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Embedded Systems @ Purdue

Mechanical Seven-Segment Display Overview

MSSD Spring ‘25

Section titled “MSSD Spring ‘25”

Mechanical Seven Segment Display (MSSD) isn’t your typical microwave clock. Instead of LEDs, we control each digit using mechanically controlled segments that flip in and out through center-shaft that’s controlled by a single servo. The center-shaft has predetermined notches that essentially encode the digits 0-9 already in the physical structure. This allows us to only use one servo to control what digit is shown, depending on what angle the servo is programed to sit at.

This project serves many use cases in the real world. Changing only a few lines of software can allow multiple segments to work together to display:

  • Real-world time
  • Stopwatch
  • Timer
  • Counter

It can do whatever your standard LED seven segment display can do, but look much cooler while doing it.