DIRE DAWA UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING

INDUSTRIAL CONTROL ENGINEERING CHAIR

FINAL THESIS PROJECT ON:

“REAL TIME DIGITAL CLOCK WITH SEVEN SEGMENT LED

DISPLAY”

Submitted to Dire Dawa University Institute of Technology (DDUIOT), School of Electrical and
Computer Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of
Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Industrial Control focus)

Submitted by:
No Name ID No
1. Birhane Desta R/1056/09
2. Aboboni Nacho R/0800/09
3. Robel Haileyesus R/3370/08
4. Abraham Kahsay R/1376/09
5. Minale Gashaw R/1780/09

Advisor: Nurye Hassen (M.Sc.)

October 2021

Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

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Declaration
We hereby declare that the project entitled “REAL TIME DIGITAL CLOCK WITH SEVEN
SEGMENT LED DISPLAY” is Submitted to Dire Dawa University Institute of Technology
(DDUIOT), School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer
Engineering (Industrial Control focus). We declare that the work contained in this thesis is our
own, except where explicitly stated otherwise. In addition, this work has not been submitted
elsewhere for examination, award of a degree or publication.

Name ID No Signature
Birhane Desta R/1056/09 ………………….
Aboboni Nacho R/0800/09 ………………….
Robel Haileyesus R/3370/08 ………………….
Abraham Kahsay R/1376/09 ………………….
Minale Gashaw R/1780/09 ………………….

As an advisor of these students, I certify that the above statements made by the students are
correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. This project work has been submitted for
examination with my approval and assurance.

Advisor‟s Name Signature

Ins. Nurye Hassen (M.Sc.) ………………….

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Acknowledgement
First and foremost, we will give our biggest acknowledgement to the Almighty God for he has
given us this life and helped us through it. We would also like to take this opportunity to express
our heartfelt gratitude to Industrial Control Engineering chair and our advisor Mr. Nurye Hassen
for his guidance and instructions he has given to us for that it had helped us to complete our final
thesis project in such a short time. Secondly, we would like to say that we are indebted to our
families who invested all they have in love, money, knowledge, time or anything that is
necessary to lift us up to the level we are now, We have been challenged in our education and
have grown from it both as a person and as engineers getting both academicals and life lessons
throughout our stay in the campus, we would like to express our appreciations to the teachers,
staff and management of the university. Finally, we want to thank everyone that are not
mentioned above but has helped us in preparing this project, the omission of your name is not
intentional rather it is accidental.

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Abstract
This project aims to develop a real time digital clock with seven segment LED display. As we
know from our familiarity of life in the 21st century, time is an important thing in our life
because; the success of an individual depends on the proper management of his time. We have to
run with time to catch up to the world with quickly advancing science and technology. So as to
catch up with the world and succeed in life people have evolved to a new behavior of checking
the time frequently in their day to day life. To satisfy this demand clocks have been used to
indicate time since they have been invented, not forgetting many traditional methods that has
been used before. So in this project we have tried to develop a real time digital clock by reading
different materials and using internet to learn and implement the project. The result of our project
is a digital clock that displays time using seven segment LED display in hour: minute format and
indicates the second using LED between the hour and minute which blinks for every second. We
have designed the system simulation on Proteus and used Arduino IDE to code it with C
language. Changing the plans to reality we implemented the hardware embedding the circuits in
box which can be sat on a table top. Finally, we can surely say that we have tried our best to
make the digital clock that is developed in this project to be light, easy to use, portable and fine
for visual experience.

Key words: Arduino UNO, RTC, Seven Segment, LED

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Table of Contents

Declaration ..................................................................................................................................................... i
Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................................ ii
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ iii
List of figures ............................................................................................................................................... vi
Acronyms .................................................................................................................................................... vii
1. Chapter One .......................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Statement of problem .................................................................................................................... 2
1.3. Objectives of the project ............................................................................................................... 2
1.3.1. General objective .................................................................................................................. 2
1.3.2. Specific objectives ................................................................................................................ 3
1.4. Significance of the project ............................................................................................................ 3
1.5. Scope of the project ...................................................................................................................... 3
1.6. Limitations of the project .............................................................................................................. 3
1.7. Paper organization ........................................................................................................................ 4
2. Chapter Two.......................................................................................................................................... 5
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1. History of digital clock ................................................................................................................. 5
2.2. Development and Review of existing clock technology ............................................................... 6
3. Chapter Three ....................................................................................................................................... 8
System Design and Methodology ................................................................................................................. 8
3.1. The overall work flow and methodology of the study .................................................................. 8
3.2. System block diagram description ................................................................................................ 9
3.3. Hardware requirements ............................................................................................................... 10
3.3.1. Arduino Uno ....................................................................................................................... 10
3.3.2. Seven segment LED display ............................................................................................... 11
3.3.3. Real time clock (RTC) ........................................................................................................ 13
3.3.4. Light emitting diodes (LED) ............................................................................................... 14
3.3.5. Push button.......................................................................................................................... 15

