A while back I fumbled into Acid Cow’s idea for a Money Shredding Alarm Clock.
I figured turning the concept into reality shouldn’t be too hard.
All I needed was a few main parts:
SparkFun’s ClocKit
A USB Powered Paper Shredder
TIP120 Darlington Transistor
(I also used an Atmel AVR programmer I already had)
Surprisingly the ClocKit managed to use every single pin on the Atmega328 it runs on – leaving me without an obvious control pin for the shredder.
I noticed that two I/O pins were being used for the alarm buzzer – which seemed unnecessary. I reconnected one of the buzzer pins to ground – and the buzzer continued to work fine – freeing up the needed pin to connect the TIP120 to.
About 30 seconds worth of code changes – and my alarm clock was working!
I swapped in a larger 5v / 1 amp power supply after seeing a “reboot” when the shredder fired up (probably voltage sag). Seemed to address the issue.
Tip – check the voltage on wallwarts with a multimeter before connecting them to anything sensitive like a microcontroller. A cheap 5v wallwart might put out closer to 8v unloaded.
The source code is up on Github – but the changes are so minimal – you may just want to start off with Sparkfun’s code.
Click here to see a live demo of this project I did on Fox Business news!
Using two pins on a buzzer is often done to increase its apparent voltage. On the first cycle you apply Pin1:VCC, Pin2:GND. On the second cycle you invert that to Pin1:GND, Pin2:VCC. The buzzer will be louder than simply switching one pin on and off.
hi
your blog gives me useful information. Home security is a major issue now a time. find out more about security of home.
Please visit our well defined website.
Thank you
Haha, amazing! I'd cry!
This is a really amazing invention! Shredding money will be a waste if you don’t get up after the alarm rings, but I guess that’s what would make you want get up! It’s a actually a good driving force to get up ASAP because you literally have to save your money! I am truly amused by this!
Ruby Badcoe
Congrats for making a device that makes the user a criminal. It's against the law to destroy US dollars (or any US currency).
I can see buying this for someone, but not for myself! I love the idea but would hate to lose any money 🙂
Your comments waste space.
Youtube misses you.
I would love to purchase one of these. Is this a conceptual item, or are you planning on producing more for the general public?