Tweets
Replying to @josecastillo
Yellow also alternates two patterns on the LCD, using system ticks to know when to change the pattern. But it falls to green to do the penultimate test: the RTC and Sensor Board Connector. That test involves blinking red and green, but I noticed a problem: the new boards weren’t.
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Replying to @josecastillo
The tester looks complex, but it’s easy to use: the red button flashes the bootloader, which pulses the red LED. The yellow button tests the buttons, LEDs, buzzer & LCD: the FlexyPins from @arturo182 let the QT Py “press” each button, which makes the watch show a color and beep…
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Depaneling and testing the first 10 Sensor Watch boards, featuring the @MicrochipMakes SAM L22! Panels by @PCBWayOfficial, PCBA by @MakeAugusta. (disclosure: PCBWay did give me a sponsorship discount on the panels, but I’m just shouting out everyone in this tweet.) Testing notes:
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Replying to @bigattichouse
I like that.
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WIP: mission statement. https://oddlyspecificobjects.com/about/
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RT @TheBlondeRN: To anyone and everyone who thought this couldn’t possibly happen, I hope you do some self reflection. Especially you big c…
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Replying to @MakeAugusta, @arturo182 and @PCBWayOfficial
I splurged (“splurged”) for easily removable labels so folks could reuse the antistatic bags, tho I guess it’ll be a moot point once I run out of press to seal and start using these.
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Those segmented displays are so hot right now! https://twitter.com/BlitzCityDIY/status/1543245427193126913
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RT @MohitBhoite: .@josecastillo’s LCD FeatherWing arrived just in time before the long weekend for me to experiment with! https://t.co/o3pv…
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Replying to @bateskecom, @MakeAugusta and @PCBWayOfficial
I was using press to seal, but I found that opening the bags first was a huge time sink. That, and the small 4-inch heat sealer was surprisingly affordable at McMaster, and fits everything from the watch to the book.
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Big Friday: packaging stuff arrived from New Jersey, boards arrived from Georgia, and I just flashed the first of the Sensor Watch backer boards. Building up my operations in Texas at lightning speed. tons of paperwork still to do tho.
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Replying to @josecastillo
also, side note: after one too many times dealing with ruby dependency hell, friendship ended with Jekyll. now Hugo is my best friend. seriously, this awesome syntax highlighting “just worked” right out of the box; I just love it. https://gohugo.io
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The first LCD FeatherWing boards should be arriving to folks today! If you’re among the folks getting one, check out the new and improved docs page: now with lots more detail on the character set, API details for working with indicators, plus SVG diagrams! https://oddlyspecificobjects.com/products/lcdwing/
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Replying to @tannewt, @DavidGlaude, @GuoPeter and @tindie
Ladyada said in show and tell that Adafruit would be interested in stocking it, I’ve just been too scattered this week to reach out.
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Replying to @DavidGlaude, @GuoPeter and @tindie
When I was shipping Open Book boards, packages sent USPS international could take multiple months to arrive, and I had one returned to me after NINE MONTHS floating around in their system. I never want to do that again.
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Replying to @DavidGlaude, @GuoPeter and @tindie
I feel awful about the shipping cost, and for what it’s worth I’d originally only planned to ship to the US for that reason. I had a request to ship to Germany, and that’s the only reason I opened it up; alas, USPS international is very unreliable, and UPS is very expensive :(
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finally broke down and designed this sign that’s been stuck in my head for ages.
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Replying to @digikey and @Raspberry_Pi
10KΩ resistor! Such versatility.
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Replying to @theavalkyrie and @bradanlane
actually holy wow, maybe not? Admittedly not as many GPIOs as the 24QFN I’d prefer, but this could be useful. https://www.digikey.com/short/383hc5q2
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Replying to @josecastillo
The experiment continues: https://io.adafruit.com/joeycastillo/dashboards/lcd-featherwing-battery-test
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Replying to @josecastillo
A reminder, this is a 400 mAh battery, the kind that fits between Feather headers. The battery % as measured by the fuel gauge seems to be all over the place; maybe I misconfigured it, IDK. But the battery voltage is sitting just south of nominal: 3.6 V. Maybe another week or so?
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Meanwhile, let’s check in on day eight of the LCD FeatherWing battery test. Before I share graphs, here’s what it looks like when it transmits data. It’s a good example of the kinds of stuff the LCD is good at showing: temperature, signal strength, and a moon when in Deep Sleep.
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THIS IS SO COOL! In which VK2XOR exports temperature data using a beepy piezo buzzer and old-school Radio TeleType. This is happening on a dev board, but when he gets his Sensor Watch he’s hoping to apply this method on the hardware. Sound up for this one! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFByjoQKn0U
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Replying to @emmafletcher and @HelloTidbyt
I should do a whole thread on it, but the gist is there are two points I’m thinking about. I bought all the parts to make 1000, but only had ~300 built. If I sell almost all of those, I break even. If I sell all of them, I can build the other 700, and from there things look good.