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3.3.6. Battery ................................................................................................................................. 15

3.3.7. Wires ................................................................................................................................... 17
3.3.8. Soldering iron...................................................................................................................... 17
3.4. Software requirements ................................................................................................................ 17
3.4.1. Proteus, isis professional V8 ............................................................................................... 17
3.4.2. Arduino IDE ........................................................................................................................ 18
3.5. Flow chart of the system ............................................................................................................ 18
3.6. Software design ........................................................................................................................... 19
3.7. Proteus simulation ....................................................................................................................... 21
3.8. Hardware implementation ........................................................................................................... 21
3.8.1. Wiring on project board ...................................................................................................... 22
3.8.2. Demonstrating on project board .......................................................................................... 22
3.8.3. Soldering ............................................................................................................................. 23
4. Chapter Four ....................................................................................................................................... 24
Results and Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 24
4.1. Proteus simulation result ............................................................................................................. 24
4.2. Hardware implementation result ................................................................................................. 25
5. Chapter Five ........................................................................................................................................ 26
Conclusion and Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 26
5.1. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 26
5.2. Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 26
References ................................................................................................................................................... 27
Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 28

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List of figures
Figure 1: Methodology .................................................................................................................. 9
Figure 2: System block diagram ................................................................................................... 10
Figure 3: Arduino Uno .................................................................................................................. 11
Figure 4: Seven segment LED display.......................................................................................... 12
Figure 5: Common cathode seven segment LED display ............................................................. 12
Figure 6: Common anode seven segment LED display ................................................................ 13
Figure 7: real time clock (RTC DS3231) ...................................................................................... 14
Figure 8: LED RED ...................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 9: push button .................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 10: Battery ......................................................................................................................... 16
Figure 11: Flow chart of the system ............................................................................................. 19
Figure 12: overall circuit diagram................................................................................................. 21
Figure 13: Wiring on project board .............................................................................................. 22
Figure 14: demonstration on project board ................................................................................... 23
Figure 15: soldering and sinking the components in a box .......................................................... 23
Figure 16: Proteus simulation running .......................................................................................... 24
Figure 17: hardware implementation result .................................................................................. 25
Figure 18: user friendly model ...................................................................................................... 25

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Acronyms
CA ………………………………………………………Common Anode

CC ………………………………………………………Common Cathode

DC ………………………………………………………Direct Current

DP………………………………………………………..Decimal Point

GND …………………………………………………….Ground

HH/Hr……………………………………………………Hour

IC ………………………………………………………..Integrated Circuit

IDE………………………………………………………Integrated Development Environment

LED………………………………………………………Light Emitting Diode

MM/Min…………………………………………………Minute

Ms……………………………………………………….Millisecond

RAM…………………………………………………….Random Access Memory

RTC……………………………………………………..Real Time Clock

USB……………………………………………………..Universal Serial bus

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1. Chapter One
1.1. Introduction

At this time most peoples in the whole world use an automated digital clock in their everyday
use. Starting from the hand watch we were to those huge street clocks every one of us are
dependent on the display the make. In 21th century time being more than money, regarding this
changes our hobbies of checking our time every minute is dramatically increasing. About 99% of
today‟s digital clocks are made using microcontrollers which make them more hand able from
the rest, those we can set the time to start any minute or second we want and also set an alarm for
reminder so that the system will store the value in a memory and then when the time reaches the
alarm will be on. As the microcontroller consists almost all the logical devices external logic
gates doesn‟t exist.

In order to be used properly and for a long life usage, digital clocks must cover a very small
place as much as it could but the size of most of the digital clocks manufactured this time is
unexpectedly increasing as the use they give increases. This are the list of problems that exists in
today‟s digital clocks

 An extensive range of large.

 Use of independent LED matrix digital wall for the display that takes a huge space in the
circuit and a lot of matrix code in the controller.
 Displays only hour and minute. This makes the use they give us limited on the range
given.
 Not easy to maintain. When the clock gets damaged some can‟t tell where the problem is
easily, on the microcontroller or on the other driver ICS.
 Very costly.

The system that is anticipated to be built consists of a 4 digit seven segment LED display clock
displaying hour and minute, and indicating the second using a blinking LED that will be on for
500ms and off for 500ms, there blinking once in a sec. The hardware is made of very cheap
devices that cover a very favorable place. The design consists of some of the features that a

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digital clock should consist, to add other features time shortage and not getting the desired
materials have been an effect, and as the design is synchronous the overall delay is negligible.

