Using small electronics to diagnose and understand the massive beast.
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Time Period Of The Pendulum

A simple laser trip circuit is used to measure the time period of the pendulum. The precision of the time period measured primarily depends on the crystal accuracy and clock speed of the microcontroller system used. Observations over various days have shown a change in the average time period of the pendulum depending on other factors like temperature. Slight variations have also been observed at different times of the day.

A similar laser trip circuit is used to measure the time period of the minute hand on each of the four clock faces. An RTC (real time clock) is used to increase the accuracy of the observations.

Free Wheeling

Each of the clock hands suffers from a phenomenon which we call freewheeling. It is observed when the clock hand moves forward arbitrarily a few minutes at a time and stays at the position till it catches up with the actual time. To measure the said phenomenon, we make use of accelerometers to find patterns (if present) in the motion of the clock hands. The data recorded is transmitted with the help of RF transmitters to one central workstation where all values are stored for further processing.

The use of temperature sensors and barometric sensors allow other related factors like temperature and pressure to be noted. These values are logged at regular intervals and are helpful when calculating drift in the time period of pendulum and clock face w.r.t temperature and pressure.