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  1. Home
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  3. wristwatches that invite development

wristwatches that invite development

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  • NeverDieN NeverDie

    A possibility would be to get a waterproof shell, such as:
    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32983519082.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.144f3c00YcDlHq&mp=1
    and then craft your own DIY PCB with battery and display to fit inside it. If you put your buttons in the same place as the corresponding apple watch that the case is meant for, then presumably it would work. And it would be waterproof!

    J Offline
    J Offline
    Jon Raymond
    wrote on last edited by
    #16

    @NeverDie said in wristwatches that invite development:

    craft your own DIY PCB with battery and display to fit inside it. If you put your buttons in the same place as the corresponding apple watch that the case is meant for, then presumably it would work. And it would be waterproof!

    So like this or this? Even has full open source Arduino firmware. Really an impressive project!

    NeverDieN 1 Reply Last reply
    3
    • J Jon Raymond

      @NeverDie said in wristwatches that invite development:

      craft your own DIY PCB with battery and display to fit inside it. If you put your buttons in the same place as the corresponding apple watch that the case is meant for, then presumably it would work. And it would be waterproof!

      So like this or this? Even has full open source Arduino firmware. Really an impressive project!

      NeverDieN Offline
      NeverDieN Offline
      NeverDie
      Hero Member
      wrote on last edited by NeverDie
      #17

      @Jon-Raymond said in wristwatches that invite development:

      So like this or this? Even has full open source Arduino firmware. Really an impressive project!

      BINGO! Yes, exactly like that. He did such a good job I'd say the hardware development is effectively done. Now just leverage his Sandeep compatible arduino code by adding the Sandeep compatible Mysensors Arduino core software to it, and we're all good to go!

      monteM 1 Reply Last reply
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      • NeverDieN NeverDie

        @Jon-Raymond said in wristwatches that invite development:

        So like this or this? Even has full open source Arduino firmware. Really an impressive project!

        BINGO! Yes, exactly like that. He did such a good job I'd say the hardware development is effectively done. Now just leverage his Sandeep compatible arduino code by adding the Sandeep compatible Mysensors Arduino core software to it, and we're all good to go!

        monteM Offline
        monteM Offline
        monte
        wrote on last edited by
        #18

        @NeverDie but why do you need Mysensors in a wrist watch? :)

        M NeverDieN 2 Replies Last reply
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        • monteM monte

          @NeverDie but why do you need Mysensors in a wrist watch? :)

          M Offline
          M Offline
          Mishka
          wrote on last edited by
          #19

          @monte 1) To control all the sensors and 2) to be monitored by the network.

          monteM 1 Reply Last reply
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          • J Offline
            J Offline
            Jon Raymond
            wrote on last edited by Jon Raymond
            #20

            @NeverDie

            If you can fit your code modifications into an nRF52832 then you can buy an off the shelf watch. All the hard work is done. It's even on sale currently :)

            NeverDieN 1 Reply Last reply
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            • M Mishka

              @monte 1) To control all the sensors and 2) to be monitored by the network.

              monteM Offline
              monteM Offline
              monte
              wrote on last edited by
              #21

              @Mishka sensor to sensor communication is pretty complicated thing by itself, you would need to implement pretty big piece of controller software in your watch. And even then it terms of UI I don't think it will be very useful if you already have any controlling app in your phone.
              The idea to track presence of a watch to detect if user is at home is a nice use case though.

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              • monteM monte

                @NeverDie but why do you need Mysensors in a wrist watch? :)

                NeverDieN Offline
                NeverDieN Offline
                NeverDie
                Hero Member
                wrote on last edited by NeverDie
                #22

                @monte said in wristwatches that invite development:

                @NeverDie but why do you need Mysensors in a wrist watch? :)

                It's called an ARM processor because it only processes when it's on your arm. I thought everybody knew that already. That's why they capitalize ARM: for added emphasis, to keep people from forgetting. ;-)

                monteM 1 Reply Last reply
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                • J Offline
                  J Offline
                  Jon Raymond
                  wrote on last edited by Jon Raymond
                  #23

                  Another option of you want to want to go the ESP32 route.

