[HN Gopher] Show HN: Physical Pomodoro Timer with ESP32 and e-pa...
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Show HN: Physical Pomodoro Timer with ESP32 and e-paper screen
Author : rukenshia
Score : 269 points
Date : 2025-03-29 10:42 UTC (12 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| johntopia wrote:
| Neat project!
| sambroner wrote:
| I love this project! The UI feels so delightful and well thought
| out. I guess I found another weekend (multi-week?) activity.
|
| If you're looking for hackathon projects, the E-ink ecosystem is
| well developed enough that they're pretty easy to program against
| and Claude/the AIs can pick up the API surface. Plus, people
| generally don't know what they're looking at -- you have to say
| "kindle-style screen" -- but people (me? but also guests) _do_
| seem to prefer having a e-ink screen in the living room over a
| backlit display because it 's so much less intrusive.
|
| FWIW, E-ink [0] AND pomdoros [1] are _each_ a whole thing of
| mine.
|
| [0] https://sambroner.com/posts/raspberry-pi-train
|
| [1] https://sambroner.com/posts/personal-analytics-2024
| gregwebs wrote:
| I use this timer which has the advantage of being portable:
| https://gymboss.com/
| fredzel wrote:
| Very interesting, I've been thinking on how to make physical
| pomodoro timer (or just display for one), but with circular
| screen and preferably no exact time remaining visible. as for me
| it is both distracting and anxiety-inducing. I've been using
| Visual Timer app [0] on my android phone and it has mostly been
| great, but putting phone away would obviously be better.
|
| [0]
| https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.cwiesner.an...
| rukenshia wrote:
| I actually bought a 4" round LCD for that reason, but ended up
| ditching it in favor for the e-paper display. I also stuck to
| just showing minutes (and in the last minute 10-second interval
| updates) so that it doesn't get too distracting.
| gorgoiler wrote:
| Lasering in on the three different use cases (rather than just
| one generic 25min focus time) and also providing statistics are
| both cool additions. Nice.
|
| It would be a good addition to your write up to mention, for the
| uninitiated, that pomodoro is of course _named after_ a physical
| timer with a rotary encoder!
|
| https://medium.com/@thejinxes/ditch-the-tomato-timer-d8bbf01...
|
| If you ever get around to your goal of having a red e-ink screen,
| that would be a fun alternative to Pepe.
| chungus wrote:
| Absolutely love it. Inspires me to think about porting my own
| productivity tools to an IRL device.
| thunder-blue-3 wrote:
| Every time I see something pertaining to a pomodoro timer, I'm
| reminded of interviewing with a YC founder in downtown san mateo
| in the early 2010s (he was working on websockets + slide
| deck/prezi-like tech iirc), and half our interview consisted of
| him hyping up this technique. The company went under within a
| year, and I could never respect this technique afterwards
| rukenshia wrote:
| honestly feeling this - I (or my friend who now has the device)
| don't really follow this religiously either. I think it's great
| when you have a lot of work to be done and feel a little
| overwhelmed. Getting down into this rhythm can help you chip
| away at it.
| dexterdog wrote:
| The technique isn't what caused his company to fail. A big part
| of it was likely his obsession with the technique. He also
| probably wasted massive amounts of time setting up his other
| tools instead of using them.
| egypturnash wrote:
| understandable, it's a very useful way to trick yourself into
| getting shit done but it's also _very_ possible to turn
| "making the perfect work tracker-timer-app" into a giant rabbit
| hole instead of just getting a cheap, goofy-looking kitchen
| timer and keeping some notes on paper.
| teddyh wrote:
| Physical pomodoro:
| <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Il_pomod...>
| neuah wrote:
| Exactly what i thought of as well. That's what i always used to
| use.
| latexr wrote:
| That's where the concept and name come from. "Pomodo" means
| "tomato" in Italian, and the author of the technique had one
| of those. The image comes from its Wikipedia page.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
| stavros wrote:
| Correction: "pomodoro" means "tomato".
| latexr wrote:
| Thank you for the correction. It was a typo, but it's
| unfortunately too late to edit the post.
