ZSWatch – Open-source Zephyr-based smartwatch

https://github.com/jakkra/ZSWatch

by _Microft • 4 years ago

181 44 4 years ago

github.com

amelius• 4 years ago

This guy should seriously consider going to a CNC shop for the case.

CuriousCosmic• 4 years ago

While I'd generally agree, the README even says that the casing and dock are both in the middle of being redesigned.

No point paying out for CNC metal when you can churn out a $1 print every day or two and make changes each step of the way. Maybe when the design is stable it'd be worth it but definitely not right now.

wayvey2• 4 years ago

I'd probably buy one just because of how polished it is while still being DIY and open source. I don't really have the resources to make one myself at the moment. Would love to tinker with one of these, especially the software side. Great project!

Jakkra7• 4 years ago

Keep an eye out, my next version will be easier to build. We'll see if I can manage to get a small batch built that sell.

omershapira• 4 years ago

Whenever someone shows a labor-of-love working demo of a wearable, SOC, OS, shell, circuit, power and all, I'm reminded that there are so many ways to make to make this happen nowadays, there's no shortage of ways to reproduce these ideas at moderate scale and budget, and yet for some reason there are no fashion watches or flip-phones today. Sensorwatch [1] is the closest I could think of.

I would _really_ love to see a fashion watch brand do BLE sync on a device and display something low attention demand on the 7-segment or matrix display. Casio and their likes managed to cram impressive functionality into featurewatches (is that a term?) in the 80s, and those things were gorgeous looking, and demanding very little unwarranted attention.

we_have_to_go_back.gif

edit: new RTOS watch is incredible, this rant is orthogonal.

[1] https://www.sensorwatch.net

ofrzeta• 4 years ago

Sensorwatch looks nice. However I just recently learned that the Casio F-91W (also worn by US president Obama) has become known as the “Terrorist Watch" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F-91W#Usage_in_terrorism). And allegedly wearing it would put you under scrutiny of US immigration / homeland security agencies. Replacing the board would not exactly help in that situation I guess :) Then again you could probably travel the rest of the world with it without problems.

kramerger2• 4 years ago

According to secret documents [...] released by The Guardian, "the Casio F-91W digital watch was declared to be 'the sign of al-Qaeda' and a contributing factor to continued detention of prisoners by the analysts stationed at Guantanamo Bay

Where does homeland security find these security analysts? UFO conspiracy conventions? Guilde of unemployed fortune tellers?

slim2• 4 years ago

You make it sound like a negative, it's cool on my book to wear a watch that would make you theoretically a target for a stupid agent. Especially since there's no obligation for you to wear it for traveling to US.

auveair• 4 years ago

Maybe 20 years ago TSA agents cared, in 2023 nobody gives a shit somebody wears a retro watch.

eternityforest• 4 years ago

There seems to be at least some fashion watches that have smart features, but I think they are limited by the fact that watch people really like analogness.

Flip phones very much still exist and are made all the time, although the version I would consider (A Bluetooth headset with the features of a flip phone, using a smartphone as a backend, so you can leave it in your backpack and not be tempted to check it) doesn't seem to be a big thing.

xrd4• 4 years ago

It's looks so interesting, but:

No GPS.

My BangleJS has GPS but it is really tricky to get it synchronized with the satellites. I go for a run and then check the data and it's missing half of it because it couldn't pull the updates.

AsteroidOS is cool but none of the watches really work well.

I have a recent Samsung watch and the battery life is poor enough that I'm always forgetting to charge it.

Sorry for the buts. This is a really cool project, I just am surprised there isn't a perfect smart watch that's open source. Or even a closed source watch that is hackable.

DoktorDelta• 4 years ago

PineTime might get there one day

Humpelstilzchen2• 4 years ago

There are apps to download the AGPS-data to the Bangle.

xrd4• 4 years ago

I've used those but the instructions aren't clear to me and I'm not always sure that it is synchronized. Hopefully it is just a software issue but it is evident that getting GPS data is not just a matter of connecting to a satellite, there is some preparation the device has to do before it is in a position to get the connection, and that can easily fail.

kramerger2• 4 years ago

No GPS is a plus in my book.

