Gemma project idea (public speaking timer)

General project help for Adafruit customers

Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
Locked
User avatar
gnarvaez
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2014 12:07 pm

Gemma project idea (public speaking timer)

Post by gnarvaez »

I am often in situations where I have to present on something for 10, 15 or 20 minutes (often I don't know until I am to present). It would be nice to have a timer that vibrates (or other haptic feedback–-no piezo or flashing lights, but would consider having my cat lick my ear... never mind – too much information, I suppose she thinks I am her mommy or something)

I have used my Fitbit to do this, but the setup is a bit awkward. It would be nice if it was something like a pendant or something that clicks to a belt (not visible), that one can setup for a given amount of time (does not need to be precise... though 4 minute interval would be ideal as it would help me with pour over coffee prep.) So let's say that it has one setup switch (4, 10, 15, 20 – that would be something that can be done with 2bits), then another off switch that one can press discreetly (think of how the FitBit One works).

I suppose I could make something... but has someone already made something like it?

User avatar
Franklin97355
 
Posts: 23903
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:33 pm

Re: Gemma project idea (public speaking timer)

Post by Franklin97355 »

I don't know of any projects like that. I'm going to move this thread to the general projects forum so it will get more coverage since this could be done with different micros.

User avatar
lyndon
 
Posts: 281
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 5:28 pm

Re: Gemma project idea (public speaking timer)

Post by lyndon »

I don't know how you'd find it, but Peter Drucker (yes, the business/management guy) wrote an article about his wife starting a business to create something like that. She got tired of sitting in the back of conference rooms and giving him hand motions when he was running out of time, so she designed a product to alert speakers of their time limits and started a business to sell them.

OK, it's called Visivox. I found an article about it here: http://www.fdu.edu/newspubs/magazine/05sf/drucker.html

User avatar
adafruit_support_mike
 
Posts: 67391
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 2:51 pm

Re: Gemma project idea (public speaking timer)

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

It's fairly easy to make a rough timer with a small microcontroller like a Trinket or Gemma.

The 'millis()' function tells you how many milliseconds it's been since the power was turned on, and they're 32-bit integers so you can measure intervals up to about 50 days. The basic code would look like this:

Code: Select all

uint32_t ENDPOINT = 0;
int STEP_SIZE = 4 * 60 * 1000;  //  use 4 minute increments
boolean RUNNING = false;

void setup () {
    ENDPOINT = millis();
    
}

void loop () {
    if ( buttonPress() ) {
        if ( ! RUNNING ) {
            RUNNING = true;
            ENDPOINT = millis();
        }
        ackButton();
        ENDPOINT += STEP_SIZE;
    }
    if ( ENDPOINT < millis() ) {
        RUNNING = false;
        runBuzzer();
    }
    sleep( 1000 );
}
where 'buttonPress()' looks for pulses from an external button, 'ackButton()' flashes an LED so you know the press has been registered, and 'runBuzzer()' toggles a mini vibration motor (https://www.adafruit.com/product/1201).

Take a look at the Space Invader Pendant project for ideas about wiring the hardware: https://learn.adafruit.com/trinket-slas ... er-pendant

Locked
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.

Return to “General Project help”