Display Rotation Mechanism

So basically I had this genius idea to use 2 displays, because the MIP is great for an always on display, whilst the OLEDs are great for vibrant color, high refresh rates and stuff.

So I spent a good 20 minutes making this drawing for you!

What this basically does, as described in step one, you have a point of rotation the red dot, which is connected to the dark-blue via a rod or something.

This basically allows the display to come outwards, and rotate freely. Thus, in step 2, that's exactly what we do. The display is pushed outwards by the rotation of the red piece.

Step 3 just demonstrates how it rotates, as it rotates a bit.

Step 4 shows it going back in, with the red piece continuing to rotate, almost 180° from its origin, whilst the main display has also, now with the MIP side up, instead of the OLED. This way, ideally with just the movement of a single button, the screen will be able to flip from the OLED to the MIP and vice versa.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (screen and lte and pcb stuff)

did you see that? 60/60 chars.
just cause i felt like it

LTE and PCB stuff

So simple stuff simple, I discovered that jlcpcb actually does provide the numbers to impedance match their flexible pcbs, thus I am now leaning towards having one, maybe two, stacked fpcs with everything I need on them.

Doing some calculations, it seems that my 50Ω trace will result in 40Ω~60Ω, which should be alr. The trace is gonna be quite thin, just 0.06mm, so that is something, but jlc's minimum is ~0.05mm (for fpcs)

I looked through their capabilities and re-setup all the DRC rules, so it should be alright now.

This stuff also means I can use the SIM7090G, and its ultra compact form factor. Hmmmmmm ...

Displays

Ok, this is a special thanks to @Sasha!

They suggested that I use a special thing called an MIP display, that is like an E-Paper, however it can handle 1hz+ refresh, making it possible to use as an actual watch!

I am currently talking to Steven McGough from andersdx.com about one of their colour MIPs, however I'm not sure its gonna work. Mouser & Digikey both have displays too, but they are quite expensive. Let's see what Mr. McGough says.

2.8hrs

GNSS & LTE || retro_journal ||

Ok firstly, all my progress was wiped, and journaling takes me like 10~20 minutes a time, so...

Anyways, this is going to have to be a bit of a speedrun.

I am going to use the SimCom sim7080G LTE/GNSS chip as it is a quite versatile chip and looks set to me. It contains an in-built GNSS, however it isn't as good, and most importantly it is quite high-power consumption.

So, for lower power continuous GNSS reception, I am going to use the u-blox MAX-M10S, as it is a quite small low power chip. As I don't have too much space, unfortunately I'm going to have to use the same antenna for all three ports, through an RF switch.

As I said, that would be the pcs.55.a:

That said, I am still considering a separate antenna for GNSS...

I am also considering the SIM7090G, as it is quite tiny, however has a nasty footprint that requires either standard soldering or me doing it myself.

As my progress got wiped, I may have missed something, but I should come back and get it if I remember or look back over this.

I am including research I have been doing. To this point I've spent around 25~30 hours, that I will only log a part of. (This message will also be repeated on retroactive journals)

3.3 hrs

| In between Journal | Antenna, Power Management

Took a look at some cool chips, and it looks like Analog Devices Inc./Maxim Integrated's MAX17048 should work well as a fuel guage chip, something that tells you the battery percentage, as it is absolutely tiny, like the size of 2x 0402s, and consumes a tiny amount of power.

Furthermore, I did some research on the antenna, especially to double-triple check its ok. As of now, I'm going for the Taoglas PCS.55.A

It's a really wide-band antenna, with best performance at the GNSS sweat spot.

(Still not great, but you get what you get)

higher is better in the above image

Anyways, yeah it requires some precise ground planes, etc, and i'm probably going to have to tune it myself so... oh well it should be more or less fine even if it is a bit off, and i'll just use whatever the recommended ground plane size are.

My current plan is to have 3 pcbs, 1x 6-layer for the main circuits, for $2 from JLC, alongside 2x flex-pcbs, however they'll be built together, then scissor cut apart.

