Close

Moving off the board

A project log for Dumbwatch V1

An minimal ATmega328 powered watch with OLED screen

masoMaso 01/18/2022 at 08:410 Comments

A brief update on how the watch is progressing on the breadboard. The below image is the watch in its current state. Still using the UNO for some final debugging of the code. Currently at version 4.5, I'm trying to figure out why a spin on the "blink without delay" example is running four times faster.

Minimal Watch on Breadboard

The next big step for this build is to start focusing more on the breadboard rather than having the devboard tethered to my laptop for code and more importantly power. As demonstrated in the image, a handy breadboard power module is now running the setup. When I first implemented this item I was keen to test the setup on a 3V power source as I intend to use button cell batteries. However, I quickly found out that while the ATmega328 was ok with 3V; the UNO board's regulator wouldn't let it run unless there's 5V going into it. Nevertheless, it was a big lesson in the relationship between devboards and the raw chips that this device will eventually use.

All the parts for the final build have been sourced. Once the quirks in the code are squashed it will finally be time to leave the UNO and ascend to the final barebones form.

Discussions