Arduino Watch: Crafting a smart timepiece with endless possibilities

Contents hide

1 Step 1: Preparation

2 Step 2: Fixing Dev Board & LCD

3 Step 3: Connect GND

4 Step 4: Connect Power Pins

5 Step 5: Connect LCD Pins

6 Step 6: Remove Power Led

This Instructables show how to make a Arduino Watch from Arduino Watch Core.

Step 1: Preparation

Arduino Dev Board

This time I am using Sparkfun Pro Micro 3.3 V 8 MHz dev board.

Watch Display

This time I am using a ST7789 1.3″ IPS LCD.

Lipo Battery

I have some 301420 Lipo battery in hand.

Lipo Charge Board

I have some 15 mm x 15 mm Lipo charge board in hand.

RTC Chip

This time I am using DS3231M, it built-in crystal oscillator, no extra component required

RTC Battery

This is optional, in case you want to keep the time even Lipo battery used up. MS412FE is a tiny 1 mAh rechargeable battery, according to the RTC datasheet 1 mAh already can keep time many days.

Watch Strap

I have ordered some 20 mm width fabric canvas watch strap.

Others

A diode e.g. 1N5822, four 6 mm M2 screws, copper foil tape and some wires

Step 2: Fixing Dev Board & LCD

Use a small piece of PET plate to stick the Pro Micro and IPS LCD together.

Step 3: Connect GND

Read the LCD datasheet provided by your vendor.

Cut a little copper foil tape just touch all GND pins and LED negative pins and fix it on the FPC plate. Then soldering the pins with copper foil tape.

Step 4: Connect Power Pins

Connect dev board GND Pins to the copper foil tape. Connect Vcc pins to LCD Vcc pin.

Step 5: Connect LCD Pins

Here are the connection summary:

LCD  -> Arduino
LED+ -> GPIO 10
SDA  -> GPIO 16(MOSI)
SCL  -> GPIO 15(SCLK)
RST  -> GPIO 18(A0)
DC   -> GPIO 19(A1)
CS   -> GPIO 20(A2)

Step 6: Remove Power Led

The power LED always on and consume over 1 mA continuously, so it is better remove it. Unsoldering and remove the LED carefully.

Arduino Watch