulR , August 8, 2008 3:29 AM

I, for one, am not wowed:

41 seconds to change two digits?

If slow updating of time is your thing, why not have a customized ice-cube dispenser spit out numeric ice cubes into the path of a blow torch, adjusted so as to melt them in a minute?

Or a robotic arm that paints the numbers onto a one foot square section of wall, then paints the numbers over, shifts to the next position over, paints the next minute's time. Sure, it'd take it all days to paint a wall, but you'd be able to enjoy beer and pizza with your buddies while it's working.

Or watercress growing into numerically-shaped plastic molds...

I'll stop now.

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#5 posted by bcsizemo , August 8, 2008 5:52 AM

Is there actually a point to this thing?

If this were a video of something someone had cooked up in their basement/garage then alright, not bad.

If it is something a company put together (which it appears it might be) then why are you wasting resources on dren like this?

People, I want to see robots, big ones that can kick some serious butt. Think anime meets mechwarrior.

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#6 posted by geo the moose , August 8, 2008 8:15 AM

I have conceived the Idea for a Clock. It shall be a Mechanical Device, Circular if you will. It shall have a number of Pointing Devices, that will most Cunningly Point to a Number, thusly allowing the Dear Observer to interpret the Time At That Very Moment...

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#7 posted by Torley , August 8, 2008 9:09 AM

@O.P. I was SO thinking "Norris Labs? As in... CHUCK Norris Labs? As in... Chuck Norris approves this message?"

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#8 posted by holtt , August 8, 2008 9:19 AM

Ingenious Geo, truly.

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#9 posted by Sethum , August 8, 2008 9:23 AM

I don't understand the several comments that question the efficiency or purpose of this. Hasn't anyone ever seen a gravity clock or any other timing device designed to entertain while the minutes tick by?

I think the robot clock is fascinating, but then again, I also enjoy watching sand fall through an hourglass.

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#10 posted by TKendo , August 8, 2008 10:53 AM

And that son, was what robots did when I was a kid.

Geez dad, no wonder andro-depressants were so popular back then.

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#11 posted by eustace , August 8, 2008 8:28 PM

Faster to put wheels on the numbers, and let them rearrange themselves! I'll bet you could keep each change under a minute that way.

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