Back To The CrowPanel Handheld Computer

[granz]

This is a fork off of the New DIY Handheld Computer:

I can't wait to see where you go with all of this. 

Yeah, me too.

Unfortunately, my CrowPanel system has started spontaneously rebooting. It's not the hardware, because it can sit for hours (days?) and never reboot. It seems that there is something about the interrupts, and only happens while I'm playing around, trying to get the thing working the way I want (which, of course, is in PicoMite BASIC.  ) So, it is appearing that this is going where I design the PCB myself, according to my own specs - which is where I should have gone to begin with.

Plus, with Christmas approaching, there is less time to play right now.

Well, as I mentioned earlier (https://savagechats.com/index.php?msg=3090) I was playing around, Googling "wrist mounted cyberdecks". That got me thinking about this CrowPanel (display with built-in Pico - I loaded PicoMite BASIC on it.) So, I got it back out, and started playing with it, checking the schematics more carefully. And, what do you know - I got the touch to start working correctly (corrected the touch IRQ pin.) Yay! 

So, I took one of my LiPO batteries (3.7V @ 2500 mAh,) and plugged it in. Now, I will charge up the battery (the unit has a charging indicator LED on the bottom) and then write a short program to update a file with date and time. Once I figure out how long the battery will last, I can start working on making it a usable handheld computer.

[granz]

Well, the test is on.

To find out how long this computer can last on a fully charged battery, I ran this program:

Code Select Expand

Date$="01-01-2000"
Time$="00:00:00"
Do While 1
  Open "b:test.dat" For append As #1
  Print #1,Date$,Time$
  Print #1," "
  Print #1,"------------------"
  Close #1
  Print Date$,Time$
  Print " "
  Print "------------------"
  Pause 300000
Loop
As soon as I pressed <ENTER> on the run command, I pulled the USB plug so it is fully on battery power. The battery had been charging since yesterday, and should be fully charged (unfortunately, the charge LED on the bottom of this "handheld" only indicates that it has charging current available, it does not shut off when the battery is charged. )

So, when the computer shuts off, I should be able to power it back up and check the test.dat file on the SD card. That will tell me how long (to five minutes resolution) the battery lasted. I am hoping for over twenty-four hours. With the 130mA draw from my earlier post https://savagechats.com/index.php?topic=347.msg1498#msg1498,) it will hopefully be about nineteen hours. Maybe I can get that up a bit with shutting off the screen at times. Either way, nineteen hours is better than I get on my phone.

Once I know that, I will get into GUI programming (yes, PicoMite BASIC has many GUI commands built-in.  ) Yay, now I can be a GUI programmer.

[granz]

Well, I started the test last night at about 6:00 PM. It is now approaching 9:00 AM, and the screen is still lit up. So, we are near 15 hours, and still going. Hopefully it will keep going for several more hours.

[granz]

Woohoo - it has gone for 24 hours! 



We shall now see how long it will go on this single 2500mAh charge.

[granz]

Okay, so I checked (as reported in the last post) about 6:00PM, and the thing was still running. After dinner (about 7:15PM,) I checked again, and the display is dark. So, a bit over 24 hours! 

I will check the data file tomorrow, and see exactly how long it lasted. It appears that it will be able to run for over 24 hours per charge, probably more with some energy-saving tricks.

[granz]

Houston, we have a problem.

I checked the SD card, and the file is on there, but there are only three entries from the PicoMite computer. The screen did show only those three entries, but I had been experiencing troubles, and thought that it was just not scrolling the screen. So, I'm not sure what happened here. Next up is to load up the newest PicoMite firmware, and carry on.

On the plus side, I do know that it was still running at 6:00 PM, so it did run for over 24 hours. So, that makes this a great candidate for a "daily driver" system - the possibilities are endless. Monday, we will go shopping, and I have already put a sweat band on the shopping list. This CrowPanel, with battery, will be attached to the sweat band, giving me a nice wearable.

A nice "smart watch" has been on my list for many years. I was very disappointed when I got my first smart watch - a PineTime (https://pine64.org/devices/pinetime/ - which I still have, and wear whenever I go outside the house) and discovered that smart watches are NOT smart, but really just semi-smart peripherals for your phone. I wanted a watch that was smart on its own, not a terminal for my phone. So, the first thing that I will write for this is a clock, followed very closely by some kind of menu system, so that I can run whatever BASIC program that I want to. Hopefully, that will evolve into some kind of RTOS.

[JKnightandKARR]

Houston, we have a problem.

I checked the SD card, and the file is on there, but there are only three entries from the PicoMite computer. The screen did show only those three entries, but I had been experiencing troubles, and thought that it was just not scrolling the screen. So, I'm not sure what happened here. Next up is to load up the newest PicoMite firmware, and carry on.

