One day build: Self-Care Meter

Overview

Okay, I want some kind of meter that reminds/motivates me to take care of little self care tasks.

This could be basics that sometimes get procrastinated on, like doing the dishes, eating a healthy meal, or going for a walk; to mental health tasks, like reading a book, or taking time to meditate or sit and think; to more aspirational goals, like exercise or completing side projects.

Implementation details

I think there will be a couple major parts in play here:

A block diagram of the below components

  • A 50W 5V switch mode power supply
    • Provides power for all electronics including LEDs
  • A Powerbus mini as the "brains" of the operation, based on the Nordic nRF52840
  • A Powerbus mini expansion card, which has pins broken out, as well as an 8KiB EEPROM for storing data
  • A Solder Party Keyboard FeatherWing as the main User Interface
    • This has an Adafruit Feather connector on the back.
    • I'll use a FeatherWing Proto as an adapter between the wiring harness and the FeatherWing.
  • A Smart LED strip in a diffused, 1 meter housing, with 60-144 LEDs
  • A pair of wiring harnesses to connect the Keyboard FeatherWing and Smart LED strip to the Powerbus mini

Build log

I came up with this idea a few days before January 7th, and I plan to make as much progress as possible during this weekend.

If you're reading this on the 7th, stay tuned! I'll push updates here as I go.