| stavros wrote:
| No problem, I wasn't sure so I had to go looking, and I
| figured I'd post a correction for anyone who saw it.
| ISL wrote:
| Yep. Any timer will do.
|
| If you find yourself programming an eInk display and a
| microchip in order to improve your procrastination, it is time
| to stop working on the project, get a physical timer, and work
| on the thing.
|
| If you feel inclined to shop around for a timer before getting
| to work, I'll save you the search. These work great.
| https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TLC9SFZ (but any timer will do).
|
| Go do the thing. You're worth it.
| jiehong wrote:
| Indeed.
|
| I tend to like quiet visual timers, though.
|
| Something like:
|
| https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/63f18bde-f179-4b8e-a32a-8e4.
| ..
| javajosh wrote:
| That's a very unhelpful link if you want to buy or
| comparison shop. Online walmart sells over 300 different
| styles of countdown timer, including ones shaped like a
| tomato. Note that the Pomadoro Technique recommends a timer
| that ticks or makes some other unobtrusive sound to remind
| you that you are in focus mode, and to associate the sound
| with focus.
|
| https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/countdown-timers
| TechDebtDevin wrote:
| Watches that are already on most people's wrist work great
| too!
| Procrastes wrote:
| It's interesting that your experience is different, but in
| my region and social circles, I haven't seen anyone wear a
| watch in ten years or more, other than the occasional smart
| watch. That habit doesn't seem to last long, either. For
| people I know, watches have turned into fashion accessories
| for millionaires.
| maccard wrote:
| I wear a watch. Nothing fancy, but I do have a few of
| them (and none worth more than 2-PS300.) it's about the
| only accessory I wear so it's nice to have some variety.
| My day to day is a smart watch (and has been for a few
| years now). Lots of my circle is similar.
| TechDebtDevin wrote:
| Probably just demographics. I live in a mountainous city
| that's very outdoorsy and athletic so everyone has a
| garmin/apple watch.
| spookie wrote:
| > other than the occasional smart watch. That habit
| doesn't seem to last long, either.
|
| I'm gonna go on a whim and say the habit doesn't last
| cause you cannot truly depend on them. My watch never
| leaves my wrist, it never fails me, it is just a "dumb"
| one.
| jfim wrote:
| They also sell physical hourglasses if you don't want to be
| interrupted by a distracting beeping thing once the timer is
| over, especially if the activity you're trying to start with
| a pomodoro requires concentration like coding.
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| But then you have to glance at the thing every few minutes
| to ensure it didn't run out
| j45 wrote:
| It builds muscle memory over time.
|
| Analysis paralysis and getting it perfect before
| beginning is the enemy of good.
| cwmoore wrote:
| I attached an ESP32 and accelerometer to an hourglass for
| this purpose, calling back to
| https://pypi.org/project/gitime/ to log pomodoros on my dev
| machine.
|
| If it was overengineered and trivially redundant, it was
| relatable and tactile.
| kaonwarb wrote:
| Of course that's an easier solution to the problem.
|
| OP is quite clear in the writeup that this is a project for the
| sake of trying new tools to make something for a friend.
|
| A fun hack need not be constrained by meeting a real market
| need. It can just be fun.
| hiddencost wrote:
| It's a joke. Pomodoro means tomato.
| SamBam wrote:
| But it's also not a joke.
|
| Pomodoro timers are designed to increase productivity. But
| once of the things that many people who try to increase
| their productivity discover is that they sink so much time
| into these tools that they are less productive. Because the
| underlying procrastination isn't solved, and these tools
| are a wonderful outlet for procrastination because it
| _feels_ productive.
|
| That may indeed not be OP's problem, but anyone looking at
| this saying "I need to be more productive, I should make
| one of these" would be better off with the tomato.
| dullcrisp wrote:
| I'm pretty sure that's the origin of the term
| sinuhe69 wrote:
| Yep. I think a timer with a physical dial is much more pleasant
| and easier to work with. I really hate things with knobs when
| there is nothing to click. A talking/voice controlled pomodoro
| is also a very nice idea for a ESP32.
