Over time, computing know-how has grown way more advanced than it was within the early days. By and huge, it is a good factor — immediately’s computer systems can crunch numbers orders of magnitude quicker than their predecessors, and the consumer interfaces aren’t even in the identical ballpark. However added complexity just isn’t all the time factor. If we need to see a few of the most putting examples of the issues pointless complexity may cause, it’s best to show our consideration from {hardware} to software program.
Do we actually want gigabytes of executables and information information, or built-in AI assistants, simply to write down a fast memo or sort out a number of notes to avoid wasting for later? All of this bloat slows down our machines and distracts us from the straightforward issues that we need to use them for. Mateusz Nowak is aware of that generally, simplicity is strictly what we’d like most. So, he designed and constructed a barebones digital notepad known as the EclairM0. It’s tiny, it matches in your pocket, and it doesn’t have any bells and whistles to distract you.
The EclairM0 just isn’t a lot greater than a enterprise card at 5 x 4 cm and simply 8 mm in thickness. It has 14 buttons for coming into textual content, and a small 0.91-inch 128 x 32-pixel monochrome OLED show that may present you what it’s worthwhile to see, and nothing a lot else. It’s powered by Microchip’s ATSAMD21E18 microcontroller, which is energy-efficient sufficient for the system to run for over 10 hours on a single cost of an 85mAh LiPo battery. The {hardware} is laid out on a customized PCB that was fitted right into a 3D-printed case.
Nowak wished to program the EclairM0 with MicroPython, however since its SAMD21 processor solely has 256KB of storage accessible to it, that will have been too tight of a match. So as an alternative, he opted to code the firmware in TinyGo, a model of the Go programming language that’s supposed to be used on microcontrollers.
As beforehand talked about, the system solely has 14 buttons. That isn’t sufficient for every letter of the alphabet, not to mention numbers and particular characters. So Nowak took a web page from the design e book of cellphones of the early 2000s. Those who used these early telephones will always remember urgent a button a number of instances to pick out the right letter when typing out a textual content message. This trick was used along with combos, like concurrently urgent two close by buttons to sort a quantity.
If you wish to purchase an EclairM0, the dangerous information is that you simply can not — Nowak has no plans to promote them. However the excellent news is you could construct your personal. There’s a detailed challenge write-up explaining the {hardware} and software program, and there may be additionally an entire construct information . The firmware has additionally been made accessible for obtain. Go test it out and see for those who can simplify your personal day by day routine with an EclairM0.The EclairM0 retains note-taking easy (📷: Mateusz Nowak)
The system’s parts (📷: Mateusz Nowak)