MakerBotWatch

If you didn’t get the geeky watch you wanted for Christmas you should consider building yourself a MakerBotWatch. The watch is an Arduino, using an ATmega328 microcontroller running the bootloader. The watch has two concentric circles of LEDs for minutes and hours. A vertical row of four LEDs adds in the additional resolution needed to get 60 minutes on the watch face.

The schematic and board layout are available from an SVN repository so you can make your own board. The device will go into production as a kit but currently the laser-cut bezel will not be part of it.

[via Adafruit]

34 thoughts on “MakerBotWatch

  1. Gotta be vonskippy again with his lame comments. Dude, are you missing the point here? to DO stuff! and enjoy while doing it. What have you done and published lately, besides your annoying negativism?

  2. Does anyone know what the as-tested current draw is of this watch? I’m guessing 5 to 10ma at max if you optimize the code… I know digikey sells a Sanyo cr-2032 that’s 200mah and has a decent discharge curve. It could last anywhere from 20 to 40 hours unless I’m missing something.

  3. Not to take away from what he’s done (it looks amazingly cool), but does it seriously need an atmega??

    This could be done using a 555, 2 counters and 2 decoders. Set the watch by adding a button to directly trigger in the counter inputs (incudes cycling). If you want it REALLY accurate, put a 5-limit counter before the minute counter so you can set set minutes instead of 5’s of minutes.

    Hmmm, might need to try this :D

  4. “The watch is an Arduino, using an ATmega328 microcontroller running the bootloader.”

    Why can’t you just say “The watch features an ATmega328 µC with a preinstalled bootloader.” Heck I’m thinking about getting an Arduino board myself but just because it contains an Atmega and you can hook it up to a breadboard with ease. The built in editor of the IDE is crappy as hell and I don’t like the API either. I’ve got my own AVR Libs that I like to use.
    Arduino here, Arduino there. It’s getting worse than the Apple fanboys.

  5. “Me”:It contains an Atmega because it was designed to be compatible with the Arduino software including the bootloader and libs. It is an Arduino in a small round form factor with LEDs as it is also a watch.

  6. DarwinSurvivor: The nice things about the 555 is that you don’t need an xtal to drive it, just RCs. Only using a 555 would not be accurate enough, unless you’re going to drive the 555 with an xtal and support circuitry. But then why use a 555 at all as you could just use a couple not gates? And then, with all that discrete circuitry, the cost is goign to be in the neighborhood of an Atmel MCU anyway but more complex and more board space. If low-power is what is wanted, many AVRs can be run from a 3.2768MHZ clock source at less than 3 volts and run in low-power mode on top of that.

  7. for application especially as watch ATmega328 is not a wise choice. Definitely not power wise. ATmega328 have so much to offer (what not needed or used here) except for power saving. Arduinotard, chose uC for yours application, and not other way around

  8. O.K. the developer chose an Atmega328 and flashed the bootloader for it to be _compatible_ with the Arduino Libs. Does that make it an Arduino?
    From my point of view only the “official” Arduino boards are Arduinos, every other device that is supoprted by the Arduino Libs is just compatible.
    Not everything is an Arduino just because it runs a bootloader and is one of the supported devices.
    I must be my eyes that I cannot see any way to plug an Arduino shield into the watch.

    If I build a battery powered board with an Atmega168 with a singe LED hooked up to PB3, serial pins on a header in order to program the µC (running the Arduino bootloader) and all other I/O pins hardwired to GND, does that make it an Arduino? I’ll stick it into a hat with the LED peeking out.
    Not only is it a stupid blinking hat, it’s an Arduino on your head. Can you imagine all the cool projects you can do with it?

  9. since that’s my makerbot watch i built (thanks bre!) :) i thought i’d pop in…

    for the snarky folks, it’s a cool portable arduino you can always have with your for mobile hacking, a fun SMD kit to make, a fun laser cutting project to make the case. make something better or don’t poop on someone’s project.

    mike, keep up the good work & posts. don’t ever listen to any of the trolls here in the comments, i would delete the ones that are not adding any value and likely ban many of the return-trolls – it would really help the tone of the comments here and also get more people willing to share their projects.

    here are the “rules” i try and promote on the sites i work on (i founded hack-a-day, but do not run it now of course…)

    Posts and comments should be:
    * Adding information, asking researched questions, sharing cool stuff or
    * A well-reasoned critique / criticism

    Comments and posts should not be:
    * Spam, attacks on people, projects, or
    * Mean spirited, not courteous to others or the [site] team

    hack-a-day or any site is only as good as everyone makes it.

  10. Well said pt. Hack-a-day is a terrific site. The various projects posted here spark innovation and spur new ideas. At least they are trying to make a difference and improve ones skills. For all those naysayers and complaining idiots, what are you doing with your life?

    Hack-a-day, keep up the good work.

  11. Dont get me wrong. I do think its a nice project and I’m sure it required quite a lot of work. The chosen µC is overkill though. It’s just that it’s starting to p*ss me off as well that everything must be an Arduino just because its compatible with the Libs. It’s as if you put a “sugar free” sticker on salt.

    If don’t get my point, fine, lots of other people do. Way to go to endorse censorship though, as if we haven’t got a Stasi 2.0 anyways. Ever heard of the “loi HADOPI”? Presumption of innocence is going to die if it isn’t dead already.

  12. pt, if you don’t let the hoards into your home and critique your choice in furnishings by defecating on the sofa, then you’re no better than the Nazis.

    Actually, I’ve been lurking at Thingiverse for the past couple months and I really dig the things you all are doing. Keep up the good work.

  13. Yeah “Not You”, I’m glad you got the message *facepalm*

    Don’t you get that I’m not talking about the project itself but how it is presented by hackaday? The clock is a nice idea and I haven’t seen anything similar but thats not what I was arguing about. Could have postet the same at any other “not an Arduino but well write Arduino because its an Atmega with bootloader” project.

  14. @therian
    Does it say anywhere that the goal of this project is low power consumption? No. The purpose of this project is one of openness and hackability.

    The high horse comment is that you chide them for not conforming to your pre-conceived notions of what a watch project should be.

  15. Oh, Look more blinking leds and the Arduino….

    As to who has done what for artist and hobbyist lets not forget about the Basic Stamp been around for about 10 more years and far more easier to use and program than Arduino. But we don’t see those projects here.

  16. @avrmicro – all time telling devices are useless. time is something people made up, clocks just measure something people made it. you see, it’s all pointless. at least a watch that you make can teach you something :)

    @dog – no one sends in basic stamp projects that’s why there are not a lot of basic stamp projects on any electronics sites.

  17. I’m about to get really angry. Ya’ll pass judgement like you know every in-and-out of this project. I bought (and am assembling/coding for) one of these watches. I believe the point of the “watch” is to not only have a watch functionality, but also a little microprocessor on your wrist. what’s stopping anyone from tearing off the LEDs and adding a wire for different functionality? For instance, someone in the google group has built a “fireworks” display on the LEDs for their new year celebrations.

    For the record, I don’t plan to be using the arduino libs for my development. One, because I already know C and its a lot easier for me to think in that way, and two, because i heard there are problems with the arduino libs and interrupts.

    My plan to make it more viable as a wristwatch is to use a 32.768khz crystal, and go to sleep in the in-between time.

    All of a sudden, this becomes a hackable, hacked platform wristwatch. When you strip the name “Arduino” what at all is wrong with this project?

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