And sometimes it's good to be a little lost, gets you out of your comfort zone and out of your bubble :)

Jakkra7• 4 years ago

Creator here, no GPS because I always have my phone on my, hence no GPS. I designed it for myself. Also this was my first pcb, so did not want to complicate it more than necessary :)

xrd4• 4 years ago

Thanks for the response. I don't mean to diminish what you've made, it looks really, really cool.

Thank you for being so detailed in what you have built. It's terrific you are so open.

I'm not in a position where I can understand whether adding GPS is feasible. I'm saddened that the BangleJS can't reliably pull GPS signals so I'm assuming it is not just adding the hardware.

I just really want a watch with several days battery life and a GPS so I can go for a run without my phone. The BangleJS has amazing battery life, but the GPS is not optimal. It's a software problem as far as I can tell, so maybe easier to resolve.

Thanks again for posting and for responding to my comments.

wayvey2• 4 years ago

wow! first PCB of the watch or first PCB you designed for anything? Either way very impressive. I've been curious to get into PCB design but not sure what id make with that skill yet. Ordering custom boards seems to be quite accessible these days. How did you learn to do all this?

mdaniel• 4 years ago

Does anyone have a rough idea how much something like this would run in quantity=1? I was surprised there wasn't a BOM, which I thought was standard for open source hardware like that

I would expect the display (at $5 +s/h) would dominate the cost, but the processor and ram could, too, if it's like building a PC

bloggie• 4 years ago

nrf52 - $7 Display - $5 Accel - $3 Pulse ox - $12 Haptic driver - $1 Haptic motor - $1 spi flash - $2 Battery charger - $5 Battery LVC - $2 Battery - $3 Buttons - $3 Passives and such - $10 PCB - $25 Total - $79

Prices from octopart and some quick guessing, shipping not included. PCB would be the first to come down in price with even a small quantity, $25 is probably an underestimation with qty=1. Passives and friends can also go up quickly depending on design. There is also an SMT antenna present that could cost a few bucks.

_Microft• 4 years ago

JLCPCB should still have special offers for 4-layer PCBs up to 50mm tall and wide. It might be that you can get five boards made for less than 10€/$. I’ll check later.

Edit: yes, $2 for five pieces of 6-layer, 1.2mm thickness PCBs with ENIG surface finish. Unbelievable, isn’t it? 4-layer, 0.8mm, are possible for a few dollars more if thickness matters a lot (the finish will only be lead-free HASL, though).

Jakkra7• 4 years ago

Creator here, you are not far off. I should share bom with prices, will do that on github.

crote3• 4 years ago

You can just export the BOM from the KiCad source files. No need to commit what is essentially a build artifact to the source repo ;-)

pledess• 4 years ago

I'd wear one if it were "Zephyr-based" in two ways rather than just one: https://github.com/mit-athena/libzephyr/blob/7f1981c62e9d381...

Narishma• 4 years ago

Why is the UI so sluggish?

crote3• 4 years ago

It is completely custom code for a DIY project. Adding more features is usually a priority over making the UI smoother - especially if you are literally the only one using it.

zokier• 4 years ago

Well, the UI is apparently based on this project https://lvgl.io/ which seems like its intended for this sort of purpose, so I think the question of sluggishness is valid.

Jakkra7• 4 years ago

Creator here, Because the MCU is not very powerful. https://www.nordicsemi.com/products/nrf52833 have limited RAM so I cannot flush more than 10% of the screen at a time

crote3• 4 years ago

Wow, this looks really good! It already seems reasonably close to commercially available options, while still being extremely hackable.

I do wonder what the battery life is. That pretty much makes or breaks it actually being a smart watch rather than a cool toy to hack on.

Jakkra7• 4 years ago

Hi, creator here did not know it was shared on hacker news until someone sent me an email.

Battery life is one day with screen always on and about two without. I designed it so that it should have a week battery life with screen not always on, but I have some hw bug so there are some current leak causing only two days life. So I use it every day.

was_a_dev2• 4 years ago

Is the HW bug known, or likely known?

Any possibly soft-fixes via firmware?

solarkraft• 4 years ago

Imagine putting a transflective screen on it, then. Always on and a week of battery life.

squarefoot• 4 years ago

Very beautiful. Although I haven't worn wrist watches for decades, I'd be tempted to buy one just for tinkering.

nix23• 4 years ago

I am a bit sad it's not RTEMS, however really nice project!!!

ZSWatch – Open-source Zephyr-based smartwatch

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