Multi-Timer Gizmo

Summary

Menu Multi-Timer Gizmo My friend, Dave Gauer, built a “multitimer” back in 2021. It is a small desktop gizmo for keeping track of time spent on rapidly switching tasks. One pushes a button and time starts accumulating on that button’s timer. Dave’s multi-timer is based on a RaspberryPi Pico — fancy micro-computer stuff. In fact, his unit has three distinct microcontrollers in it: the keypad and LCD each have their own! Did an academic already do this? Thinking about Dave’s multi-timer, I was reminded of a hazy memory whose source I can’t seem to track down. At some point, there was an academic, perhaps a mathematician, who had several clocks in their office. They used them for keeping track of various commitments such as teaching, writing, and graduate supervision. Their multi-timer had a row of switches for turning the various clocks on and off. It’s a rudimentary but effective design. I decided to go down the rabbit hole of implementing such a system using battery powered alarm clocks. It turned out to be a great adventure for someone with no background in electronics. Dave also does a great job documenting his projects. It’s a whole thing for him. I figured that I should document this little project for the Webpage Jam. It’s nice to see that ~jara25 made a “task timer” as their contribution to the jam. Add a toggle # The first idea was to add a toggle to a battery operated alarm clock. I picked up cheap alarm clock and started tinkering. At first, I couldn’t even figure out how to get the clock open! My Swiss Watch Maker Neighbour When I was growing up in London, Ontario, my next door neighbour was a Swiss trained watch maker, Charles Brunner (1930-2012). He was originally from Bern, I think. His wife would baby sit me occasionally. My family adopted a lot of Swiss cooking and culture from them. I remember thinking that his workshop, which took up half of the ground floor of the house, was an absolute wonderland. It was full of tools, clocks in various states of ...