Edinburgh's Tony "Lasermad" Adams is kickstarting a levitating Nixie clock — featuring vintage Soviet deadstock Nixie tubes — that draws power wirelessly from its base, as it hovers magically in midair on a cushion of mysterious magnetism, displaying the time and date.
The clocks are £350-£525 for readymades, and £250-£325 for kits.
This Kickstarter feels like a very safe bet for being seen through to completion. Adams has a long history of building and shipping Nixie-based clocks, and his Etsy store is a marvel of amazing and stylish Nixie horology.
The trick of course is in the repulsion of strong rare earth magnets, balanced with delicate stabilising electromagnets and power coupled to the levitated object by an air transformer formed by copper coils in the base and object.
Four lights set 90 degrees apart around the magnet indicate how well balanced the suspended object is. These make initial floating of the clock much easier than you've probably found with other levitation devices.
Control and time data are transmitted to the floating display section by an Infra-red LED under the IR-transparent plastic lid.
A carefully designed and optimised coil transfers power to the display for as long as mains power is connected.
Time Flies: Levitating Nixie Clock [Tony Adams/Kickstarter]
(via JWZ)