| layer8 wrote:
| If you can stand the ticking noise. ;)
|
| Personally, I like the look of these disc-based ones:
| https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/618WCXnyfXL._SL1500_.jpg
| ibizaman wrote:
| Do not underestimate the joy of using something beautiful and
| something one crafted. Those little bit of joy add up in the
| end.
|
| At least, they matter to me. I "smartened" an energy meter with
| an ESP32 and a photoresistor that measures every blink from the
| energy meter. It's really crude but it works and everytime I go
| in the garage, I see the little device blink and it brings me
| joy. It brings me determination to pursue the next project and
| motivates me to no end. I know I can build stuff and that I can
| succeed. I know I can progress in life.
|
| It will probably sound stupid but that's how I interpret the
| author's project.
| rambambram wrote:
| The whole idea of pomodoro comes from a physical kitchen timer in
| the shape of... you guessed it, a pomodoro.
|
| The best UX for the pomodoro technique can be found in this
| physical kitchen timer, if you'd ask me.
| rukenshia wrote:
| I think functionally the Focus Dial (I linked to it in my
| README as well) is the much better ,,product" and keeps exactly
| that UX compared to what I built. I had to face the reality of
| my own limited knowledge and skillset to build something like
| that (and wanted to do my own thing), plus I really ended up
| liking that epaper display.
| rambambram wrote:
| I must admit I've been guilty of reacting on the title and
| not your post. I opened it, saw some machine and immediately
| thought of the kitchen timer in the shape of a pomodoro I
| have on my desk here. Which is so dead simple, that's why I
| like it.
|
| Now that I read your post and look at the photos, I think you
| definitely add something with the division of certain tasks!
| Besides, it's always cool to build something yourself, so
| please don't read my previous comment as a snark about
| reinventing the wheel or something. I just really appreciate
| the simple mechanical kitchen timer recommended for the
| pomodoro technique.
| rukenshia wrote:
| Absolutely no offense taken! I knew I was overengineering
| the hell out of this when I started it :)
| pimlottc wrote:
| It would help if the intro section mentioned the added
| features so the reader would understand why a custom device
| was necessary.
| atemerev wrote:
| I know assembling things is half the fun, but if you just want a
| universal ESP32 device with screen and buttons, I recommend
| M5stack. Cheap, programmable, uniquitous.
| rlupi wrote:
| They are great. I have actually built my own pomodoro timer
| using a M5Stack Core2, maybe I should publish the code. It's a
| lot simpler than this one.
|
| Update: here it is https://github.com/robertolupi/augmented-
| awareness/tree/main...
| bloopernova wrote:
| This is fantastic and I want to build one. The UI is delightful,
| and as other people have said, the multiple modes for different
| tasks is a great idea.
| dartharva wrote:
| GPLv3-licensed GUI Pomodoro app for Linux, for anyone who needs
| it: https://gitlab.gnome.org/World/Solanum/
| jpcom wrote:
| It's very beautiful, lovely work. Sleek and shiny, it's a device
| that begs for interaction, which is important in something that
| you'll be engaging with every 24-30 minutes. I would like a
| version of the display to show grains of sand falling through a
| digital hourglass.
| desertmonad wrote:
| Awesome project :-)
|
| I think the missing ingredient here is a way to export the
| tracked activities, but this looks like it was fun to make!
| mavamaarten wrote:
| I'm so sad that ePaper displays are still so expensive. They'd be
| perfect for splashing some home assistant driven goodness around
| my house. But the tiny ones are too tiny for my taste, and the
| big ones too expensive.
| jfim wrote:
| If you're not dead set on having eink, there's always the ESP
| 32 cheap yellow display board:
| https://makeradvisor.com/tools/cyd-cheap-yellow-display-esp3...
| btbuildem wrote:
| Always interested to see a "device" type of project on here --
| they tend to be the most challenging, even if the goal is simple.
| The intersection of object design, electronics and code is a
| great playground.
|
| I really like the choice of screen, and generally the
| considerations given (and explained in the readme!) for purpose
| and usability.
