Getting Started

Here you will find information for getting started with TimeLume Time Projector

Getting Started

This page will give you an overview of TimeLume building process.

To see a detailed building instructions please click here: Build instructions

Before we start, a few words about how TimeLume works:
TimeLume Projects the current time (and optionally the room temperature) on a nearby wall or ceiling with red light.
TimeLume time projection image is visible in a dark environment with no other light source.
TimeLume is powered by connecting it to a standard 5V DC charger with a cable ending with USB-C connector

TimeLume is made of the following main parts:

  1. PCB (with all the needed electronics).
  2. Optical lens.
  3. LCD Display.
  4. Ultra bright LED light source.
  5. Base spring.
  6. Plastic parts (printed on a 3D printer by the customer).

Please follow the steps below to build your own TimeLume.

What you will need

First step is to get the TimeLume DIY kit from the TimeLume Store.

Next, you should download the file containing the 3D models (STL) for printing the plastic parts Download

Printing the plastic parts

The zip file you downloaded contains the following 3D models

  1. Elliptic Base
    2. Placeholder image
  2. Enclosure.
    3. Placeholder image
  3. Lense holder.
    4. Placeholder image
  4. Front panel.
    5. Placeholder image
  5. PCB Carrier.
    6. Placeholder image
  6. Combined PCB Carrier
    7. Placeholder image

3D Printing Recommendations

General recommendations:
All parts can be printed with PLA or similar. On low end printers (Ender3 V2 etc.) it is recommended to
use layer heigh of less than 0.2 mm for cosmetic reasons.
Important Note: The light emitted by the red LED, can be visible through parts printed by a semi-transparent filament.
To avoid it, the PCB carrier (5) (that also contain the LED) can be printed with a non-transparent filament
and the rest of the parts with any filament.
The part named Combined PCB Carrier in the list above (6) is a combination of the Front panel(4)and PCB Carrier (5).
If the Enclosure(2) is printed with a none-transparent filament, the Combined PCB Carrier can be printed instead of
both Front panel(4) and PCB Carrier(4).
  1. Printing the Elliptic Base
    2. Set the flat area of the part on the printer bad.
    Use standard infill like 15%. and no support.
  2. Printing the Enclosure
    3. Position the part so it stands on the flat part of the spherical join.
    Select the 'Support On Build Plate Only'. No internal support is needed.
    Optionally, the infill for the first 22 mm can be set higher to fortify the
    spherical join connection to the rest of the part.
  3. Printing the Lense holder.
    4. This part should be printed while the slot for the lens is facing up,
    so no support is required.
  4. Printing the Front panel
    5. This part should be printed normally with the largest surface on the building plate
    of the printer and with the 'Support On Build Plate Only' selected.
  5. Printing the PCB Carrier.
    6. This part should be printed normally with the largest surface on the building plate.
    No support is required.
  6. Printing the Combined PCB Carrier
    7. This part should be printed normally with the largest surface on the building plate
    of the printer and with the 'Support On Build Plate Only' selected.

Building Timelume

Now that you have got all the bits and parts, follow these instructions for building TimeLume Build instructions