Smart Watch

[granz]

This is a fork of my CrowPanel Handheld Computer thread.


Abracadabra - The CrowPanel is now a watch! Hah, sure it is.

Well, this was just for testing. I used an Equate Wrist Support (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Elastic-Wrist-Support-with-Loop-Black-One-Size/691017968) as the watch band, and I just wanted to see if I could live with it for the day (started just before 12:00 Noon.) Since it was just a test, the thing was put together with "bubble gum and baling wire" (just simple double-sided sticky tape.) I really did not expect it be anywhere near permanent. So, the CrowPanel fell off the wrist support in about two hours. I have been looking for a nice wide watch band, but those seem to be difficult to find. Years ago, I saw a band which had a flap of material that covered the body of the watch. Something like that would also help to protect my CrowPanel watch.

The watch program is really an extremely simple program with an infinite loop printing the date and time. This will be expanded (a whole bunch) in future iterations, but I just needed something simple for the testing.

Apparently, I need something a bit more stable, and durable, for the mounting system. So, the hardware will also need to be improved.

So far while the watch is a bit cumbersome at just over ³/₄" thick, it really isn't something that cannot be worn. The watch "body" is about 2-¹/₂" by 4 inches. You can see how it looks on my wrist above. The thing weighs 5.7 ounces, which is noticeable, but not exhausting (so far. ) All in all, I think that I could get used to wearing this. I would just need to be careful with it - one of the times that it fell off the band (before it would no longer stick) was because I hit it on something and knocked it off the band.

I really love that I can write my own programs for the thing, that is something that I have not been ready to get into with my PineTime. PicoMite BASIC really is a great RAD (Rapid Application Development) tool, plus it's simple to learn. For the time being, I will need to write my programs on my laptop, but that will change. In one of my posts to my thread about my "New DIY Handheld Computer" (https://savagechats.com/index.php?msg=1082,) I talk about writing a CardIAC emulator for the handheld. Once I get my clock program written (at least well enough for regular use,) and then my GUI, I plan on writing something like CardIAC so that I can develop, at least some of, my programs right on my watch. There are fourteen GPIO pins, plus V_CC and Gnd female header pins available on the CrowPanel. Creating "memory mapped I/O" for my CardIAC will allow me to do HW and SW projects on-the-go.

So, enough for my plans for this thing. Tomorrow I work on trying to shore up my wrist-mount system. I would love to have this to wear at our meetup a week-and-a-half from now. So, stay tuned...

[granz]

I just ordered five DS3231 RTC (Real Time Clock) modules (https://www.amazon.com/AT24C32-Replace-Arduino-Batteries-Included/dp/B09SHRWHQ3) from Amazon. The PicoMite manual claims that these clocks should maintain accuracy to within a minute over an entire year.

These modules have coin cell holders on the back, but I will be connecting the module directly into the CrowPanel's hardware, so will run them without the backup. Cutting the holder off the board should make it thin enough to fit under the LCD module, next to the battery pack. Since this watch is supposed to be on all the time (recharging every night,) that should work.

[granz]

I just ordered five DS3231 RTC (Real Time Clock) modules (https://www.amazon.com/AT24C32-Replace-Arduino-Batteries-Included/dp/B09SHRWHQ3) from Amazon. The PicoMite manual claims that these clocks should maintain accuracy to within a minute over an entire year.

Well, it's good that I ordered the RTCs; my watch time is about five seconds fast, over about 23 hours. While not much, that works out to be two and a half minutes in a month, and half an hour over a year. I prefer more accurate than that. With the DS3231, it should be only about a minute of drift over a year (according to the PicoMite manual.)

[granz]

Well, I got my CrowPanel mounted to the wrist support again. It is on the charger, and I will be taking it out for the day tomorrow. Hopefully it will last the entire day, and my arm won't feel like it (my arm, not the watch) is falling off.

[granz]

This time the watch stuck to the band (wrist support band) for eight hours - improvement, but still not good. While it was still hanging on, I thought about getting some kind of plate, just bigger than the CrowPanel, with two "slots" along the sides. The CrowPanel could be mounted to the plate, and then the band (whatever band I end up with) could be threaded through the two slots, and around my wrist. That would be much more stable.

On the "data gathering" side, it was not really too heavy, and while a bit awkward in size, I was able to get along with it pretty well. A few people did notice, and thought that it was pretty cool. It was kind of fun explaining what I was doing, too.

Church tomorrow, and Dr. appointment on Monday morning; so Monday afternoon I will start looking for that "plate". I want to be able to wear it all day before the end of next week.