Mat finalized the mechanical engineering for the first prototypes over the summer, and we’re now in the throes of embedding the software on the device. I’m not a techie, so the load rests on Don’s and Kentaro’s shoulders. But the three of us have been keeping our calendars clear for a four-hour work window each Wednesday since mid August to work intensively at the same time and be immediately available to each other. At the beginning of the work window the three of us hold a video conference to update each other and go over any issues we need to clear up. Throughout the rest of the week we’re using Trello to communicate and track our tasks.
Front (above) and back (below) of Mat’s 3D printout of the housing of one the first prototypes, with the hardware in it. He only had clear material on hand, so this has an 80s look to it.
We’ve made a lot of progress. Don and Kentaro have finished verifying the hardware functionality and are now setting up the application-specific drivers. The drivers enable the display to print readable text from workout data that's been compacted for efficient storage in the device’s memory.
Don holds up a PCB (printed circuit board) for Kentaro and me to see during a recent weekly video conference call to discuss the project.
Don and Kentaro are now working on the software, which is fully baked as an iPhone app. The code, originally written in Swift – a language used specifically for iPhone apps – has to be translated into C and loaded onto the watch. But this happens baby step by baby step – Don and Kentaro are getting the microcontroller to “print” to the screen via the application. They’ve gotten icons to show up in the right places on the display and have written text. Next, they’ll develop the stopwatch; this exercise will start to glue all of the work together – hardware, device drivers, and the application-level code which is really what the user thinks of as the watch. While this phase isn’t high-tech, it’s incredibly detail oriented and cumbersome, because we’re maximizing battery life and memory efficiency to minimize costs.
The display with our logo. This is a crucial early step in bringing everything together on the device.