ESP32-PICO-D4 SdyWatch

ESP32-PICO-D4 SdyWatch or LedTick for short is a custom DIY watch with combined analogue and digital display based solely on discrete LEDs

Firmware for a custom smartwatch with analog LED display, scrolling matrix, compass, NTP time sync, alarms, and deep‑sleep power management.

Features

• Analog LED Display

  • 60 green LEDs for minutes/seconds (minute accumulation, second flash).
  • 12+12 bicolor LEDs for hours (day/night colors, only one lit at a time).
  • Central 7×13 LED matrix for scrolling text.

• Scrolling Matrix

  • Shows current time H:MM.SS without leading zero (e.g., 8:05.30).
  • In compass mode: shows azimuth and direction (e.g., 123° N).
  • Low battery warning: LOW.
  • Test mode: SDYWATCH V1.0 (triggered by both buttons).

• Buttons (PB1, PB2)

  • PB1: force deep sleep (single press) or cancel alarm.
  • PB2 long press (500ms): switch between clock / compass mode.
  • Both buttons simultaneously: test vibration + show test message.

• Vibration Motor

  • Pulse on alarm, NTP success, button test. Configurable duration.

• Accelerometer (LIS3DH)

  • Detects single taps (threshold adjustable).
  • Tap resets inactivity timer (prevents sleep while moving).

• Compass (QMC5883L)

  • Calibrated azimuth reading.
  • Displays angle and 8‑point direction on matrix; red hour LED points north.

• Battery Monitoring (ADC1_CH7, GPIO34)

  • Measures voltage every 10s with median filter (3 samples).
  • Low battery threshold (ADC < 1900 mV ≈ 3.2 V): shows LOW and disables other LEDs.
  • External power threshold (ADC ≥ 2200 mV ≈ 3.7 V): disables auto sleep.

• NTP Time Synchronisation

  • On cold boot, connects to Wi‑Fi, obtains UTC, sets RTC.
  • Countdown of remaining attempts (e.g., 40) shown on matrix.
  • Vibrates on success, Wi‑Fi turned off afterwards.
  • On wake‑up from sleep, NTP is skipped (RTC time used).

• Deep Sleep

  • Automatic sleep after 20 seconds of inactivity (except when on external power).
  • Wake‑up by PB1 (or accelerometer, configurable).
  • Saves current mode (clock/compass) in RTC memory.

• Three Alarms

  • Configurable via UART console.
  • Each alarm has hour, minute, message, enable/disable flag.
  • When triggered: message scrolls on matrix, vibration pulses every 10s for 1 minute.
  • Cancel by PB1 or after the minute ends.

• UART Console (115200 baud)

  • Built‑in REPL with commands:
    • alarm_show – show all alarms
    • alarm_set <1..3> <hour> <min> [message] – set alarm time and optional message
    • alarm_enable <1..3> <0/1> – enable/disable alarm
    • help – list all commands

• Configurable Brightness

  • Separate LED_ON_TIME_MINUTE, LED_ON_TIME_HOUR, LED_ON_TIME_MATRIX in config.h.
  • Refresh rate ≈ 60 Hz.

Hardware Requirements

• ESP32‑PICO‑D4 chip (or any ESP32 with enough GPIOs)
• 175 LEDs arranged as described (60 green, 12+12 bicolor, 91 for matrix)
• Charlieplexing matrix wiring (5 cathodes, 14 anodes – pins defined in config.h)
• External 32.768 kHz crystal for RTC (pins 32,33)
• Buttons: PB1 on GPIO38 (RTC-capable), PB2 on GPIO39
• LIS3DH accelerometer (I²C address 0x19, interrupt on GPIO37)
• QMC5883L compass (I²C address 0x0D)
• Vibration motor on GPIO12 (active high)
• Voltage divider (147k / 100k+147k) on GPIO34 for battery measurement

Configuration

All user‑adjustable settings are in include/config.h. Key parameters:

