That Reads Digital Time!
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FgrMIj8V.jpg&hash=115067b554cf66379cd9e59e3898617dbc91a791)
I first came across this picture and saved it because it was so cool right? Figured I would post it here on the forum sometime, but I was extremely intrigued about how this was done, and how it actually works so I did some exhaustive research in order to try and find out more about this amazing sundial, and found both this
article (https://3dprint.com/103289/open-source-3d-print-sundial/), and the accompanying video.
QuoteJulldozer of Mojoptix set out to 3D print a sundial with the question: "What if we had a sundial that worked more like some sort of enormous digital watch?" And what he means by this is that as the style on the sundial moves, sun is either blocked or it breaks through the design holes (he calls it "swiss cheese") so that the actual time can be read in the shadow of the sundial.
My hats off to Julldozer and the folks at Mojoptix, as I am now a new subscriber to their YouTube channel. I thought the video was well done, and like the style and format. (The cow from Switzerland is cute)
Here's a link to OpenSCAD
The Programmers Solid 3D CAD Modeller (http://www.openscad.org) for any aspiring Gnomonist's out there.
Mr. Wet Blanket here. :computerwave:
I like the ingenuity and the general concept, especially the adjustable gnomon. However, other than that easy adjustability, I don't consider it any improvement over the standard sundial idea. This is hype:
QuoteIt's kind of like, why stop at approximating the correct time with a sundial when you can straight out just have the exact digital time displayed?
No, it's not kind of like that, in fact it's not like that at all. With this device, you "straight out" get an approximation of the correct time around every 20 minutes on a sunny day, which the video shows. With a properly oriented traditional sundial, you get an approximation of the correct time
every minute of a sunny day. Of course if you want any sort of consistently good approximation, you'd have to adjust your sundial every so often, which is why I like the adjustable gnomon used with this digital sundial.
ETA: Given that sundials are really just ornaments in our world, this is a cute variation on that, but I don't think it has much to recommend it from an aesthetic point of view in the version shown. I do think it would be possible to make the thing sculpturally more interesting though, which would allow it to rival traditional sundials as an ornament.