1.2. Statement of problem

As we know in these days we are now living time is an important tool of life because, we have a
limited range of time to live in this world and “we have to run with time”, in order to succeed in
this life one have to manage and use his time properly. As of technological advancement we can
say almost everyone in the world have a clock in the cellphone that are in their pockets, wear a
watch on their hands, or have it in the wall or table of their offices and homes, due to having a
clock almost everywhere, we human beings have developed a behavior of checking our clock
frequently. So we can very certainly can say that a clock a necessity in our life.

The proposed system to solve the problem is, developing a digital clock with 7 segment LED
displays that counts the real time by using arduino microcontroller and RTC that can save time
even when power source is disconnected as it has its own battery. The time is built by
multiplexing 4 single digits seven segment LED displays connecting them with arduino
microcontroller, push buttons connected to the arduino for manual adjust of the time, blinking
LED for indicating the seconds and RTC which counts the real time.

So we have developed a digital clock that displays in HH:MM format using the materials
mentioned in the above paragraph, which are very cheap and easy to utilize. And also we tried to
make the hardware as small, portable and light, to solve the hunger of knowing time of humans
very frequently in our day to day life.

1.3. Objectives of the project

1.3.1. General objective

The main purpose of this project is to design and implement a real time digital clock with seven
segment LED display system that indicate the hour and minute in HH:MM format and can be
produced at a low cost with effective and competitive usage. This System is designed to be more
users friendly and easy to operate at any level.

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1.3.2. Specific objectives

 To build a digital clock successfully gaining all the required knowledge.

 To know about the working of each and every component and their role in the circuit.
 To apply our knowledge and understanding into practice.
 To design using minimum hardware at the lower level of processing.
 To increase our knowledge of engineering in doing the project.

1.4. Significance of the project

Digital clocks are a very necessary component of our lives. Regarding this change the need of
accurate and simple digital clocks is also dramatically increasing. Our project uses popular
microcontroller (Arduino) and other devices to build an accurate digital clock with seven
segment LED display that is expected to satisfy the need of humans to know time.

1.5. Scope of the project

The scope of this project is to develop a real time digital clock with 7 segment LED display. In
the project we have developed a digital clock by using Arduino, seven segments LED display,
RTC and other equipment. The digital clock displays time in hours and minutes, indicating
seconds in a blinking LED that blinks every second. And also we have added RTC in order to
have a real time with best accuracy, not forgetting two push buttons, one for Hr and another for
Min which are used for manual adjust of the time. As we know modern day digital clocks display
time, date and also have other functionalities like alarm system, but we haven‟t added these
features as a result of not getting materials like LED driver IC or shift registers, and shortage of
time.

1.6. Limitations of the project

The project we have performed has some limitations. Some are mentioned below:

 Does not display date showing only current time.

 Does not have alarm functionality for better use.
 Shortage of time as the class schedules have been affected due to global pandemic.
 Not getting all the desirable materials at the school.

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1.7. Paper organization

This project‟s documentation paper has been organized in five chapters and their content is given
as follows:

Chapter One ………………. Introduction

Chapter Two ………………. Literature review

Chapter Three ………………. System Design and Methodology

Chapter Four ……………….. Results and Discussion

Chapter Five ……………….. Conclusion and Recommendations

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2. Chapter Two

Literature Review
2.1. History of digital clock

A digital clock is a type of clock that displays the time digitally (i.e. in numerals or other
symbols), as opposed to an analogue clock. Digital clocks are often associated with electronic
drives, but the "digital" description refers only to the display, not to the drive mechanism.

The first digital pocket watch was the invention of Austrian engineer Josef Pall weber who
created his "jump-hour" mechanism in 1883. Instead of a conventional dial, the jump-hour
featured two windows in an enamel dial, through which the hours and minutes are visible on
rotating discs. The second hand remained conventional. By 1885 Pall weber mechanism was
already on the market in pocket watches by Cortébert and IWC; arguably contributing to the
subsequent rise and commercial success of IWC. The principles of Pall weber jump-hour
movement had appeared in wristwatches by the 1920s (Cortébert) and are still used today
(Chronoswiss Digiteur). While the original inventor didn't have a watch brand at the time, his
name has since been resurrected by a newly established watch manufacturer.[1]

Plato clocks used a similar idea but a different layout. These spring-wound pieces consisted of a
glass cylinder with a column inside, affixed to which were small digital cards with numbers
printed on them, which flipped as time passed. The Plato clocks were introduced at the St. Louis
World Fair in 1904, produced by Ansonia Clock Company. Eugene Fitch of New York patented
the clock design in 1903.[2] 13 years earlier Josef Pall weber had patented the same invention
using digital cards (different from his 1885 patent using moving disks) in Germany (DRP No.
54093).[3] The German factory Aktiengesellschaft für Uhrenfabrikation Lenzkirch made such
digital clocks in 1893 and 1894.[4]

The earliest patent for a digital alarm clock was registered by D.E Protzmann and others on
October 23, 1956, in the United States. Protzmann and his associates also patented another
digital clock in 1970, which was said to use a minimal amount of moving parts. Two side-plates

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held digital numerals between them, while an electric motor and cam gear outside controlled
movement.

