EEVblog #1241 - Power Up Display Counter Project - Part 1

Looking for a segmented e-ink / e-paper display solution for a power up display counter module project.

#Eink #Epaper #Project

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[daBigR--]

Do you really need the display to be always on? Turning it on for a few seconds on power up or on request by a push button or capacitive sensor could work fine with an LCD.

[EmilHarder]

These "how it's done" series, as the uSupply and the fundamentals series, are your best.
It might seem as a waste of time watching a person looking around for a specific kind of display, but there's loads of tips and tricks. Thank you!

[ElectricGears]

Get with the design trends of 2019! Use that bar graph display to show a proprietary barcode that the user will scan with an app (50¢ per scan after an initial trial period when they register). Think of the metrics you could gain about customer behavior. Build an interactive geo-tagged API map. Use deep learning AI to build a prediction engine for when the device will be used so the phone can display notifications and helpful hints. Auto add consumables and service appointments to the users calendar. Use their contact list to match them with other users of the product so you can build a community of hype to make sure they get those hashtags out.

[austinhe]

Just go with a graphic e ink display and use a custom font

[DaveF.]

Oh dear - ten minutes of me going "It's an LCD Dave. Dave, it's an LCD. An LCD, it is, Dave. It is, Dave, an LCD.." Hope he finds some e-ink

[mattj]

Glad you left that in, since that is a realistic representation of finding parts ;)

[trickyrat]

Is this project for counting the number of vehicles passing over a section of Solar roadway until it fails? It won't have to run for years, Dave. :)

[markday]

You dismissed graphical e-ink because of fonts. But if you're just displaying digits, and especially 7-segment style, you don't need the full generality of fonts. You could get the 7-segment effect with rectangles, and maybe some triangles for the ends of the segments. The downside is that, depending on the process for updating the display, you might need to maintain a bitmap in memory for some or all of the display. You might be able to get away with buffering just a single digit's pixels at a time (in which case 10 hard-coded bitmaps in ROM are your "font").

[nrdesign]

23:55 They do in fact use a central gateway for changing labels. Most labels are NFC enabled as well.

[HPD]

i would rather like to see you try and find an E-ink display instead of the LCD. We have already seen an LCD project on your channel which was very informative and it would be nice to see something different with the E-ink

[SomnolentFudge]

I know you said no feature creep, but most power cycle counters are also hour meters. since you really need a micro to control the display it seems logical to add an hour meter.

[AppliedCryogenics]

At Sea World Aquatica last weekend, I noticed an emergency defribulator that had an eink display showing service life remaing. It was a ~30mm x ~20mm display.

[MoraFermi]

Maybe a little group buy on those displays? I'd chip in for a few, if they are sensibly priced.

[kstxevolution]

Yay, Dave isn't yapping about solar roadways! I love me some project series

[hgbugalou]

I'd do a electromechanical counter. It's old-school but effective.

[deviljelly]

My Swiss bank has a credit card sized two form authentication device for e banking with a ceramic battery and a segment epaper display.... Should I send you one?

[PilotPlater]

Good humble look at the part picking process, thanks Dave

[sanches]

the supermarket EPD tags are programmed via big IR transmitter lamps on the ceiling, the tags themselves have ir receiver. i spent 10 minutes in a big pharmacy that had them to figure out how they work 10yrs. ago :)

[frankowalker]

If all it has to do is always show how often it has been turned on, then why not use a simple electro-mechanical counter! Loads of em on ebay.

[excitedbox]

Interesting idea. Could even count the usage hours. That way you can track component lifetime if a product comes in for repair you know if it has a fault or is past life expectation.

E paper displays are expensive. Probably costs more than a little lcd, battery and micro with some storage. Waveshare makes a lot of e paper displays but a quick look shows them starting around 6 euros. you can get a lcd for less than 1 euro with driver ic. You can get an entire ESP32 with oled for about 6 euros.
What about a mechanical display like an odometer?