Devlog 5

• fixed all teh issues the review brought up

Devlog 6

updated the case as per reviewer

btw the screws on the front link up to a bar on teh back to keep it even more secure (reviewer look at this)

Devlog 5 - NotGoingToBeLateToSchool

• fixing the repo for submission
• adding mounting holes for the display
• made the entire thing like 4mm larger to make the display fit better

Devlog 4 - NotGoingToBeLateToSchool

finally finished CADing the board (idk if thats a word)

• i kinda had to redo the entire board but oh well yk

the final case

• its in two parts the top piece which is gonna be glued down and the body of the shape which has posts to hold the pcb
• moved the xiao and the display header to the bottom
• i also decided to use headers cuz this is my first time soldering a pcb so thats smth that could make this slightly easier

the problem (cuz obviusly it cant be a smooth process

• the switch is 15.6mm across the plate flange and a 1u dsa cap is 18.4mm
• my keys were on 15.09mm so thats too small
• so the switches overlapped and so did the switch caps and i didnt want to have to cad the caps too
• rerouted everything to make sure it all fits

the new pcb

• 461 tracks, 14 vias, was 284 (basically cut down hella on the overlapping things)
• i still have to make all the angles not right angles (i didnt know abt that until i say it on slack tdy when i was checking my pings (good to know ig))

things that i updated on the cad itself

• had to shift the usb cutout down a ton cuz i didnt account for the header lengths before

firmware

• finished it. 4 alarms with their own days, info pages for weather, hackatime, now playing and world clocks
• put the spinning globe from my hackpad oled on the clock face

next: get it approved so i can get the kit

Devlog 3 - NotGoingToBeLateToSchool

penciled the full case design on paper (with dimensions and math cuz its annoying to have to figure that out by myself)

• paper first then onshape cuz thats easier and i can worry about things like pcb fitting and stuff beforehand
• switched to onshape from fusion and its kinda better cuz “create part studio in context” lets me model the case straight off
  the imported pcb step instead of retyping dimensions
• ill still prolly use fusion a lot, but like im more biased to onshape (thanks blare!)

the shape

• its like a right trapeziod which i shelled
• the pcb is gonna sit on those posts you see and then imma screw it in
• the screen is gonna be in the front openign with teh jumpers and stuff
• thats abt it

next: finishing the CAD

Devlog 2 - NotGoingToBeLateToSchool

firmware is basically done

• wifi + ntp so it knows the time without an rtc
• clock face
• 3x3 matrix scan
• alarm with a buzzer that speeds up the longer you ignore it
• 3 snoozes max, then it makes you type a code on the keypad to kill it

the display was the annoying bit. 284x76 is not a size the st7789 library expects, so it needs init(76, 284) and setOffsets(82, 18) or you get the picture shoved into a corner. and Adafruit_ST7789 makes setOffsets protected, so you have to subclass it just to call it.

posting the cad in more detail next time, sorry (scared of losing my streak)

this is my planned cad design

Devlog 1 - NotGoingToBeLateToSchool

what it is: xiao esp32c3, 3x3 keypad on top of the case, 2.25in st7789
on the front on jumpers. ambient display by day, alarm by night.

features

• auto rotates through weather / hackatime hours / now playing / world clocks
• pulls real iphone notifications over ble with ancs
• at alarm time it pairs as a ble media remote and tells my phone to hit play
  on spotify, so i wake up to music not a piezo
• 3 snoozes max. on the 3rd you type a code on the keypad to kill it
• screen ramps brighter as the alarm approaches, fake sunrise

the board (schematic + pcb done and routed)

• 69.5 x 97mm, 2 layers, 25 footprints
• 284 tracks, 22 vias, about 2.1m of copper
• keys on the top side at 19.05 pitch, everything else underneath so the case
  only shows keycaps
• xiao at the back with usb-c out the rear, display header at the front edge
  so the jumper run is short
• diodes tucked into the gaps between key rows

stuff i got wrong

• thought i could make it a bluetooth speaker. c3 is ble only, no bluetooth
  classic, so a2dp is impossible. hence the ble remote workaround
• spent ages thinking the extra pins on top of the xiao were spare. they’re
  jtag pads for gpio i was already using
• so bl goes to gnd and rst to 3v3 like the docs say. no hardware brightness,
  sunrise ramp is a dimming palette instead
• wanted a rotary encoder, isn’t in the kit. went 3x3 matrix instead, 9 keys
  off 6 pins using diodes already in the box

next: case cad, then firmware