|
| Couple of notes on the object design (and this is something I
| find very challenging, and spend a lot of time iterating on)
|
| - What if the knob was on top of the device, wide and flat? you
| could center the screen, make the device smaller, and the
| physical action of turning it would be less likely to push the
| box around
|
| - Chamfers and fillets go a long way to make a thing look
| polished -- it's a small detail, but the difference between a
| sharp edge and a rounded one somehow seems to matter a lot.
|
| - Since the menu always has three options, what if instead of the
| knob there were three buttons on the top surface (like the
| "snooze" of an alarm clock)? Fewer interactions to fiddle with!
|
| - You can get translucent filament, and it makes for very cool
| "light conduit" parts -- eg, the LED box could be solid, and it
| would look like something from an 80s dashboard. Alternately, you
| could print a border for the screen, and light that up instead,
| making for a more minimalist design.
|
| (Sorry, I can't help it, I like thinking about these things)
|
| How did you design the knob, OpenSCAD? The knurling is a nice
| touch, and looks like it was done in a programmatic way.
| rukenshia wrote:
| great questions!
|
| - knob: yeah, if I were to redesign that part I would move it
| to the top. I had a total schedule of 4 weeks for this project,
| and I didn't feel confident enough to rebuild (and print
| prototypes) of the case when I encountered the weight problem,
| but that would definitely make it better
|
| - I did fillet/chamfer (almost) every edge I believe, I also
| printed the final case with fuzzy skin to make it feel higher
| quality
|
| - The knob was originally meant to also allow you to change the
| timer, so having a dial felt like the right thing to do. Didn't
| turn out that way, so yes three buttons might be the better UX
| for the menus I ended up with (and would make the device
| smaller)
|
| - The shroud actually started out as a way to prevent light
| leaking (and then I re-printed it in white so that it would
| boost the LED diffusion a bit together with the diffusion
| plastic film), but I like your idea of having an LED strip
| around the edges of the screen - didn't think of that!
|
| - I am usually more of a Blender guy, so I followed a tutorial
| for doing knurling in onshape. The tool really doesn't like
| that much geometry and is laggy to work with, but feel free to
| check out the onshape file (linked in the README)
| CWIZO wrote:
| If you put the knob in a different parts studio then you'd
| probably have a lot less lag.
| rukenshia wrote:
| will give that a try next time, thank you!
| knowknow wrote:
| Cool project! I would recommend checking out the LVGL library
| [0], it's an embedded graphics library to create UIs. It's pretty
| simply to use and feels a bit like html. It's a little bit harder
| to set up hardware communication, but once it's set up, it
| streamlines making the UI and responding to input immensely.
|
| [0] - https://github.com/lvgl/lvgl
| rukenshia wrote:
| Oh that looks very cool! I spent some time researching when I
| started but didn't come across this. Thanks!
| ozim wrote:
| Not sure if author posted it here but don't forget use of
| "pomodoro" term is copyrighted.
|
| https://www.pomodorotechnique.com/pomodoro-trademark-guideli...
| tonymet wrote:
| would it need to be distinguishable from the general term
| (tomato)?
| rukenshia wrote:
| thanks for that, i'll update references.
| jrockway wrote:
| I made an e-ink clock once. The display documentation basically
| said you'd break the display if you refreshed more frequently
| than some long interval. I refreshed it every minute and indeed
| it broke after a year.
| jjice wrote:
| $35 for the ePaper display seems pretty decent these days. Are
| these actually getting cheaper or am I off? I know it's a patent
| riddled tech so that probably is the bit cost limiter, but I've
| been so excited seeing it more and more the last few years.
| vram22 wrote:
| Anyone made a cool software Pomodoro or other time-related app
| with interesting variations?
| pedalpete wrote:
| A guy I know tried to build a business around a physical pomodoro
| timer a while back - https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/timechi-
| your-smart-produc...
|
| A useful addition for those using this in an office, and even for
| those who don't want to look at the screen for the remaining
| time, would be to have an LED (maybe as a nice lightbar) on the
| top of the device which shines red or green to suggest to those
| who can't see the screen (viewing from the other side) if you are
| available to be interrupted or not. You could even make it as a
| progressive light bar if you were so inclined.
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