Ah, the One-Hertz Challenge – a contest so delightfully absurd it makes you wonder if the organizers were secretly plotting to weaponize boredom against our hyper-caffeinated, scroll-addicted society. Picture this: in a world where your smartphone buzzes more times in a minute than a beehive on espresso, a bunch of madcap engineers and tinkerers decide to embrace the snail’s pace. The mission? Create a device or contraption that performs one action per second. That’s it. Blink a light, toot a horn, or – why not? – spam a comment on some poor website (just not Hackaday, you rule-breakers). The goal is to nail that 1 Hz frequency as precisely as possible, turning the art of procrastination into a high-stakes tech showdown. Launched in June 2025, this challenge drew over a hundred entries, proving that when given a simple constraint, human ingenuity goes gloriously off the rails. And the winners? Oh boy, they’re a riot of Rube Goldberg-esque brilliance and sheer “why would you even?” energy.
Let’s start at the top with first place: Christian’s “the electromechanicalanalogdigitalclock.” Say that five times fast – or better yet, once per second. This beauty is a Frankenstein’s monster of old-school and new-fangled tech, powered by a mains-driven stepper motor that chugs along like a grumpy grandpa refusing to hurry. A photochopper (fancy talk for a spinning wheel blocking light to create pulses) generates the 1 Hz signal, which then feeds into a 12-bit counter built from CMOS logic chips and a digital-to-analog converter. The result? Time displayed on vintage moving-coil meters that look like they escaped from a 1970s sci-fi set. But wait, there’s more: Christian wrapped it all in a brass frame with spring suspension to muffle the motor’s racket, turning it into a circuit sculpture that’s equal parts functional and fabulous. Photos even show it posed with Space:1999 and Star Trek models, because nothing says “precise timing” like a nod to retro futurism. Why did it win? Probably because it’s the clock equivalent of a mullet: business in the front (digital precision), party in the back (electromechanical whimsy). In a challenge about slowness, this thing is stylishly deliberate, like a tuxedo-wearing tortoise.
Sliding into second place is ekaggarat singh kalsi’s BEZICRON, a clock so whimsically inspired it sounds like the plot of a children’s book gone rogue. Picture this: the creator was playing with his daughter’s springy hair ties – those colorful loops that bounce back no matter how much you abuse them – and thought, “You know what this needs? To tell time!” Enter a mesmerizing mechanism of cams and levers that bend and stretch these hair bands into actual numerals, with a hypnotic 1 Hz pulse driving the colon like a winking emoji on steroids. It’s part steampunk, part playground prank, and all hypnotic eye-candy. Previously featured in a January 2025 Hackaday spotlight for its originality, BEZICRON won silver because it turns everyday junk into a timepiece that’s as bouncy as it is bonkers. Imagine explaining this to your boss: “Sorry I’m late, but my hair-band clock is pulsing at exactly one Hertz, and it’s mesmerizing me!” In the annals of the One-Hertz Challenge, it’s a reminder that the best innovations often start with kid stuff – or in this case, kid’s hair accessories.
Rounding out the podium in third is Tim’s Candle Flame Oscillator, which takes “low-tech” to a whole new level of “what sorcery is this?” Forget fancy chips or motors; Tim harnessed the chaotic flicker of a candle flame as his time base. A strategically placed wire pokes into the flame, triggering a capacitive sensor on a CH32xxx microcontroller that measures the oscillations (which, fun fact, are surprisingly stable if you squint at physics). The micro then divides that fiery frenzy down to a steady 1 Hz, flashing an LED like a digital firefly signaling “all clear” to its buddies. It’s weird, it’s wonderful, and it’s the perfect embodiment of extracting order from chaos – or in this case, from a dancing blob of wax and wick. Why third? Because in a field of over-engineered marvels, using a candle feels like cheating with Mother Nature’s own metronome, but in the most poetic way possible. Plus, it’s eco-friendly: no batteries, just ambiance and a faint smell of vanilla if you’re fancy.
Of course, the winners are just the tip of the iceberg in this glacial-paced gala. Honorable mentions spilled into categories like “Ridiculous” (featuring an electromechanical function generator, a pitchblende-powered “atomic” clock, and a Nixie clock built entirely from NAND gates – because who needs variety when you can NAND your way to glory?), “Timelords” (vintage atomic clock restorations and GPS-disciplined oscillators for those who demand atomic accuracy while cosplaying as Doctor Who), and “Clockwork” (Nixie tube wonders and DCF77 hacks from old badge projects). These entries highlight the challenge’s true genius: a single constraint unleashing a torrent of creativity, from the profoundly impractical to the obsessively precise.
In the end, the 2025 One-Hertz Challenge isn’t just about ticking once a second; it’s a love letter to the hackers who remind us that sometimes, the slowest path is the most entertaining. In our rush-rush world, these winners prove that embracing the pause – whether with hair bands, candlelight, or stepper-motor symphonies – can spark joy, ingenuity, and maybe even a little existential dread about how fast time flies when you’re not trying to slow it down. So next time you’re feeling overwhelmed, just remember: got a second? Make it count. Or better yet, make it pulse.
