Binary Clock
This is a new idea for a binary clock. It uses a triangular
form to display the time.
With the following applet you can change the time in the steps of +/- 1 hour
or +/- 1 min with the 4 buttons on the right and set the time back to the
current time with the large button on the left.
The two checkboxes in the center allow to hide the time displayed
in numbers or to provide more help to read off the time.
If interactive JAVA applet does not display, please make sure
that JAVA
is installed.
How to read it:
Every LED lit in ...
... 1st line (top line) corresponds to 6h
... 2nd line corresponds to 2h
... 3rd line corresponds to 30 min
... 4th line corresponds to 6 min
... 5th line corresponds to 1 min
green for AM, red for PM
thus all LEDs on corresponds to 11:59 (green) or 23:59 (red)
Examples
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 08h 05min |
10h 59min |
18h 35min |
23h 59min |
The reason why one can display the time in such a triangular form has to do with the fact that
the number of minutes in 12 hours equals the factorial of a
natural number (720=6!). To learn more about it, here
a more detailed description:
arXiv:1006.1373v1 [math.HO] .
Note also the "COGITO" puzzle in the October 2009 edition of
"Bild der Wissenschaft".
 |
|
 |
| Prototype in form of a |
|
Prototype using a |
| tetrahedron |
|
programmable chip (CPLD) |
Idea protected as:
Gebrauchsmuster Nr. 20 2008 004 553.3 Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt
contact: joerg.pretz@online.de or
jorg.pretz@cern.ch