In 1970, the first digital wristwatch with an LED display was mass-produced. Called the Pulsar,
and produced by the Hamilton Watch Company, this watch was hinted at two years prior when
the same company created a prototype digital watch for Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.[5]

2.2. Development and Review of existing clock technology

The clock is actually the basis of so much technology it tells us the time and we live by it every
moment and was once and will be the greatest invention of mankind.

Time was still measured in ancient time using other methods like burning of wax in candle tells
them the amount of time has passed or the Hour clock (sand clock) but the major development in
time took place around 16th century where the first invention of pendulum clock took place
during the 15th and 16th centuries, clock making flourished Pendulum clock was invented by
Galileo but however the credit is given to Christiaan Huygens.

Then as time moved on there was a major progression in the era of clock but back in the days the
clock has mechanical moving parts that don‟t work on the basis of battery but works on the basis
of actual moving parts the bob in the pendulum clock maintains its accuracy and it actually
worked on wind up key then in 1840 the electric clock was patented and the actual making of
clock took place around 19th to 20th century where there was a major development in
technology.

Those were the days were analogue clock was used the most and also the wristwatch was
invented in 1868 by Patek Philippe and in the early days were only wore by women as a means
of fashion but then it became a common thing among people and wristwatch started to appear in
various fashion and it became a part of the gentlemen style.

And then there was an invention of Digital clock which came around 1960s and there was a
major decline in the analog clock as digital clock became more famous among people, Some
clocks, called „flip clocks‟, have digital displays that work mechanically. Then there was also an

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invention of Alarm clock which would make a loud sound on a specified time to wake the
sleeper.

Now in 2021 what has changed so far? Everything, clock& wristwatch came in many different
styles and features with a smartphone to a computer it was a major development in clock there
are also clocks for the blind that have displays that can be read by touch there is also a study on
the clock which is known as Horolog.

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3. Chapter Three

System Design and Methodology

3.1. The overall work flow and methodology of the study

 Data collection: In order to do the digital clock model, data that are necessary for using
overall components of the system should be collected first. The data had been gathered
from the internet and books.
 Data analysis: After sufficient information is gathered from different areas and the
concerning data sources; arranging and analyzing data is the next step for modeling of the
digital clock using different software.
 System Modeling: Modeling the digital clock is the next step after analyzing data
gathered. The first modeling process takes place through Proteus and ARDUINO IDE
software.
 System Implementation: System implementation will be conducted by installing the
overall hardware components of the system.
 System Testing: Testing is the method of checking/realizing of proper functioning of
each components of the system. The study considered this phase as the last
method/procedure for producing the proposed project prototype implementation.
 Document preparation: Based on the findings and the results, the research document
had been prepared and organized. After the necessary data collected and analyzed,
writing of the document had been conducted so as to put the findings of this study in a
meaningful way that anybody can understand. For the document preparation different
standards had been reviewed and from those the best had been applied. Specifically the
IEEE standard had been followed.

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Literature Review

Observation Data collection Direct measuring

Data analysis

System design

System implementation

System testing

Documentation

Figure 1: Methodology

3.2. System block diagram description

Here in the block diagram we have put the digital clock circuit that is developed in simple blocks
for general understanding of the project. As we can see in the block diagram we used mainly five
materials. The Arduino microcontroller controls every input and output, which it receives,
processes and displays. The RTC feed the Arduino microcontroller with the current time. The
microcontroller displays the time it received from the RTC in the seven segment LED display,
indicating the second with blinking LED for every second. And the pushbutton is used to set
time for the RTC so that it counts starting from when we want.

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Time (seven segments)

RTC (Real time clock) ARDUINO UNO Push button (sets hour and
minute)
Battery

Second (blinking LED)

Figure 2: System block diagram

3.3. Hardware requirements

3.3.1. Arduino Uno

Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328P. It has 14 digitals

input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz ceramic
resonator (CSTCE16M0V53-R0), a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header and a reset
button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a
computer with a USB cable or power it with an AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started. You
can tinker with your Uno without worrying too much about doing something wrong, worst case
scenario you can replace the chip for a few dollars and start over again.

"Uno" means one in Italian and was chosen to mark the release of Arduino Software (IDE) 1.0.
The Uno board and version 1.0 of Arduino Software (IDE) were the reference versions of
Arduino, now evolved to newer releases. The Uno board is the first in a series of USB Arduino
boards, and the reference model for the Arduino platform; for an extensive list of current, past or
outdated boards see the Arduino index of boards.

