v2.1

Project Changes:

• Increased vertical height of the back piece to better accommodate the ESP2866 board.
• Modify the bottom geometry to reduce light leakage.
• Manually added kerf to all wood junctions.
• Added a hole to the back of the case to accommodate a USB-C conector. Connects to Vin and ground of the ESP2866 board

Code Changes:

• Added a rolling animation for changing numbers

Problems Found:

• I have made some for friends and once given they are kinda stuck to whatever WiFi they were flashed with unless they know how to flash it again.

To Do:

• Investigate ways to make implementation simpler for non-techies.
  • Easily change the WiFi pass and SSID.

case 2.1 inside, note way more space for components and cables.

case 2.1 back

case v2.1 design

v2

Project Changes:

• Removed PCB layer for reduced height.
• Simplified case design to only walls and support pieces for top cover. see image below
• Reduced height of the case for the display section to improve viewing angles. see image below
• Removed manual kerf from model, now its added in cutting program,
• Added a piece of car tint film to the display and added two brightness settings that change in a settable time frame.
• Project now includes a HTML base font editor.

Code Changes:

• The display intensity changes from 7am to 7pm to a brighter setting and a dimmer setting the rest of the night time.
• Time now updates every 12hrs.
• The ESP2866 module only connects to the WiFi when updating time.

Problems Found:

• Clearance for the ESP2866 module is reduced.
• At night there is some light leakage from the ESP2866 module's clock LED on the bottom cover of the case.
• The general dimension of the case are also affected by the kerf, might go back to manual kerf.
• The MAX7219 display has gaps between the 8x8 segments, making number appear cutout, the centering number function was scraped.

To Do:

• Increase vertical height of the back piece to better accommodate the ESP2866 board.
• Modify the bottom geometry to reduce light leakage.
• Manually add kerf to all wood junctions.

case v2 from bed perspective, note the better view angle

case v2 design

v1

v1 worked as a proof of concept both for the case design and the hud look that I was going for.

• - Achieved familiarity with CorelDraw for designing parts.
• - Remembered how to program arduino based software.

Problems found:

• The pcb layer adds unnecessary height and reduces the depth of the hud effect.
• Layering many MDF pieces gets you a nice piece at the end but they need to get glued and sanded down.
• The clock sits on top of a PC on a desk, the viewing angles mostly are sitting next to the desk and laying in bed, because of the bulkiness of the case, while in bed you can only see the top ~2/3 of the numbers. see image 1 below
• Font is not that readable from a far with my myopic eyes (minor con if I squint).
• Time gets printed number per display, wich means that when time only has 3 numbers (6:50) the first display is just off.
• Kerf for the pieces was done manually on the design instead of the cutting software.
• At daytime the white display background is noticeable. see image 2 below

To Do:

• Change to a column based printing for centering time to the display.
• Change case design to a slimmer base, keeping the acrylic sheet at the same height.
• Simplify case build to only include walls and supports.
• Ditch pcb to reduce overall height of the display unit.
• Build a font designer?