Building a clock should be a rewarding project for anyone from a beginning tinkerer to a seasoned craftsperson. Unfortunately for Texas 9th-grader Ahmed Mohamed, his home-built circuit-board clock project instead resulted in handcuffs, as his teachers mistook the project for a bomb rather than an extracurricular project from a motivated and engaged student.
The incident has sparked a wide discussion, with the Twitter hashtag #IStandWithAhmed reaching the top of the trending list today.
Make: has posted our feelings on the situation, and we reiterate our full support for eager youngsters like Ahmed, amazing young Makers who want to embrace STEAM education and who have the promise to grow into amazing technological roles as they progress into adulthood.
We’re following the story and will keep everyone updated; meanwhile, here are some clock projects you can build to help show Ahmed, the Irving School District, and the world as a whole, that being creative and curious is not a crime.
Set up for Meetings, Appointments, Reminders, and Tasks, this clock uses an Arduino Yún and your Google Calendar to automatically set alarms.
An Arduino Nano, some LEDs, and a clever placement of letters combines into a timepiece worthy of a designer bookshelf.
Features a retro Russian display tube and a clear plastic case so you can appreciate the inner workings of this fantastic gadget!
Wake up gently with a gradually increasing amount of light
Learn about the gearing involved in a clock by 3D printing and assembling them yourself with this proof-of-concept project
18 thoughts on “Stand With Ahmed: 5 Clocks You Can Make”
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YEAHHH. This is awesome. In 7th grade, given “F” when brought my Maker project to school, because teacher didn’t believe a kid my age could built it. Revenge of the Geeks; glad to see the PRESIDENT stand up for this rad, geeky kid. #WetheGeeks. Great article. Carry on. (PS: I taught soldering at Maker Faire in Google tent; was beyond rewarding to teach kids age 6 to 70 how to solder, and let them know it’s perfectly COOL. :).
Somebody is still dealing with junior high issues….
Steve! I found a profile picture of you:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/872ce661e2697841aaf270b85b10d64ff73016dc828f50cd265b733c52c6219e.jpg
Please find out the whether Ahmed bought a kit or just took the cover off a commercial clock. http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice/2015/09/17/reverse-engineering-ahmed-mohameds-clock-and-ourselves/
Wow, Make….Please stay out of politics or I am so freaking done with you. Or maybe next month you can devote a whole issue to removing the guts from existing equipment and claiming it as an invention. The kid took the bits out of an old clock, stuck it in a box with no alteration, and suddenly he’s Wozniak because it helps feed a political point. Also, if you’ll check the poor, maligned kid’s family and background, I think it is arguable that this hubbub is actually what he or his dad was hoping for….cuz he’s just an ordinary child whose dad has run for President of Sudan a few times…no political motive there.
I would have been disappointed if the ‘clock’ was made with an Arduino. This prop bomb made from an off the shelf alarm clock is beyond insane, much like the unending defense of this kid from Make.
It seems to me that it would be wrong of Make to stay silent.
What they did was just what the President did and what is becoming a ridiculous trend in America–starting a cause before you have all the facts…like in this case the background of the family-which puts the innocent intent in doubt, and the fact that Make is not celebrating a genius young inventor, but a kid who tried to take credit for inventing a clock he took apart and stuffed in a case
TSA checkpoint ahead. 10 kids carrying gun-shaped leftover pop tarts, no problem. 10 kids of any race carrying Ahmed’s clock, airport panic, flight delays, and yes, count on it, consequences if authorities believe it was deliberately done to cause an alarm. All those who “stand with Ahmed” should show their true support by trying to carry on his clock during their next flight
Oddly enough, these are all actual clock projects. Why isn’t one of these projects showing us how to disassemble an off the shelf alarm clock and install it in a suitcase to mimic a Hollywood style bomb like little Ahmed did?
None of these clocks were made by taking an existing commercial clock, and unscrewing it from the outer housing.
I am extremely disappointed in MAKE deciding to play politics.
So far Admed has shown absolutely none of the talent MAKE magazine encourages.
The only tool Admed is skilled with is a screwdriver.
And he used it to take a fully functional clock and turn into into a piece of junk.
Those of us who actually MAKE things demand a retraction of your support for a kid whose only “gift” is a gift for making trouble.
I wish we had some details on the kit this kid used to make that clock. If it was indeed a kit. There’s no breadboard, and that’s no perfboard. Did he etch his own PC board? Or did he just rip the guts out of a clock and put it in another case? It appears to look that way from the photos. I was originally on this kid’s side, but after looking more closely at what is there and reading about his father’s past, I’m thinking that we are being played for saps. There are some great kits and plans out there for clocks, but I’m really skeptical that this kid made a clock.
Notice how no photos of this thing exist except for that one you keep seeing?
That answers your question. If it was home made then it would be flashed all over the place.
Make got duped by jumping into politics once again. Will we be able to enjoy another OWS screed and attack by Frauenfelder this time as well?
“Unfortunately for Texas 9th-grader Ahmed Mohamed, his home-built circuit-board clock project….”
Which it was not.
And why should I waste time making this when I can go to a thrift store and pick up an LED clock and a pencil case for a couple of dollars.?
For you Ahmed makerbots out there. Here are two briefcase clock project for you to make and to show your support for America’s beloved little faux terrorist – Ahmed!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5sVM78i93E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSE8eLGZjXw