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Figure 3: Arduino Uno

3.3.2. Seven segment LED display

Its name arranged in a rectangular fashion as shown. Each of the seven LEDs is called a segment
because when illuminated the segment forms part of a numerical digit (both Decimal and The 7-
segment display, also written as “seven segment display”, consists of seven LEDs (hence Hex) to
be displayed.

An additional 8th LED is sometimes used within the same package thus allowing the indication
of a decimal point, (DP) when two or more 7-segment displays are connected together to display
numbers greater than ten.

Each one of the seven LEDs in the display is given a positional segment with one of its
connection pins being brought straight out of the rectangular plastic package. These individually
LED pins are labeled from a through to g representing each individual LED. The other LED pins
are connected together and wired to form a common pin.

So by forward biasing the appropriate pins of the LED segments in a particular order, some
segments will be light and others will be dark allowing the desired character pattern of the
number to be generated on the display. This then allows us to display each of the ten decimal
digits 0 through to 9 on the same 7-segment display.

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The displays common pin is generally used to identify which type of 7-segment display it is. As
each LED has two connecting pins, one called the “Anode” and the other called the “Cathode”,
there are therefore two types of LED 7-segment display called: Common Cathode (CC) and
Common Anode (CA).

The difference between the two displays, as their name suggests, is that the common cathode has
all the cathodes of the 7-segments connected directly together and the common anode has all the
anodes of the 7-segments connected together.

Figure 4: Seven segment LED display

The Common Cathode (CC) – In the common cathode display, all the cathode connections of
the LED segments are joined together to logic “0” or ground. The individual segments are
illuminated by application of a “HIGH”, or logic “1” signal via a current limiting resistor to
forward bias the individual Anode terminals (a-g).

Figure 5: Common cathode seven segment LED display

The Common Anode (CA) – In the common anode display, all the anode connections of the
LED segment are joined together to logic “1”. The individual segments are illuminated by

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applying a ground, logic “0” or “LOW” signal via a suitable current limiting resistor to the
Cathode of the particular segment (a-g).

Figure 6: Common anode seven segment LED display

3.3.3. Real time clock (RTC)

A real-time clock (RTC) is an electronic device (most often in the form of an integrated circuit) that
measures the passage of time.

Although the term often refers to the devices in personal computers, servers and embedded
systems, RTCs are present in almost any electronic device which needs to keep accurate time of
day.

The term real-time clock is used to avoid confusion with ordinary hardware clocks which are
only signals that govern digital electronics, and do not count time in human units. RTC should
not be confused with real-time computing, which shares its three-letter acronym but does not
directly relate to time of day.

RTCs often have an alternate source of power, so they can continue to keep time while the
primary source of power is off or unavailable. This alternate source of power is normally a
lithium battery in older systems, but some newer systems use a super capacitor, because they are
rechargeable and can be soldered. The alternate power source can also supply power to battery
backed RAM.

Although keeping time can be done without an RTC, using one has benefits:

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 Low power consumption (important when running from alternate power)

 Frees the main system for time-critical tasks
 Sometimes more accurate than other methods

A GPS receiver can shorten its startup time by comparing the current time, according to its RTC,
with the time at which it last had a valid signal. If it has been less than a few hours, then the
previous ephemeris is still usable.

Figure 7: real time clock (RTC DS3231)

3.3.4. Light emitting diodes (LED)

In the simplest terms, a light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light
when an electric current is passed through it. Light is produced when the particles that carry the
current (known as electrons and holes) combine together within the semiconductor material.

Since light is generated within the solid semiconductor material, LEDs are described as solid-
state devices. The term solid-state lighting, which also encompasses organic LEDs (OLEDs),
distinguishes this lighting technology from other sources that use heated filaments (incandescent
and tungsten halogen lamps) or gas discharge (fluorescent lamps).

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Figure 8: LED RED

3.3.5. Push button

A push-button (also spelled pushbutton) or simply button is a simple switch mechanism to

control some aspect of a machine or a process. Buttons are typically made out of hard material,
usually plastic or metal. The surface is usually flat or shaped to accommodate the human finger
or hand, so as to be easily depressed or pushed. Buttons are most often biased switches, although
many un-biased buttons (due to their physical nature) still require a spring to return to their un-
pushed state. Terms for the "pushing" of a button include pressing, depressing, mashing,
slapping, hitting, and punching.