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Replying to @josecastillo
if you have a Tidbyt, you can add the @tindie sales applet to your device right now! And if you don’t, you can get one and it’ll ship this week! It’s been so exciting to watch them launch their product even as I was working toward launching mine. 🙌🏽 https://buy.tidbyt.com/products/tidbyt
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I really want to stay on top of my Tindie sales: partly to know when I’m gonna break even, but mostly so I know when I have to ship things. So last night I wrote an app for Tidbyt, the internet-connected retrofuturist display built by my colleagues in NYC. https://www.tidbyt.com
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RT @Hacksterio: .@josecastillo is bringing back the vintage segment LCD with a smart new FeatherWing board: https://bit.ly/3ytYDkJ https:/…
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Replying to @molecularist
they are, yes!!
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Not one thing about this suggested topic is correct.
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Replying to @josecastillo
Looking back, this design didn’t change much from idea to execution. Icons all the same. AM/PM got a font swap. And moving all pins to the top let me make the display slimmer and the active area bigger. Still for the most part, all the elements were there! https://twitter.com/josecastillo/status/1495607814080937989
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ALRIGHT!!! LCD FeatherWing is live at @tindie, and shipping to U.S. buyers TODAY! Fully assembled in terms of surface mount components; you just have to solder the LCD and the Feather header pins.
$15.95 plus shipping — affordable! https://www.tindie.com/products/joeycastillo/lcd-featherwing/(original)
also today: product photography for the LCD FeatherWing. Reflective segment LCDs look great in natural light, but did you know they also look great under a macro lens?
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It’s 10:30 AM on the East Coast and @robojeep and @MakeAugusta are building the first #SensorWatch panel! All ten of these boards are destined for @crowd_supply backers.
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Replying to @GuoPeter
Hopefully tindie soon, but only shipping domestically at first. I’ll definitely post here when the page is live.
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“You don’t have the luxury of asking if an item brings you joy. Instead, look at the sum total of your possessions and ask yourself: Which of these items would cause the most damage to a healthy, 180-pound opponent? Begin training with it immediately.” https://www.everywhereist.com/2018/01/the-hot-decluttering-trend-for-2018-american-apocalypse-purging/
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meanwhile: LCD FeatherWing one step closer to taking flight! First 30 boards tested and packaged up with documentation. Tomorrow, product photography and copy writing; I’d love to have these available for sale by the end of the week.
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Replying to @T0M_Af
Later this summer, I hope!
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Tired: “Run this Arduino sketch to do one-time setup.”
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Replying to @josecastillo
Haven’t done a wordle in months, but my dad just got it in two so I had to try my luck. Wordle 372 3/6*
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Replying to @bksutherland
Thanks! And rechargeables are the goal; the Pi Pico’s buck/boost is designed to work down to 1.8 volts, which two NiMH batteries should be able to deliver for most of their life. Still I will have to test it, and make sure to monitor the voltage so we don’t over-discharge.
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Replying to @lixielabs and @attiegrande
For two-sided boards, when I really want to model both sides, I like to chop it in half and print each side face-up on a 0.6mm base. Add some double sided tape and you end up with something resembling a 1.6mm PCB.
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Replying to @lixielabs
All the time! FDM dummies, fake “boards” laser cut and engraved to check alignment, so many 2D-printed paper craft and cardboard cutouts. I don’t know how to design things any other way.
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Replying to @AlpenglowInd
Thank you! Here’s hoping I can make it real for folks soon. 🤞🏽
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Replying to @gabrielcsapo
Tried it, at least in mock-ups; it’s not as comfortable as you might think. This position seemed to give me the most diverse set of options in terms of what folks could do with an enclosure.
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Replying to @RonnyLam
It’s a work in progress! there are some other photos of the back and sides downthread https://mobile.twitter.com/josecastillo/status/1541075609119608836
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Replying to @bigattichouse
Great feedback, thank you! I should do that.
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Replying to @mpeg4codec
Honestly I think with the three STEMMA ports on the side (two analog capable GPIO and I2C), it’s enough. You can also use the I2C pins as a UART instead!
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backside! I think this design is almost final. The key changes:
- Remove the through-hole UART pins up top. Cool idea. Never once used it.
- Remove the through holes I’m using for power testing; no more exposed power pads up front!
- On/off switch needs to move for UX reasons.
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Replying to @lachlansneff and @theavalkyrie
The original used a SAM D51, which has since become unobtanium. The original was honestly also too difficult to assemble by hand, so this one focuses on low part count, castellated modules like the Pi Pico, and big friendly parts that are easy to hand-solder.
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Replying to @josecastillo
also this is the first time in years I’ve printed in something more fun than black, white or gray: I used thermochromic filament, so it kept changing color as I took photos.
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