Rolling Ball Clock with Stepper Motor Drive
Have had this clock running for about 3-4 days with a stepper motor.
I took Steve's circuit from the Crazy Gear Desk clock, took out the real time clock and wrote some code to control, speed, on time and off time.
Currently have the drive running at 6rpm with a duty cycle of 2 minutes for every 20 minutes. Seems to be working really well.
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I used your idea, but when I went to order the 1RPM motor it had a very long lead time, so I ordered the 2RPM one. I initially used a 5V power brick and it worked fine. I realized that the speed can be too fast, as the only thing that happens is the balls will get to the top quicker, so went back to a 12V supply. I let it run all of the time and the balls are almost always at the top. The motor makes no noise and the design is very simple - a motor and power. It would be difficult to convert to battery powered. I'm also using the 12V to power another motor that applies a small amount of thrust to the large ball drop. This added force is what is keeping my clock from stalling.