I love the idea of hacking antiques, using electronics to update their functionality or change it completely. I came up with this concept for an antique weather clock, instead of telling the time it tells you the weather.

I used a fake antique (replica) that I picked up for cheep on eBay. I took out the clock work, and replaced it with a servo and a micro-controller, then I re-designed the face of the clock keeping a similar look to the original time piece. The weather service I was using reports something like 40 different weather conditions, so I had to condense the list, and I ended up with 14 ‘conditions’

• Cold

• Hot

• Fog

• Cloudy

• Partly Cloudy

• Sunny

• Clear Night

• Rain

• Icy Conditions

• Snow

• Windy

• Thunderstorms

• Severe Weather Warning

• Dead Clock (no internet connection / error)

In 2011 I re-worked the micro-controller to be fully self contained (previously it required a USB connection and had an app running on a computer)

It now runs over WiFi, needing just power or battery connection. I off-loaded the logic to run on a web app, so I can change the zip-code or weather service without re-flashing the firmware. However every time I change WiFi credentials I have to re-program the controller.