Figure 9: push button

3.3.6. Battery

A battery is a power source consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external
connections for powering electrical devices such as flashlights, mobile phones, and electric cars.
When a battery is supplying electric power, its positive terminal is the cathode and its negative

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terminal is the anode. The terminal marked negative is the source of electrons that will flow
through an external electric circuit to the positive terminal. When a battery is connected to an
external electric load, a redox reaction converts high-energy reactants to lower-energy products,
and the free-energy difference is delivered to the external circuit as electrical energy. Historically
the term "battery" specifically referred to a device composed of multiple cells, however the usage
has evolved to include devices composed of a single cell.
Primary (single-use or "disposable") batteries are used once and discarded, as
the electrode materials are irreversibly changed during discharge; a common example is
the alkaline battery used for flashlights and a multitude of portable electronic devices. Secondary
(rechargeable) batteries can be discharged and recharged multiple times using an applied electric
current; the original composition of the electrodes can be restored by reverse current. Examples
include the lead-acid batteries used in vehicles and lithium-ion batteries used for portable
electronics such as laptops and mobile phones.
Batteries come in many shapes and sizes, from miniature cells used to power hearing aids and
wristwatches to small, thin cells used in smart phones, to large lead acid batteries or lithium-ion
batteries in vehicles, and at the largest extreme, huge battery banks the size of rooms that provide
standby or emergency power for telephone exchanges and computer data centers.
Batteries have much lower specific energy (energy per unit mass) than common fuels such as
gasoline. In automobiles, this is somewhat offset by the higher efficiency of electric motors in
converting electrical energy to mechanical work, compared to combustion engines.

Figure 10: Battery

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3.3.7. Wires

Wires are used in this project for connecting one component to the other to transmit electrical
signal through them and help the components communicate. It is obvious that wires are very
necessary tool while building electrical components.

3.3.8. Soldering iron

A soldering iron is a hand tool used in soldering. It supplies heat to melt solder so that it can flow
into the joint between two work pieces.

A soldering iron is composed of a heated metal tip and an insulated handle. Heating is often
achieved electrically, by passing an electric current (supplied through an electrical cord or
battery cables) through a resistive heating element. Cordless irons can be heated by combustion
of gas stored in a small tank, often using a catalytic heater rather than a flame. Simple irons, less
commonly used today than in the past, were simply a large copper bit on a handle, heated in a
flame.

Solder melts at approximately 185 °C (365 °F). Soldering irons are designed to reach a
temperature range of 200 to 480 °C (392 to 896 °F).

Soldering irons are most often used for installation, repairs, and limited production work in
electronics assembly. High-volume production lines use other soldering methods. Large irons
may be used for soldering joints in sheet metal objects. Less common uses include pyrography
(burning designs into wood) and plastic welding (as an alternative to ultrasonic welding).

3.4. Software requirements

3.4.1. Proteus, isis professional V8

Proteus is used to simulate, design and drawing of electronic circuits. It was invented by the Lab
center electronic. By using Proteus you can make two-dimensional circuits designs as well. With
the use of this engineering software, you can construct and simulate different electrical and
electronic circuits on your personal computers or laptops. There are numerous benefits to
simulate circuits on Proteus before make them practically. Designing of circuits on the Proteus

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takes less time than practical construction of the circuit. The possibility of error is less in
software simulation such as loose connection that takes a lot of time to find out connections
problems in a practical circuit. Circuit simulations provide the main feature that some
components of circuits are not practical then you can construct your circuit on Proteus. There is
zero possibility of burning and damaging of any electronic component in Proteus. The electronic
tools that are very expensive can easily get in Proteus such as an oscilloscope. Using Proteus you
can find different parents of circuits such as current, a voltage value of any component and
resistance at any instant which is very difficult in a practical circuit.

3.4.2. Arduino IDE

Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is the software for Arduino. It is a text
editor like a notepad with different features. It is used for writing code, compiling the code to
check if any errors are there and uploading the code to the Arduino. It is a cross-platform
software which is available for every Operating System like Windows, Linux, mac OS. It
supports C/C++ language. It is open-source software, where the user can use the software as they
want it to. They can also make their own modules/functions and add them to the software. It
supports every available Arduino board including Arduino mega, Arduino Leonardo, Arduino
Ethernet and more. Word file is called a Document similarly Arduino file is called a Sketch
where the user writes code. The format of Arduino is saved as .ino.

3.5. Flow chart of the system

The system architecture of this digital clock output can be divided into four main modules

 Arduino uno
 Seven segment module
 RTC(real time clock)
 LED module

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Start

Read value from RTC Seven segment and LED

SET No
button=0?

Yes

Configure mode

Press UP button to change

value

Figure 11: Flow chart of the system

3.6. Software design

The program creation (development) cycle
To create a C program:
 Do the requisite mental work.
 Create the C source code. This can be done using a text editor, but is normally done
within the Aduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment) to upload to arduino
microcontroller.
 Compile the source code. This automatically fires up the assembler, which turns the
assembly file into a machine language output file.