On the plus side, I do know that it was still running at 6:00 PM, so it did run for over 24 hours. So, that makes this a great candidate for a "daily driver" system - the possibilities are endless. Monday, we will go shopping, and I have already put a sweat band on the shopping list. This CrowPanel, with battery, will be attached to the sweat band, giving me a nice wearable.

A nice "smart watch" has been on my list for many years. I was very disappointed when I got my first smart watch - a PineTime (https://pine64.org/devices/pinetime/ - which I still have, and wear whenever I go outside the house) and discovered that smart watches are NOT smart, but really just semi-smart peripherals for your phone. I wanted a watch that was smart on its own, not a terminal for my phone. So, the first thing that I will write for this is a clock, followed very closely by some kind of menu system, so that I can run whatever BASIC program that I want to. Hopefully, that will evolve into some kind of RTOS.

That looks like a nice watch. As for the project, idk, but good luck on it.

[granz]

That looks like a nice watch. As for the project, idk, but good luck on it.

Thanks, I'm looking forward to getting the sweatband, and checking it out. My previous Pico-based clock (https://savagechats.com/index.php?topic=339.0) had a WiFi Pico, and so was able to set the time itself, via NTP (Network Time Protocol.) Since the CrowPanel has a regular (I.E. not WiFi) Pico, the time will need to be set manually. Although, I may add an external RTC to it - there should be enough room under the unit, next to the battery. Part of that decision will be how well the thing keeps time by itself.

[JKnightandKARR]

That looks like a nice watch. As for the project, idk, but good luck on it.

Thanks, I'm looking forward to getting the sweatband, and checking it out. My previous Pico-based clock (https://savagechats.com/index.php?topic=339.0) had a WiFi Pico, and so was able to set the time itself, via NTP (Network Time Protocol.) Since the CrowPanel has a regular (I.E. not WiFi) Pico, the time will need to be set manually. Although, I may add an external RTC to it - there should be enough room under the unit, next to the battery. Part of that decision will be how well the thing keeps time by itself.

good luck on it. I just wish i could have total freedom to design my own watch face on my smartwatch.

[granz]

I just wish i could have total freedom to design my own watch face on my smartwatch.

That's just it - the smart watches of today are light years away from what I understood them to be when they first came out. Now-a-days smart watch programming requires multi-megabyte (or gigabyte) programming environments, and months (at least) to get to understand the language, and libraries. In addition to that, most of the watches that I researched are nothing more than "glorified phone terminals."

In contrast, this "watch" could be understood by a novice in about a week, and new "programs/apps/whatevers" can be developed - completely apart from the phone - quickly.

[JKnightandKARR]

I just wish i could have total freedom to design my own watch face on my smartwatch.

That's just it - the smart watches of today are light years away from what I understood them to be when they first came out. Now-a-days smart watch programming requires multi-megabyte (or gigabyte) programming environments, and months (at least) to get to understand the language, and libraries. In addition to that, most of the watches that I researched are nothing more than "glorified phone terminals."

In contrast, this "watch" could be understood by a novice in about a week, and new "programs/apps/whatevers" can be developed - completely apart from the phone - quickly.

cool

[Chris Savage]

Houston, we have a problem. I checked the SD card, and the file is on there, but there are only three entries from the PicoMite computer. The screen did show only those three entries, but I had been experiencing troubles, and thought that it was just not scrolling the screen. So, I'm not sure what happened here. Next up is to load up the newest PicoMite firmware, and carry on.

Did you ever figure out what happened with this?

[granz]

Did you ever figure out what happened with this?

Not yet. I'm going to our auto shop (since I bought the car from my friend's dealership - they have free inspections for as long as you own the car - I'm taking it to the dealer,) tomorrow. I'll be working on it then.

[Chris Savage]

Not yet. I'm going to our auto shop (since I bought the car from my friend's dealership - they have free inspections for as long as you own the car - I'm taking it to the dealer,) tomorrow. I'll be working on it then.

Pardon my confusion, sir, as I have been out of state for days, having just returned yesterday (AND it's a Monday); but are you saying your local auto shop can diagnose PicoMite code and determine why the SD card only shows three entries, despite running for over 24 hours?!? 

[granz]

Pardon my confusion, sir, as I have been out of state for days, having just returned yesterday (AND it's a Monday); but are you saying your local auto shop can diagnose PicoMite code and determine why the SD card only shows three entries, despite running for over 24 hours?!? 

HA! LOL! That was good.

Not yet. I'm going to our auto shop (since I bought the car from my friend's dealership - they have free inspections for as long as you own the car - I'm taking it to the dealer,) tomorrow. I'll be working on it then.

Some of these could probably be posted into the "Humor" board. Of course, they lose something without the background.