Open Digital Checklist

Picked up a really nice looking USB OTG adapter today for a quarter. The best part: Only had a $10 bill, and I saw somewhere there I knew many years ago who gave me a quarter. Saved me $2.70. One step closer to having this project moving again. Still waiting to get paid in the morning, then sorting out budget to see if I can afford to get the rest of the needed supplies for this project. I still NEED to get the Micro HDMI to HDMI adapter in order to get the Raspberry Pi Zero working. I will be buying the version 1.3 Pi Zero with the camera adapter as well, when it is back in stock.

Of all my projects, this is the most exciting to me, as it will replace the little black notebook and pen I carry around constatnly. I am hoping to find a simple way to input new note items into the Raspberry Checklist directly from the little LCD. I may very well make a very tiny keyboard on it using the same type of push buttons that the LCD keypad uses. Just added a bunch on the front, since this thing has to be scaled up to accomodate a big battery anyway. Not set in stone yet. Need a good way to quickly input text into this thing, as well as the code to handle it. Very complicated at this point. May have to make the super simple one first, then start adding the features I dream of on the next version.

After assuming my Raspberry Pi Boards(Versions 2B+ and 3) are damaged from a crappy USB power supply, I have decided to invest the money needed to replace them in everything needed to get the Raspberry Pi Zero ready for testing, and buy a few more as backups. Developing the software on the Raspberry Pi 3 would be much easier, but not accurate to the final hardware, which may very well leave me with something that does not run properly on the Zero. I had considering this for a while, but hadn't committed to developing on the actual hardware just yet. This alos gives me a good reason to buy the new Raspberry Pi Zero with the camera port, and tinker with the idea of including a camera for taking quick picture reminders. Placing the order on adafruit.com, as I have never had a problem with them and have problems with a few other brands recently.

A few weeks ago I started a new job and have been picking up as many hours as I can, leaving me with precious little time to dedicate to my projects. This project has been on hold since my last log entry as NONE of my raspberry Pi boards will work with ANY power supply I put to them. They just give the undervolt warning. As I have bills and such, I cannot justify buying another Raspberry Pi for testing and development. I am probably going to buy an iPad charger as Apple actually makes very good USB chargers, and the iPad charger should give plenty of clean power to the Pi.

I will be getting back to this project ASAP, and think about it every time I need to write something down, or remember something.

Off to add a few more components to the list so I don't forget that I want to use them.

After sorting out all of the wiring, and saving the diagrams needed to run the HD44780 16x2 LCD display from a Raspberry Pi, both of my Pis decided to quite working. I was getting the undervolt wraning on both my Pi2+ and Pi3. I am guessing I hooked the LCD up wrong and fried the power supply, and/or the USB power adapter, as I couldn't get any combination of different cables, adapters, power sources, or Raspberry Pis to work. The entire project has been brought to a screeching halt until I can figure out what happened. At the very least, I may adjust the config files on my SD card to skip the undervolt check and boot my Pi2 anyway. Would rather not risk crashing it a bunch though. I do suspect my Logitech K400 USB adapter may have done some damage, as I plugged it into the Pi while it was still truned on. The adapter was pretty hot when I unplugged it from my desktop, but I didn't think much of it. I am currently using the K400 to write this log, so I know it still works. It very well might draw too much power. I'm probably going to have to invest in a serious USB power supply at this point to avid problems like this in the future.

I did get a few more pictures added, as I have upgraded from the lone 16x2 LCD module to a 16x2 LCD module with a built in 6 button keypad. Though physically larger than I wanted to use, It will force me to make this device a realistic size for an appropriate battery pack.

Other considerations at this point:

1) Change to Raspberry Pi Zero with Camera Port:

- This would allow me to add a decent camera to the project for documenting interesting things, taking pictures before disassembly of things, recording funny moments, or creating visual reminders for future projects.

- I would like to have a dedicated camera buytton or button combination that starts a camera program, then flashes the LED a certain pattern to indicate that the camera is ready.

- All of this depends on being able to take pictures without a view finder, but some sort of physical sight might work, assuming that the camera is capable of auto-focus.

2) Adding a few games to the Pi:

- It would be nice to have a few simple games to run on the LCD as an easy way to clear the mind, and pass some time.

- Would be a great excuse to learn about generating custom characters on the HD44780 LCD modules.

- This would be a great excuse to create an adventure game, text based game, or even simple puzzle or trivia games.

3) Changing the LCD module back light to an RGB LED to enable more advanced organization. Color coded lists, and different priority levels could be added pretty simply.