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 Link the output file with any required libraries using the linker. This creates an
executable file. For desktop development, this is ready to test.
 For embedded development, download the resulting executable to the target hardware (in
our case, the Arduino development board).
 Test the executable. If it doesn‟t behave properly, go back to step one.
Animation of project the most important part creates an assembly output file. Normally,
compiling from the hex file created.
A program is text that you write using a programming language contain, behaviors that you need
a processor to acquire. It basically creates a way of handling inputs and producing outputs
according to these behaviors.
Designing a program is the fact you have to think about first, before you begin coding it. It
generally involves writing, drawing, and making schematics of all the actions you want your
processor to make for you. Sometimes, it also implies to write what we call pseudo code.
Writing a program is typically what converts the pseudo code into real and well-formed code. It
involves having knowledge of programming languages because it is the step when you really
write the program. This is what we'll learn in a moment. Testing is the obvious step when you
run the program after you made some modifications to the code. It is an exciting moment when
you also are a bit afraid of bugs, those annoying things that make running your program
absolutely different from what you expected at first.
Debugging is a very important step when you are trying to find out why that program doesn't
work well as expected. You are tracking typo errors, logic discrepancies, and global program
architecture problems. You'll need to monitor things and often modify your program a bit in
order to precisely trace how it works. Maintaining the source code is the part of the program life
that helps to avoid obsolescence. The program is working and you improve it progressively; you
make it up-to-date considering hardware evolutions, and sometimes, you debug it because the
user has this still undiscovered bug. This step increases the life duration of your program.
Programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging and maintaining the source
code of computer programs.
Every sketch needs two void type functions that do not return any value, setup () and loop (). The
Set up () method is run once, just after the Arduino board is powered up and the loop () method
is run continuously afterwards. The setup () is where you want to do any loop is for codes you

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want to run over and over again to program ATMEGA328P at to burn boot loader of new
ATMEGA328P using ARDUINO boot loader connect new ATMEGA328P with programmer.
Connection is shown below .Caution: make sure Programmer is not connected to external power
source because it get required power from USB cable connected to computer and circuit with
ATMEGA328P have regulated +5v supply.
3.7. Proteus simulation
This is a digital clock Proteus simulation that uses Arduino uno microcontroller, four
multiplexed single digit seven segment led displays to display time and an RTC(Real Time
Clock) IC that counts real time.

Figure 12: overall circuit diagram

3.8. Hardware implementation

Hardware of the system is implemented with the required components. The bread board provides
a set of features that make it suitable for use in a laboratory environment, for demonstration, for
implementation of various design projects, as well as for the development of digital systems.
In the design, specification of device as follows:
 Arduino Uno
 RTC DS3231
 4 Single digit Seven segment LED displays

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 Push buttons
 LED(light emitting diode)
 Wires
 Battery
 Project board
 Soldering iron
 Fiber board
 Other materials such as glue gun, cutter, color paper etc…
3.8.1. Wiring on project board
First we have applied the schematic diagram connections to the project board to see if it works.

Figure 13: Wiring on project board

3.8.2. Demonstrating on project board
After we have connected the components and checked if all are correctly wired. we proceeded to
the next step which is testing to see if it works. The Arduino microcontroller needs a program to
set instructions and keep the system running. So we wrote the program on Arduino IDE and
verify it to know if it compiles and have no error. Then, we uploaded the program to the Arduino
microcontroller and connected it to a power source. The result is in the figure below

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Figure 14: demonstration on project board

3.8.3. Soldering

Now we have demonstrated it and have seen a result that it works perfectly as planned. The next
thing we did is soldering the components so that we can sink them to a small box keeping the
necessary visual outputs to the eyes of the user. To perform this we used a fiber board to build
the small box, we choose a box model and sank all the soldered components to the small box.

Figure 15: soldering and sinking the components in a box

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4. Chapter Four
Results and Discussion
4.1. Proteus simulation result
The aim of the project was to implement and design digital clock with 7 segment led displays for
displaying time. So we have connected the components on Proteus and we compiled the code in
Arduino IDE. Then we loaded the Hex file to Arduino on Proteus and run it. The result is shown
in the figure below

Figure 16: Proteus simulation running

Discussion
From the simulation result we have observed that the wiring is correct, the code is working and it
is somehow safer to apply the wiring and code without exposing the hardware components to
harm. And also we noticed that the simulation time has delay compared to the real time, which is
caused because simulations do not run in real time. The delay is occurred because; the clock in
the simulation counts the simulation time, which delays from the real time, there causing the
delay in the simulation clock result.