• LED_ON_TIME_MINUTE, LED_ON_TIME_HOUR, LED_ON_TIME_MATRIX – brightness (µs)
• SCROLL_SPEED_PPS – scrolling speed (pixels per second)
• INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT_MS – idle time before sleep (ms)
• LOW_BAT_THRESHOLD_MV – ADC voltage for low battery (mV)
• EXTERNAL_PWR_THRESHOLD_MV – ADC voltage for external power detection
• WIFI_SSID, WIFI_PASS – your Wi‑Fi credentials
• NTP_SERVER1, NTP_SERVER2 – NTP servers
• WAKEUP_SOURCE – choose WAKEUP_SOURCE_BUTTON or WAKEUP_SOURCE_ACCEL

Console Usage Example

Connect to the UART (115200) and type:

watch> alarm_show
=== Alarm Configuration ===
Alarm 1: DISABLED 07:00 "Alarm 1"
Alarm 2: DISABLED 07:00 "Alarm 2"
Alarm 3: DISABLED 07:00 "Alarm 3"

watch> alarm_set 1 8 30 "Good morning"
Alarm 1 set to 08:30 message: Good morning

watch> alarm_enable 1 1
Alarm 1 enabled

watch> alarm_show
Alarm 1: ENABLED 08:30 "Good morning"
Alarm 2: DISABLED 07:00 "Alarm 2"
Alarm 3: DISABLED 07:00 "Alarm 3"

Building and Flashing

This project uses PlatformIO with the ESP-IDF framework.

1. Install PlatformIO (VS Code extension or command‑line).
2. Open the project folder.
3. Build: pio run
4. Upload: pio run -t upload (connect via USB‑UART, press BOOT+EN to enter download mode).
5. Monitor: pio device monitor -b 115200

Flashing Firmware via Web Browser

You can update your SdyWatch firmware directly from your browser using the ESP Web Tools – no need to install any development tools.

🖥️ Requirements

A computer with Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Opera (Web Serial API support).

USB cable to connect the watch.

Drivers for the USB‑to‑UART bridge (CP210x or CH340) installed on your system.

📦 What You Need

All necessary files are already hosted on GitHub Pages. You only need a browser and the USB connection.

🔌 Flashing Procedure

Connect your SdyWatch to the computer with a USB cable.

Open the following page in your browser: https://sdyspb.github.io/LedTick/

Click the Connect & Flash button.

In the system dialog, select the correct serial port (it usually contains the name of the USB‑UART chip CH340).

Confirm the connection – the flashing process will start automatically. A countdown and progress messages will appear on the page.

Do not disconnect the device until you see the “Flashing complete!” message.

After success, your watch will reboot with the new firmware. (If it does not restart automatically, press the hardware reset button.)

⚠️ Important Notes

The first time you flash, the browser may ask for permission to access the serial port – allow it.

If the flashing fails, try the following:

Close any other program that might be using the serial port (IDE monitor, terminal emulator).

Manually put the ESP32 into bootloader mode: hold the BOOT button, press and release EN, then release BOOT.

Use a different USB cable or port.

After flashing, all alarm settings and compass calibration will be reset to defaults. You can reconfigure them via the UART console (see the main README).

🔗 Resources

1. Firmware repository: https://github.com/sdyspb/SdyWatch
2. Web flasher page: https://sdyspb.github.io/SdyWatch/
3. Website: https://ledtick.com

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.0 (GPL-2.0). You can find the full license text in the LICENSE file or at https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html.

Acknowledgments & Dependencies

This firmware uses the following open-source components:

ESP-IDF – the official development framework for ESP32, licensed under Apache License 2.0. https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf

argtable3 – a command‑line argument parsing library, licensed under BSD 3-Clause. https://github.com/argtable/argtable3

linenoise – a small readline replacement, licensed under BSD 2-Clause. https://github.com/antirez/linenoise

esp-web-tools – JavaScript library for flashing ESP devices from a browser, licensed under Apache License 2.0. https://github.com/espressif/esp-web-tools

QMC5883LCompass (used for calibration sketch) – Arduino library for QMC5883L, license unknown (included for reference). https://github.com/ejoyneering/QMC5883LCompass

LIS3DH driver – based on standard ESP-IDF I2C examples and datasheet.

If you believe any component is missing or incorrectly attributed, please open an issue.