Need help with getting started

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jujugurl
 
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Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2022 3:10 pm

Need help with getting started

Post by jujugurl »

Hi! I'm trying to get started making small wearable devices. Right now I'm focusing on making a simple bracelet/cuff with a screen that displays graphics that I'll make myself. I am looking into purchasing one of these screens: https://www.adafruit.com/product/4262 or https://www.adafruit.com/product/4383. The idea is to 3d print my own cuff that will hold the screen and any other components needed (which would be hidden inside of the cuff). What other components will I need in addition to one of those two screens? I'm still lost with regard to how to load my own graphics onto one a screen. I'm super new to this :( Sorry for the very general questions. I'd appreciate being pointed to helpful resources as well.

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dastels
 
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Re: Need help with getting started

Post by dastels »

While different in the details, https://learn.adafruit.com/pip-boy-2040 has all the elements you'll need: screen, processor board, user input, and battery. It should at least provide some ideas.

Dave

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rmvsintheta
 
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Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2014 1:13 pm

Re: Need help with getting started

Post by rmvsintheta »

idk if you're still looking for recommendations, but I'm currently working on a couple "watch" cuffs myself.

I based mine around:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/5483
which is out of stock at the moment of this writing,

but this should probably work just as well:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/5300

These boards are nice because they have built-in lipo battery charging, TFT screens, and are cheaper than buying a board + display individually.

If you don't want a built-in screen, dastel's recs look good, and then you'd want a main board without a screen, like:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/5477

There are other display options out there though: What kind of size display are you looking for, and what type? Just to note:

Color TFTs:
Pros: relatively inexpensive, color!,
Cons: not so bright outside, power hungry (backlight)

OLEDs:
Pros: High contrast (easier to see outside), more power efficient than TFTs
Cons: Color is v. expensive, OLEDs can become dim over a long time (1000+ hours)

ePaper: (saw this in your OP)
Pros: requires no power to maintain display, image stays even when power is turned off
Cons: in order to not damage, adafruit recommends you refresh at most every ~3 minutes. Not suitable for animations.

Also, the type of connection your display uses will matter:

I2C:
Pros: Very easy to connect for adafruit products (Stemma QT connectors)
Cons: Slow protocol: Probably not very good for high framerate animations with lots of (especially color) pixels.

SPI:
Pros: Very Fast compared to I2C (high framerates EZ)
Cons: A little more annoying to connect to the pins (you have to solder).

There a plenty of examples on linked from the product pages, or search on learn.adafruit.com .

Let me know if you have more questions, I'd be happy to share code if you don't find what you're looking for on learn.adafruit.com .

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