4) Adding a bigger LCD module based on the HD44780 controller, as I will have to create a bigger device to hold an adequate battery anyway.

- This would allow for more advanced games, displaying larger lists, and less scrolling through large lists.

5) Having the Raspberry Pi programmed directly from Raspbian, instead of running as a USB mass storage device.

- This would allow me to program the device without the use of another PC.

- A certain menu option or button combination may be possible to put it into mass storage mode, if not a default, which could allow me to replace my keychain flash drive.

6) Adding full size HDMI and USB ports.

- This will allow me to use more common cables and such, and will allow ity to run as a full computer, quite easily.

- HDMI may be problematic, may just make a small compartment in the case to hold an adapter.

7) Adding the option to add new list items via the LCD.

- quickly add new items to any list, color code(if using RGB LED backlight).

8) Add vibrating motor for silent alerts.

- would allow for silent alarms and reminders.

- Alarms would need their own menu to set and manage.

- Can color code alarms with the RGB backlight.

9) LED flashlight.

- hardware slider on the side that ties a white LED directly to power from the battery.

10) Using port covers for all ports to avoid pocket lint build up.

Most of these ideas should be possible, but not all of them will be, and will be changed significantly, or even dropped.

Completed as of now:

- acquired 16x2 LCD module with 6 buttons,

- Further defined my project, and organized a few ideas and thoughts.

- Updated log.

- Possibly destroyed 2 Raspberry Pi boards...

- pet a cat. :)

- Ate lunch with a good friend.

I have been putting off thinking through the power options for my e-checklist, simply out of laziness. Decided to take a few minutes on the couch to look into it while I wait to meet up with my friend to start working on our projects again.

a quick google search revealed the following, which I intend to verify later:

•Zero idle - ~65 mA

Disabling HDMI and the on board LED, while running Raspbian Jessie Lite should allow me to run at about 30mA. I plan on looking into under clocking the Zero as well if that's an option. I'm shooting for 16 hours of battery life, so that if I fall short, I may still end up with 10 at a minimum. Considering lithium polymer or lithium ion. Will also look into other options. Might use a physical button as a sleep/wake button and enable auto sleep after a few minutes. Off to start putting the hardware together.

I was thinking about how else to use the features of the Pi and am considering adding a clock with reminders and a strong vibrating motor. In order to keep it simple, I could program them from the LCD interface in a countdown style. 1 day, 4 hours, 30 minutes and have the Pi to translate that to the date and time. I could also have the alerts saved as another list with the option to toggle or delete them. I also really like the physical silence switch on the iPhones and may add one of those. Setting alerts in my windows phone is pretty tedious at times, so I may add something along these lines in the future. Just a random thought that would need a lot more development.

Still trying to figure out how to organize everything on Hackaday.io. Sleep deprived, but I know I need to do this now to get me really motivated to start this ASAP. I keep seeing myself taking my little digital checklist out and checking things off as I go, and it is driving me nuts that I don't have it built yet. I did a few minutes of searching, and didn't really see anything like this out there already. I'm hoping to make this into something truly practical and dependable. I have never built and documented a project like this before, and want to start developing really good habits. I'd love to see my kids recreating some of my projects some day, or at least looking confused by the ridiculous crap I am bound to come up with.

I am thinking about molding a case out of epoxy putty like they sell at the automotive parts stores to fix leaks and such. I made a ball of it and struggled to smash it with a hammer. The stuff is super tough. This eliminates the need for 3D printing, molding, or other methods I don't have access to. I really just like working with my hands too, so that makes epoxy putty that much more appealing to me. I could make an indestructable case for the whole thing and sand and paint it as I please. Have yet to decide on the shape, size, or colors yet. Probably red and black with sharp lines, or even notepad yellow with the lines on it. Probably the latter of the two as it makes more sense.

I have yet to figure out how to power this thing, but am leaning towards lithium polymer batteries. I worry about the battery safety most of anything else involved. If I can build a pocket-friendly device with 15 hours of battery life, I will be a super happy camper.

I know the Raspberry Pi Zero isn't going to be the most economical choice of microcontroller, but it gives me the best options, easiest programming, and a linux computer in my pocket at all times. The documentation for it is amazing, and the platform is well established. I'm a fan of Python, so that makes it much easier for me to get started on the programming. I hope to design and make all the code myself, but will definitely need some help. I plan on diagramming every function of the checklist programming soon, before I even start coding. The entire project must be very well defined before any of the true physical work can be done.

Off to bed, at last. Been thinking about this project for days now, just waiting until I have time to start it on Saturday. Only 3 more days left...