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Pseudonymous maker “jefmer” has taken a compact keyboard equipment and turned it into a private digital assistant (PDA) — including standalone smarts and a pair of sunlight-readable reflective shows, proving its capabilities by writing the gadget’s software program on the gadget itself.
“I take pleasure in programming and get pissed off that tablets and laptops will not be actually usable in direct daylight,” jefmer writes of the inspiration behind the undertaking, which takes as its inspiration pocket-friendly PDAs from the ’80s and ’90s. “The Pocket Pad prototype is my try to provide a small PDA like gadget that I can use within the nice outdoor. To this finish, I’ve mixed a PocketType miniature 40% keyboard with two very low energy [Sitronix] ST7302 monochrome shows and a Good!Nano nRF52840 based mostly controller board.”
This throwback gadget goals to ship a usable improvement atmosphere in even the brightest of daylight. (📷: jefmer)
The keyboard is an off-the-shelf equipment, designed to place an ortholinear structure in an especially small area. Usually, a footprint on the bottom-left of the keyboard performs host to an Arduino Professional Micro-compatible microcontroller board that acts because the keyboard’s controller — however within the Pocket Pad’s case, this has been swapped out for a Good!Nano with a extra highly effective Nordic nRF52840.
Above the keyboard, jefmer has added a pair of compact 2.13″ 250×122 monochrome Sitronix ST7302 shows. “This show is just like a Sharp Reminiscence Show in that has no backlight and it permits a lot quicker updates than ePaper shows,” the maker explains. “In low energy mode with body refresh set to 4Hz, every show makes use of on common 30 microamps. It’s [also] versatile, in that, in excessive energy mode it may possibly replace at a 32Hz body fee with present consumption nonetheless lower than 1 milliamp.”
The PDA contains assist for notifications from each Apple and Android gadgets. (📷: jefmer)
The software program for the PDA is written in Gordon Williams’ Espruino, a JavaScript port constructed for embedded microcontrollers. Whereas the show and keyboard drivers had been developed off-device, together with a textual content editor, the remainder of the gadget’s software program was developed on the Pocket Pad itself in a powerful feat of bootstrapping.
“The editor can open and edit all the JavaScript information saved on the gadget,” jefmer explains. “After all, which means that it’s attainable to trigger a crash that may solely be repaired utilizing the WebIDE, nevertheless, it additionally means the gadget can be utilized to improve itself and repair issues on the fly. The editor makes use of the arrow keys to navigate and choose textual content, and helps the standard copy, reduce and paste operations.”
The gadget ought to run for as much as six months on a single battery cost, its creator estimates. (📷: jefmer)
Along with the editor, jefmer has written a clock software, Bluetooth assist for notifications from related Android or iPhone gadgets, and an app that permits it to behave as a Bluetooth keyboard for different computer systems. “For a future model,” the maker muses, “I can’t resolve between a clamshell on the strains of a Psion PDA or a pill format which might be extra sturdy as hinge-less.”
The undertaking is documented in full on jefmer’s Hackaday.io web page; the supply code is obtainable on GitHub beneath an unspecified license, together with the maker’s different Espruino initiatives.
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