My Arduino spins faster when Claude burns more tokens
The author created a mechanical desk toy that responds to their computer activity. It features a DC motor inside a modified Stirling-engine chassis that spins faster as more tokens are burned by Claude Code. The setup includes smart plugs that control power to the motor and lamp based on the computer's lock status.
- ▪The desk toy is designed to visually respond to computer activity.
- ▪It uses a DC motor and a modified Stirling-engine kit to create movement.
- ▪Smart plugs control the power supply based on the computer's lock and unlock notifications.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
I love mechanical desk toys. Newton’s cradles, kinetic sand timers, those little drinking-bird things. They all share the same defect: they don’t know anything about what I’m doing on my computer. The cradle clicks at the same pace whether I’m in flow, in a meeting, or away from the desk. The whole point of a desk toy is to be for the desk, and yet none of mine had any opinion about the actual work happening on it. So I built one that does. It’s a DC motor inside a gutted AliExpress Stirling-engine kit chassis. The flywheel spins faster the more tokens Claude Code is burning. When I lock the Mac, a Kasa smart plug kills the lamp on my desk and the 9V supply to the motor at the same time.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at TerminalBytes.
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