1.2 hrs

Screens! Screens! Come get your Screens! || retro_journal ||

As if there weren't a sufficient amount of screens in the title, and for some reason your brain just couldn't keep up, yes, in fact, I am talking about screens. And, as the title that you definitely read suggests, this is a retroactive journal. Couldn't fit the entire thing because I'm already at 60 chars, y'know, and I am not allowed more than that.

My first ideas

So I was originally thinking that I would have a setup like my original watch, with a board for the screen.

It would be like this one.

But in the interest of not making my watch as fat as the last one, I can't really use such a thick display, especially considering the back side.

That white part is actually quite thick.

Ok, so then you ask, how about just a plane panel? Well I researched those, quite a bit, and the final version will have something related to that. I don't quite want to spoil my vision yet, but believe me it's gonna be sick!

Here's a hint:

Anyways,

My new idea

After seeing the watch featured on blueprint's page (sandgum's ES_01), I have seriously considered using an E-ink display. In this setup, the watch would only update the minutes once every 5 or so, and the seconds would only update on request. This way, we don't wear down the E-INK too much. I might have a tiny oled to take care of the seconds/precise minutes, or I might just bite the bullet and replace my displays frequent-ish-ly.

Another Idea (but it's gonna be hard)

So I was also thinking that I could have an E-INK base, plus a clear OLED to show other stuff on command, but I can't find any modules (after a significant search) that also have built in touch panels, so...

ok
i

i
have
to
tell you something.

Its about ChatGPT.
We all know its a failure.
but.
but i still asked it for help.
I asked it to find me the display I wanted.
and it left me speechless

like really, speechless.

Chat has litterally never impressed me.
And out of the blue, it just worked.
it worked.
IT WORKED!!!

ChatGPT actually found me a display.
IT ACTUALLY FOUND ME A DISPLAY!

Here's the link! https://www.smartdisplaytech.com/transparent-display-oled-screen.html

So yeah. I guess I already revealed my entire plan. I'm going to have a double display, with the E-INK under, and the OLED on top.

Ideally, I'd also have a full-colour display, such as the https://www.waveshare.com/product/1.54inch-lcd-module.htm, or the https://www.waveshare.com/product/1.69inch-lcd-module.htm

hmm.. i'll need to find touch displays for them. Well anyways, even thought this was supposed to be a retroactive journal, this turned out to also include a lot of work from today! In reality, I've spent like 15 hours on looking for displays, but I only really remember like 5~7 hours of it, so well that's how much I'm recording

P.S

Also, I really wanted to make something look like this board: https://www.waveshare.com/esp32-s3-touch-amoled-2.06.htm?sku=31957

here's its schematic. Maybe I'll use it...

https://files.waveshare.com/wiki/ESP32-S3-Touch-AMOLED-2.06/ESP32-S3-Touch-AMOLED-2.06.pdf

I am including research I have been doing. To this point I've spent around 25~30 hours, that I will only log a part of. (This message will also be repeated on retroactive journals)

5.8 hrs

Project Outline: Brainstorming

I have previously built a watch, however it sort of failed miserably. Like look how fat it is:

So yeah. This is going to be a complete redesign, Mk2 watch, completely leveled up.

Last time, other than a watch, I had:

1. Wifi
2. Bluetooth
3. GNSS (GPS)
4. LCD
5. Touch
6. Buzzer
7. 1x Push Button
8. A really Ugly Case.

This time, we are going to have an aboslutely stacked watch

With:
([ac] being almost certainly)

1. Wifi [maybe: probably not]
2. Bluetooth [maybe]
3. 2xGNSS (GPS + GLONASS [ac] + BD [ac])
4. LTE (I know this is big!!)
5. E-INK Main Display
6. 2x OLED/TFT Folding Display (more to come about this)
7. IMU (Hopefully 9-axis) [ac]

I am including research I have been doing. To this point I've spent around 25~30 hours, that I will only log a small part of. (This message will also be repeated on retroactive journals)

1.5 hrs