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Revision 3

A project log for Smartwatch 10 Years Ultra-Long Battery Life

Smartwatch wearable, ultra-long life measured in years, no need to recharge.

valentineVALENTINE 11/14/2023 at 15:530 Comments

While waiting on Revision 2 of the PCB, I started working on Revision 3.

In parallel I'm also adding the alarms features in the SW/firmware, going is slow as I have a full-time job, obviously.

For HW Revision 3, I will include:

1. Accelerometer --- steps, body activity, what else? Taps? Since we have no buttons, and no touch screen, the watch enthusiast could use taps and shakes to control certain functions of the watch that would allow for standalone/independent watch operations from the smartphone.

2. Magnetometer --- digital compass feature.

3. Depth sensor --- since the watch has no buttons, it could withstand extreme depths. I really wonder how salient/relevant such a feature could be though, might add it as an optional? Could that watch be used as a dive watch?

4. Altimeter --- again, I'm not really sure how relevant an altimeter would be. An altimeter goes with a GPS, and we don't have a GPS (or not yet, huh), so what gives? Might add it as an optional?

5. Heart/oxygen sensor --- this is a hard no. The body sensors are notorious power hogs and would drop the battery life down to months from years. Case in point, the lowest power blood sensor is about 100uA, which under the best circumstances, if I get really creative with the power management, would drop the life to 1 year.

6. Full power-down battery disconnect --- that's a must, but how (???), since the watch has no buttons? I have a crazy idea, but it needs to be tested because this would involve some really creative work.

7. Screen LCD light with an LED --- that's a hard no. Massive power hog. Yet, again, I have a really crazy idea, but it needs to be tested because this would involve some really creative work and perhaps some legal research.

8. Alarm piezo --- about to test the validity and power consumption.

9. Vibro alarm --- as bad as it sounds from power management standpoint, it might be an option, considering the massive advantage of having a vibro inside the watch.

10. --- ??? Anything else? GPS is a hard no, that's a massive power hog.

11. Atomic clock sync up --- probably also a hard no, unless I find an easy way to do it.

Lots of things to do.

Cheers!

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