TL;DR: What hardware components would I need if I wanted to make a working alarm clock out of Tessel, vibrating motor and perhaps some buttons to control it by the bed? Are there screens that work well in dark environments that also don't wake you?
Explanation:
So since I have bad hearing, most alarm clocks don't really do it for me. I tried getting waked by light too but that wasn't really working reliable for me and having some thing strapped to your arm while sleeping (like a fitbit) was something I didn't like either. However a vibrating alarm did get me to buy a special vibrating alarm clock that puts something under the pillow to wake you. Unfortunately the device is pretty basic (only 1 alarm and setting it is a hassle with pretty much no known alternatives on the market) so I am looking whether I can use Tessel to make one of my own and in the same time get me to learn a thing or two.
Now I think I can do the Javascript part well and am currently looking at hardware. So the alarm clock I have has a separate plug for the vibration motor with a DC port of which I expect it to be a 5,5/2,1mm connection. It does seem to be a better vibration than most of the vibration motors I've seen for IoT devices. Though it might not work well when connected to Tessel if I use some kind of adapter (one I found here). Some of the motors and even vibrating motors I see are neat but don't really seem safe to put under your pillow or strong enough to wake you. Now basically a vibrating motor is just a motor with a unbalanced weight on it, so there might be different solutions but I can't really find something that would work to wake me up.
And of course I need to have it packed up in a case (possibly with a few wires and perhaps additional boards involved) to make sure it sits safe on my nightstand. I'm also looking at perhaps (touch) screens that enable me to interact with it (though I expect using my phone for that), but most seem to be pretty bright and not really suited for a dark environment as the bedroom likely is.
So do you guys know what I can use for:
- Vibrating motor, or:
- DC connection to use the one I already have
- How to connect it to Tessel 2
- What case to use
- Optional input
- Any additional hardware I might require
I will probably make a webapp to run somewhere and to give the Tessel input on when to give me an alarm or not and to easily snooze or reset it. I'm not that familiar with Tessel yet, so links with both hardware and software would be neat but right now I'm still deciding whether it is even possible, let alone if I can do it. If need be I can use my 3d printer to make a case, but I'd rather have something I know works well and wouldn't mind paying for some components to make it work as I will be using it daily and have no problem putting a few bucks in it for hassle free sleeping
