Local Man Hoping His Clock Will Become a LEGO Kit

STAMFORD  –  A local man has spent a few years developing his astronomical clock out of Legos. That's right, those colorful, interlocking blocks that are a hit with many kids. You may not know there is an elite group of Lego masters, who can build almost anything out of the blocks. And, they aren't just for kids.

Michael Smith is hoping to join the 10,000 supporters group and have his creation approved to become a Lego kit. He's seeking a little support from members of the community to log in, create an account and like his creation.

His is an MOC entry, for My Own Creation. It is made only of genuine Lego parts and has developed each compilation with parts using various colors so the features stand out. He just recently submitted his clock and received 100 likes in a day and a half. After just more than two weeks he had 300 likes. He has two years to get the 10,000 likes.  If it reaches that milestone, it is reviewed by Lego and could possibly be sold as a kit, and earn royalties.

His clock has extra features which he has mathematically computed to work with turning gears to match the astronomical keeping of time, based on science, using math and physics. 

Smith, an engineer, has been working on his clock since 2018. He said he did put it away for a few years, out of frustration,  because he was unable to power the clock.  Lego motors are designed, he explained, to automatically shut off after a certain time period. "I couldn't keep it going as a clock," said Smith. But then he changed gears, so to speak, and decided to develop his conversation piece, which is powered by a series of hand cranks that move sets of gears to represent each day. It marks the days of the week, high tide, the Zodiac as stars in the night sky, which is known as Sidereal day. Sidereal time is the time it takes the earth to complete one 360-degree rotation. It's a wee bit shorter than the solar day.  When the clock is in this mode, two turns of the crank generates one day of motion around the sun.

His father, Ken Smith, encouraged Mike to submit his clock as a possible kit and Mike eventually  began ciphering and working out the algorithms on pieces of paper, scraps or whatever was handy to write his ciphering on, developing the gears in various sizes to create the result needed. He has several pages of notes and hand drawings.

His dad simply rolls his eyes as Mike talks about how he first used a gear that is now outdated, he saw a newer one that had twice as many teeth and eventually chose one with 28 teeth because it is still divisible by 7 (the days in a week). Mike admits that people do glaze over a little bit, but that's not to say there is great admiration for the formulas he put down on paper before he made up his Christmas wish list each year. His list was very specific about what parts he needed from Lego to complete his clock. His clock has a globe, which serves the model as the earth.  "They actually have that as a specific piece," said Smith. The globe turns one time per day. He turns one of his cranks to demonstrate. It shows the phases of the moon as the earth moves around the sun. His clock also notes the seasons and the months and the approximate position of high tide. "My clock also shows the earth orbiting around the sun, and it  includes leap years. The earth is tilted on its axis, and colored bricks show the associated seasons,"

There is color coding as well. His clock comes apart, separating the different compilations that  make up his astronomical clock. 

He did all the ciphering that took into account the fact the earth has an elliptical orbit and is tilted on its axis. This is when his dad glazes over again, except for being impressed by the fact Mike is able to figure all that out on paper and put it to work in Legos. "It still amazes me," says the older Smith as he shakes his head in wonderment.

Mike's fascination with all that may be related to the fact he has Aspergers Syndrome, which puts him high on the intellect scale, but not so high on the social scale. Mike said he is lucky. "I am able to speak. I am so fortunate for that. Otherwise I could be a big burden."

He does okay and makes his way through four years of college to earn his engineering degree, helped by his more social sister, Lizzie. The two attended Messiah University in Pennsylvania. His former roommate, whom he helped with his calculus and other higher math series, now works for NASA.

"I tell everyone I work with wood," said Michael. 

He has been helping his father disassemble the former Catskill Craftsman plant in Stamford, which had a global market for the locally manufactured cutting boards and other wood products before the pandemic. Just last week, they sold the last of the cutting boards and other products. They now seek a buyer for the manufacturing complex."Mike is very functional when he is coached," said his father.

In his Lego narrative, Mike states: "The weekday and Zodiac indicators use stickers on Technic disks, and the month initials use tiles; the globe halves are genuine Lego pieces, and might be from a certain wizardry school's classroom set? Total weight 454.6 grams, and part count is 553.
"The seasons and Zodiac signs are shown for the northern hemisphere because that is where I live. For those in the southern hemisphere: the colored 1x2 plates for the seasons can be switched easily enough, but the Zodiac disk requires a mirror-inverted decal on the underside.

His sense of humor shows up a bit too, as he calls himself Clocksmith, a play on his last name. You will find Hickory the mouse and a piece of cheese in the clock , the mouse named after the children's nursery rhyme Hickory, Dickory, Dock. There is also an oil can hidden in the clock.

To help Mike Smith achieve his 10,000 likes you must log into the LEGO website at lego.com. In order to like Smith's clock, you must create an account, which is free. Follow the step by step instructions. Go to ideal and search for a clock or type in an astronomical clock and his like. Once you are there, you can share it with your friends.

He is pleased with some of the comments received from those with 1,000 likes and 10,000 likes. Some said they are very amazed at the mechanics differential needed to accomplish several of the functions.