                  Github link to source

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                  • NeverDieN NeverDie

                    @monte said in wristwatches that invite development:

                    @NeverDie but why do you need Mysensors in a wrist watch? :)

                    It's called an ARM processor because it only processes when it's on your arm. I thought everybody knew that already. That's why they capitalize ARM: for added emphasis, to keep people from forgetting. ;-)

                    monteM Offline
                    monteM Offline
                    monte
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #24

                    @NeverDie I guess that's the reason why esp32 is bad for wristwatch))

                    1 Reply Last reply
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                    • J Jon Raymond

                      @NeverDie

                      If you can fit your code modifications into an nRF52832 then you can buy an off the shelf watch. All the hard work is done. It's even on sale currently :)

                      NeverDieN Offline
                      NeverDieN Offline
                      NeverDie
                      Hero Member
                      wrote on last edited by NeverDie
                      #25

                      @Jon-Raymond said in wristwatches that invite development:

                      It's even on sale currently

                      Is that for sure the watch with the new nRF52840 design inside it, or is that some other Cortex M4 watch with only the case that gets used by the upgraded design?

                      J 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • NeverDieN Offline
                        NeverDieN Offline
                        NeverDie
                        Hero Member
                        wrote on last edited by NeverDie
                        #26

                        If it were me, I'd prefer a lower power display than the TFT, but since he's probably recycling the display from the original watch in order to keep a perfect fit, I can't really fault him for sticking with the original screen.

                        1 Reply Last reply
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                        • NeverDieN NeverDie

                          @Jon-Raymond said in wristwatches that invite development:

                          It's even on sale currently

                          Is that for sure the watch with the new nRF52840 design inside it, or is that some other Cortex M4 watch with only the case that gets used by the upgraded design?

                          J Offline
                          J Offline
                          Jon Raymond
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #27

                          @NeverDie said in wristwatches that invite development:

                          Is that for sure the watch with the new nRF52840 design inside it, or is that some other Cortex M4 watch with only the case that gets used by the upgraded design?

                          The watch linked from Banggood has a nRF52832 in it which is re-programmable. If you want a nRF52840 then you would need to assemble a custom board in that case. The most recent project log claims a 2 week battery life with the stock reprogrammed nRF52832 and TFT screen. If true, I honestly I don't know if you can ask for much more. My Pebble Time had a 7-8 day battery life and that was mind blowing compared to the Apple watches available at the time.

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                          • monteM Offline
                            monteM Offline
                            monte
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #28

                            Look at this one: http://joesul.li/van/watch/

                            NeverDieN 1 Reply Last reply
                            1
                            • monteM monte

                              Look at this one: http://joesul.li/van/watch/

                              NeverDieN Offline
                              NeverDieN Offline
                              NeverDie
                              Hero Member
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #29

                              @monte Did he ever post his build files anywhere?

                              monteM 1 Reply Last reply
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                              • NeverDieN NeverDie

                                @monte Did he ever post his build files anywhere?

                                monteM Offline
                                monteM Offline
                                monte
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #30

                                @NeverDie I have no idea, I've just found link to this page on twitter.

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                                • monteM Offline
                                  monteM Offline
                                  monte
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #31

                                  Nice video, showing some options for a good price https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-ZMQaasfAo

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                                  • NeverDieN Offline
                                    NeverDieN Offline
                                    NeverDie
                                    Hero Member
                                    wrote on last edited by NeverDie
                                    #32

                                    Hackaday writes about the SMA-Q2 smartwatch and the nRF52840 version: https://hackaday.com/2020/01/30/sma-q2-smart-watch-is-completely-hackable/ This is the same github project that Jon Raymond linked to above.

                                    I can't help but think that the hardware could be simplified and laid out to make it easier for DIY assembly. If it were me, I'd keep the pushbuttons and supercap, change to a different nRF52840 module that's easy to hand solder, drop the external RTC, drop the external watch crystal, drop the heartrate monitor hardware, and drop the mosfet, opamp, and vibrator. I might even ditch the accelerometer. Dropping all those components would free up a lot of space and help a lot with ease of assembly, and it would reduce the power requirements. I guess I'd be stuck with the given display, since it's what fits the watch.

                                    It would be barebones, but it would be good enough for running and controlling mysensors.

                                    However, for intercom capability, I'd try to add a tiny microphone/speaker combo, but only because I happen to want that. As an example, this MEMS speaker is just 6.7mmx4.7mm in size:
                                    alt text
                                    and yet manages an audio frequency range of 2khz-20khz.
                                    https://www.usound.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/1912_Adap-UT-P-2017-Datasheet.pdf
                                    Anyone here knows of something even smaller/better?

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                                    • NeverDieN Offline
                                      NeverDieN Offline
                                      NeverDie
                                      Hero Member
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #33

                                      Quite a large number of inexpensive nRF51/nRF52832 watches which appear to have already been hacked, documented, and made available for others to now hack too: https://github.com/curtpw/nRF5x-device-reverse-engineering

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