Distraction-free and nice to look at: Golden Timer

Sometimes, during my meditative tea practice, I need an alarm—for example, when I have upcoming commitments. While phones are the default choice for setting alarms these days, they come with the downside of significant distraction. Their standard alarms are often continuous and, to me, rather jarring.

There are apps that offer gentle chime sounds suited for meditative purposes, but they tend to be even more distracting, often including social features and other unnecessary bloat.

To minimize distraction, I wanted something simple, easy to use, aesthetically pleasing, and equipped with a natural, calming sound.

That was the birth of Golden Timer.

The enclosure is crafted from beech wood. A golden brass knob serves as the input, while golden numerals indicate its state. But lets look at the insides:

The device is based on an Arduino Pro Mini 328 (16 mhz), powered by a 400 mAh Li-Ion-Battery. Charging is handled via USB-C using a boost converter. Furthermore a seven segment display shows the input and, if wished for, the remaining time. The clock is started, set and display deactivated (to further minimize distraction) by a single knob, a digital decoder.

When the time runs out, a 3 V servo motor rapidly moves a wooden singing bowl mallet to strike a singing-bowl, producing a gentle, natural chime. Here are three of them in action:

So far, it’s doing its job well, though there is still plenty of room for improvement. The servo is quite noisy, the chime could be louder in some settings, and the battery discharges after a few days even when not in use. Additionally, one battery became bloated and lost its capacity over time.