A quick first sketch of what the device could look like.
Here’s my project documentation for Recording Turn-Timer.
Specs
I want to build a device that contains
- 3D printed case
- microcontroller
- buttons
- display
- USB-C charging
- battery
and with which
- I can set up a countdown timer
- that once started, will start and stop when the main button is pressed
- and keeps track of both intervals (clock running and clock not running) in a way that can be exported to a computer
The display should show the current time and be turned on/off with a double tap on the OK button.
The use case, as the name implies, is for tracking how long your turns & games take when playing TCG games like Pokemon TCG or Magic the Gathering. It’s a good way to collect practice data to improve your turns, especially in Pokemon where 50 minutes best of 3 matches tend not to finish.
Design & Build Process
First things first: I’ve never really designed any kind of 3D case (the only thing I’ve designed is TCG Companion Tray) and I’ve never done any electronics including soldering (well I tried like once in high school and it was a disaster). So this is my first practice project.
Functionality
The buttons on top control the menu: prev/next buttons to change options and OK button to confirm. The user should be able to set up to 99 minutes and 59 seconds countdown timer.
If the timer is not running, pressing the main button starts the countdown and writes current timestamp into memory. Then, every subsequent press will write the current timestamp and toggle the countdown stop/start.