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4.2. Hardware implementation result

We have soldered the components and sank it in a small box which is build by using fiber board.
The box hide all the components except the seven segment display that shows time, two blinking
LEDs which indicate the second and push buttons used for adjusting the time. We cut and glued
the fiber board to build a box and sank the soldered components. When connected to a power
source it shows the result below

Figure 17: hardware implementation result

We have also made the box, in which the digital clock is embedded, to be more user friendly by
allowing it to be opened and closed. If a fault might happen we can easily slide the top side of
the box to investigate and maintain the fault. And also it is useful for changing dead batteries and
for any necessity that it might help.

Figure 18: user friendly model

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5. Chapter Five
Conclusion and Recommendations
5.1. Conclusion
In this project we have developed a digital clock with seven segment LED display. As clocks are
necessary tools in our day to day life to manage and utilize our time properly, the digital clock
developed in this project will be a necessity. The clock is generally composed of some
components which are used to develop the system. The components are Arduino Uno
microcontroller that runs the system with the instructions from the code, seven segment LED
display for showing the time, RTC IC that keeps the time in real time and saves time when
power source is not connected to the system, LED that blinks ever second to indicate the seconds
and also push buttons used for setting the time. Finally, we can conclude that the digital clock is
an important role in our daily life.

5.2. Recommendations
The digital clock has been developed with seven segment LED display. The digital clock
displays time in HH:MM format and indicating the second using blinking LEDs. It has also had a
manual adjust or setting of time using push buttons. The project has some limitations of not
displaying the date, having no alarm functionality. So in the future we can improve the project by
adding alarm system to the clock, using LED driver IC or other components to add more seven
segment displays to show date and even temperature as RTCs have a temperature sensor
embedded in it.

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References
[1] "Home page". JosefPallweber.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-01. Retrieved
2015-11-07.
[2] Churm, Thomas M. (November 5, 2013). "A Short History of Digital Clocks and Watches".
Alarm Clock Blog. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
[3] Imperial Patent Office (October 27, 1890). "Patent No. 54093" (PDF). German Patent and
Trademark Office (in German). Retrieved 2015-11-07.
[4] "Is digital more precise?". The German Clock Museum. April 2015. Archived from the
original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
[5] "The History of the Digital Watch". h2g2. April 30, 2003. Archived from the original on
November 6, 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-07.

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Appendix
C language code of the system:

#include "SevSeg.h"

#include <DS3231.h>

DS3231 rtc(SDA, SCL);

Time t;

SevSeg Display;

const int hrs_set = A0;

const int min_set = A1;

const int ledPin = A3;

unsigned int number = 0;

const long interval = 500;

unsigned long startMillis;

unsigned long currentMillis;

unsigned long previousMillis = 0;

unsigned int Hour = 0;

unsigned int hrs_var = 0;

unsigned int min_var = 0;

int ledState = LOW;

void setup()

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rtc.begin();

pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);

pinMode(hrs_set, INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(min_set, INPUT_PULLUP);

byte numDigits = 4;

byte digitPins[] = {10, 11, 12, 13};

byte segmentPins[] = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9};

bool resistorsOnSegments = false;

bool updateWithDelays = false;

byte hardwareConfig = COMMON_ANODE;

bool leadingZeros = true;

bool disableDecPoint = true;

Display.begin(hardwareConfig, numDigits, digitPins, segmentPins, resistorsOnSegments,

updateWithDelays, leadingZeros, disableDecPoint);

Display.setBrightness(100);

void loop()

unsigned long currentMillis = millis();

if (currentMillis - previousMillis >= interval)

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previousMillis = currentMillis;

if (ledState == LOW)

ledState = HIGH;

else

ledState = LOW;

digitalWrite(ledPin, ledState);

t = rtc.getTime();

Hour = t.hour;

hrs_var = t.hour;

min_var = t.min;

if (t.hour > 12)

if (t.hour == 13) Hour = 1;

if (t.hour == 14) Hour = 2;

if (t.hour == 15) Hour = 3;

if (t.hour == 16) Hour = 4;

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if (t.hour == 17) Hour = 5;

if (t.hour == 18) Hour = 6;

if (t.hour == 19) Hour = 7;

if (t.hour == 20) Hour = 8;

if (t.hour == 21) Hour = 9;

if (t.hour == 22) Hour = 10;

if (t.hour == 23) Hour = 11;

else

if (t.hour == 0) Hour = 12;

number = Hour * 100 + t.min;

Display.setNumber(number);

Display.refreshDisplay();

if (digitalRead(hrs_set) == LOW)

hrs_var += 1;

if (hrs_var > 23) hrs_var = 0;

rtc.setTime(hrs_var, min_var, 0);

for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i ++)

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Display.setNumber(number);

Display.refreshDisplay();

if (digitalRead(min_set) == LOW)

min_var += 1;

if (min_var >= 60) min_var = 0;

rtc.setTime(hrs_var, min_var, 0);

for (int i = 0; i < 1000; i ++)

Display.setNumber(number);

Display.refreshDisplay();

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