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MomBoard: E-ink display for a parent with amnesia

(jan.miksovsky.com)
2093 points pabs3 | 16 comments | 14 Nov 24 12:20 UTC | HN request time: 1.063s | source | bottom
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angrygoat ◴[14 Nov 24 12:36 UTC] No.42135621[source]▶
What a beautiful use of technology to uphold someone's personhood, and let them know they are loved, despite (and with regard to) a profound injury.

This reminds me of a desire I've had for a long time: a simple, wall-mountable eInk device that could be configured with a URL (+wifi creds) and render a markdown file, refreshing once every hour or so. It would be so useful for so many applications – I'm a parish priest and so I could use it to let people know what events are on, if a service is cancelled, the current prayer list, ... the applications would be endless. I'd definitely pay a couple of hundred dollars per device for a solid version of such a thing, if it could be mounted and then recharged every month or two.

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1. yrxuthst ◴[14 Nov 24 13:00 UTC] No.42135791[source]▶
You may be interested in https://github.com/aceinnolab/Inkycal, it looks like it's out of stock at the moment but they have pre-made devices or you can make your own with a list of parts.
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2. pbronez ◴[14 Nov 24 13:13 UTC] No.42135866[source]▶
That is super cool! I might need to build one of those. My family needs a way to keep the fridge calendar up to date with our digital calendar.
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3. ryanckulp ◴[14 Nov 24 15:58 UTC] No.42137495[source]▶
for your family cal, check out TRMNL. can go on a fridge w/ magnets: https://usetrmnl.com

(disclaimer, i'm the founder)

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4. emilburzo ◴[14 Nov 24 16:47 UTC] No.42138047{3}[source]▶
Are there any plans to have a version without the battery? It looks exactly like what I've been looking for otherwise.

Also, what country are the orders shipped from? US?

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5. miles ◴[14 Nov 24 17:32 UTC] No.42138692{3}[source]▶
You might want to update this image on your homepage:

https://usetrmnl.com/assets/section2-3-d6887b41db12ad0659992...

as the first character, タ (ta), is missing from the display, making it read "(a)minaru".

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6. ronakjain90 ◴[14 Nov 24 17:36 UTC] No.42138739{4}[source]▶
Internally we are debating on releasing a Hackable DIY kit. Feel feel to send a message to support@usetrmnl.com.

It's shipped from USA.

7. ryanckulp ◴[14 Nov 24 17:44 UTC] No.42138839{4}[source]▶
great catch, thank you! will do
8. ryanckulp ◴[14 Nov 24 17:45 UTC] No.42138852{4}[source]▶
curious what your use case is without a battery. currently you could keep it plugged in, are you wnting NFC-powered etc?
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9. multjoy ◴[14 Nov 24 20:00 UTC] No.42140519{3}[source]▶
I've been looking for something like this! I wasn't expecting to buy stuff from the comments on HN...
10. lilyball ◴[14 Nov 24 20:51 UTC] No.42141084{3}[source]▶
My fridge isn't magnetic. A lot of modern fridges aren't.

Might be a neat idea to offer a magnetic mount for it, like a flexible flat magnetic board shaped to fit the TRMNL with a sticky backing so you can attach it somewhere and then use that to attach the TRMNL (your site doesn't seem to say anything about being magnetic so I'm guessing you have to attach magnets to the TRMNL too though?).

For that matter, the site doesn't offer any information about mounting it at all. Looking at the disassembly animation I see what looks like a hole to hang it on a nail, but it might be nice to put this info at least in the FAQ section if nowhere else (that does say it can be "hung on a wall" but no details).

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11. emilburzo ◴[15 Nov 24 06:22 UTC] No.42144381{5}[source]▶
Nothing spectacular, I just want to have a display by the door that shows various things I'd like to check on before leaving, like: which windows are open, outside temperatures, etc.

I don't want a battery because:

- although every X months is quite ok, I don't want the hassle of remembering to charge it (first world problems, I know)

- but I also have a fear of leaving devices with a battery plugged in for a long time / having to monitor for battery swelling or other abnormalities

I already have a classic battery-powered display which shows temperature info from some sensors and it's really convenient, but annoying when the battery is dead right when you need the info. Even if that only happens every X months.

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12. oarsinsync ◴[15 Nov 24 07:44 UTC] No.42144719{6}[source]▶
A GP in this thread linked to Inkycal, which is a RPi0W based solution, no batteries:

https://github.com/aceinnolab/Inkycal

13. ryanckulp ◴[15 Nov 24 08:08 UTC] No.42144841{4}[source]▶
thanks for the feedback, will add more detail to our website specs + docs.

we included magnets for VIP backers on our crowdfunding campaign and may start selling them again. device has a mounting hole on the back for nails / hooks, we’ll probably release mechanical specs so people can 3D print or otherwise fabricate their own mounts. for example some people want to mash up an array of them. but until then, adhesive magnets work great for the fridge use case.

14. JKCalhoun ◴[15 Nov 24 16:08 UTC] No.42148152[source]▶
My most "starred" GitHub repo is probably SystemSix [1], an e-ink display masquerading as a little 68K Mac.

[1] https://github.com/EngineersNeedArt/SystemSix

15. bornfreddy ◴[15 Nov 24 20:54 UTC] No.42150910{3}[source]▶
Wow, that looks super interesting!

Just one comment:

> Developer Edition > Ability to build custom plugins for yourself and others. Unlocks our API. > $20

Isn't it in your interest that developers unlock the potential of your hardware in some new ways? Charging for it seems... weird.

I mean the price is not that high, it just doesn't feel right to pay for access to API. My 2 cents.

16. sahmeepee ◴[16 Nov 24 08:32 UTC] No.42155272{4}[source]▶
You can buy sheets of rubbery material with sticky backing and metal powder embedded in the rubber. One supplier is WarMag - people use them as a surface for putting magnetic-based figures on.

I came into possession of several sheafs of the A4-sized ones, which now serve as "generic surprisingly heavy objects".