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[franti]

http://longnow.org/clock/

[KtosoX]

Now that's what I call a Mega Project!

[UberNube]

This is one of the most awesome things I've ever seen. Seriously, I wish all 'installation art' was like this.

[MagmaMcFry]

Well, let's compare this clock with a DF clock.
First, the DF clock will run not 10000, but exactly a bajillion and three years.
Second, the DF clock will be made entirely of pitchblende, because it's supposed to be an atomic clock.
Third, the DF clock will drop a kitten every time it rings.
Fourth, the DF clock will spill magma over everyone asking for the time because it's too lazy to display it.

I mean, seriously. This won't happen:

Goblin 1: Hmmm, a lever. *pull*
Goblin 2: Ohnononodont--
*click* *rattle* *rattle* *ding*
Goblin 2: OH NO ITS 3:17 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE

[Eoganachta]

This is so awesome. I started reading and didnt want to stop. This makes me proud to be a human dwarf.

[acetech09]

All those engineers are actually just media faces - all the actual work is being done by dwarves that reside in the mountainhomes inside the mountain that they're building the clock on.

[Firnagzen]

Ooh, I'd forgotten about this one...

Anyone got any idea on the structure behind a mechanical PLL? I feel tempted...

[plynxis]

lol obsess with clocks much?

honestly though its amazing and incredibly dorfy

overengineered, insanely huge, almost pointless

awesome

though i dont know if i necessarily approve of spending so much time on something dorfy in real life - i'd rather build a giant robot dragon

edit -

Anyone got any idea on the structure behind a mechanical PLL? I feel tempted...

isnt that pretty much describing the innards of a clock? i'd assume most real gear assemblies can be used for a mechanical pll

edit2 - they've got the plans of the prototype on the site. might take a look later.

[ThatAussieGuy]

Looks like they've thrown down a challenge to we dorfers.  I suggest a mix of floodgates, water and pressure plates to create one with an LED display for it's digits.  That's accurate to the millisecond.

[plynxis]

led display? too easy

the time will be equal to the number of animals still alive in a chamber.

and the clock will be calibrated to operate within the bounds of animal reproduction, so it will never be out of animals

[MagmaMcFry]

What happens if they reproduce? And how are you supposed to reach millisecond accuracy?

[plynxis]

accuracy i guess is impossible, DF doesn't have a steady rate. even if you get it to work at 100k fps, its not stable.

if you separate the animals in two rooms, one is the reservoir, one is the place where they go to be part of the count - you make a system that transports exactly one animal every interval and, um, kill the excess animals somehow (weight measurement)?

didnt think this through really, just wanted to outdwarf aussieguy

[ThatAussieGuy]

What happens if they reproduce? And how are you supposed to reach millisecond accuracy?

What's the point of a megaproject if it isn't stupidly complex and difficult to achieve something relatively pointless?

For millisecond-accuracy, you'd need more LED's, is all.  I'd suggest making them magma channels with pressure plates and a floor hatch (with it filled from overhead). That way it'd know when which LED is lit and be able to drain them for a 0-state.

[plynxis]

For millisecond-accuracy, you'd need more LED's, is all.

you also need an event that lasts a millisecond and is either measurable or a trigger

for ingame millisecond accuracy i dont think its possible at all, a single tick is way more i think
for real world millisecond accuracy you'd need a single tick to last exactly or less than a millisecond (provided there is an event that can happen in that span of time - i'm thinking lightspeed repeater again)
even then, as i said above, there's no way to be sure DF will keep stable fps.

on the other hand, making it capable of displaying time with millisecond accuracy is a different thing and indeed all you need is leds

or a collection of ginormous clock hands

btw i downloaded the plans from the page, its like 325 pages or something. they have autocad files available, but the link always times out for me, so i cant get them - shame.