Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Clock mechanisms are great but they're only designed to move hands in one direction.... clockwise. And, traditionally, the hour hand only ever advances one hour forward for every 60 minutes the minute hand moves....
...well, not any more!
In this video I'll demonstrate how I replaced an analog clock mechanism with a dual-shaft stepper motor, giving me complete control over moving each hand individually, with the precision, speed, and direction I wanted. The motor is controlled by a Wemos D1 Mini ESP8266 controller, which has built-in WiFi. So, you can connect to the clock from any other Wi-Fi enabled device and start or stop time, control speed, or move the hands to a particular location - perfect for a wacky escape room puzzle!
- If you only want to move hands forwards/backwards, but still remain in sync, you can use a Juken X10.506: store.minitools.com/en/sei-x10-506-juken-x10-506-stepper-motor.html
- For independently-controlled hands, I used a BKA30D-R5 dual-shaft stepper motor: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oEJAE3z
- And a Wemos D1 Mini: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_omsyzx1
- The code running on the Wemos D1 Mini used the AccelStepper Arduino library: airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/AccelStepper
- To create the mobile phone app which communicated with the ESP8266 to control the clock remotely over Wi-Fi, I used MIT App Inventor https://appinventor.mit.edu/
To download resources that accompany all the tutorials on this channel, please check out patreon.com/c/playfultech
Or, to join in the discussion with others who are making playful technology projects all around the world, join the Discord server at discord.gg/GbgZUP7s
Clock mechanisms are great but they're only designed to move hands in one direction.... clockwise. And, traditionally, the hour hand only ever advances one hour forward for every 60 minutes the minute hand moves....
...well, not any more!
In this video I'll demonstrate how I replaced an analog clock mechanism with a dual-shaft stepper motor, giving me complete control over moving each hand individually, with the precision, speed, and direction I wanted. The motor is controlled by a Wemos D1 Mini ESP8266 controller, which has built-in WiFi. So, you can connect to the clock from any other Wi-Fi enabled device and start or stop time, control speed, or move the hands to a particular location - perfect for a wacky escape room puzzle!
- If you only want to move hands forwards/backwards, but still remain in sync, you can use a Juken X10.506: store.minitools.com/en/sei-x10-506-juken-x10-506-stepper-motor.html
- For independently-controlled hands, I used a BKA30D-R5 dual-shaft stepper motor: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oEJAE3z
- And a Wemos D1 Mini: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_omsyzx1
- The code running on the Wemos D1 Mini used the AccelStepper Arduino library: airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/AccelStepper
- To create the mobile phone app which communicated with the ESP8266 to control the clock remotely over Wi-Fi, I used MIT App Inventor https://appinventor.mit.edu/
To download resources that accompany all the tutorials on this channel, please check out patreon.com/c/playfultech
Or, to join in the discussion with others who are making playful technology projects all around the world, join the Discord server at discord.gg/GbgZUP7s
