Our objective is to build a modern PDA device via a mostly stand-alone watch that can be synced across devices (initially the Linux desktop). We want to achieve tasks that you might typically do on your desktop, focussed towards productivity.
We did consider a custom OS, but decided against it for a few reasons:
1. Allowing somebody else to handle basic OS stuff allows us to concentrate on what really matters, the higher level stuff on top.
2. Having multiple threads in micropython is super simple and we are able to run many active apps at the same time, rather than having to kill them off [3]. Our background apps can continuously interact with the network in the background.
3. Code written for micropython can be easily run on other Python-capable devices.
The CCCamp23's flow3rbadge also used micropython to implement its app framework st3m: https://flow3r.garden/
Our system is not all dis-similar from flow3r it seems [2].
[1] https://docs.micropython.org/en/latest/library/_thread.html
Hence why unless we're doing some kind of PIC like development, it is about time to embrace more modern tooling. :)
I'd probably just output a middle finger somewhere and halt forever.
Do you think the hardware would be a suitable platform for voice assistant type applications, with AI on server side, of course?
[EDIT] Looks like the T-Watch 2020 also has HA support https://github.com/velijv/LILYGO-T-Watch-S3-ESPHome/tree/mai...
If you freeze them to save the battery, how do you handle unfreezing?
We can for example put the ESP32 into a light sleep for some time [1] and keep networking alive if apps require it. The idea is to just stretch the battery to the length of a day, shutting down the display gets a lot of the way already.
[1] https://randomnerdtutorials.com/micropython-esp32-deep-sleep...
It's still on a branch, but I compiled and ran it, and now I have two T-decks that can communicate with eachother off-the-grid without a smartphone attached to send messages; it's actually usable in emergencies now, which is why I bought the devices in the first place.
Currently in the process to deploy a mesh from me to my parents and family.
The default (and most widely used, including on the de facto public channel) setting is one of the longer range options and gives you around 1 kbps, and it's quite usable on the default for normal texting and positioning telemetry with a handful of active users in my experience. The fastest setting is over 20 kbps and still gets ok range, the slowest is a mere 0.09 kbps and is only useful in some limited scenarios.
It's legitimately useful, and I actually use it regularly. Mostly for hiking, as I do a lot of hikes where we split and meet up. It's also far cheaper than commercial options, and getting close to being as polished as the commercial options like Beartooth or GoTenna.
FreeRTOS itself is very barebones, a library that provides basic memory management, task scheduling, io and a TCP stack, but not, for example, an abstraction layer for screen, keyboard or other peripherals, or the concept of running user applications.
You can also run multiple apps alongside, making your ESP32 device more of a multitool like Flipper Zero.
what
If you can store this safely...so can other developers. The ESP32 has encrypted flash and critical data (like serials) can optionally be burned permanently without being readable through debug ports etc.
In short: just make a CMake build of the project without the ESP32 toolset in your path.
Currently the build was only verified working on Arch/Ubuntu or Win11 with WSL+Ubuntu.
I saw soon to retire Jensen announce a new SoC (https://www.reuters.com/technology/nvidia-ceo-says-mediatek-...) at CES 2025 in partnership with Taiwan's Mediatek for their new DIGITS PC (just before NVIDIA stock tanked on the speech) and thought his fire is playing with fire, but this may be a solution to untrustable RockChip performance, Qualcomm profiteering and Apple proprietary solutions.
You can be pointed towards the novel research work that explains how to self-modify the die in the field using opcode sequences that, by the way, came out literally at the dawn of the design timeframe for the latest generation of unnecessary ESP32 chips that flooded the market at the peak of the global chip shortage. The trigger mechanism is not novel. What's more, such n-th level stealth is not even really necessary to conceal backdoors because so many Chinese SoCs ship with reprogrammable microcode and heavily modified Linux distributions that are missing key components despite being marketed with open source trademarks like "OpenWRT". All of this Chinese-fabricated trash is going to be banned for import to US.
Again, half of China, plus their industry and national proxies are out there downvoting away. When will the US learn?
There are plenty of "all-in-one" desktop PCs that are a PC with a built-in screen. Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and others make them.
Not all x86 systems have keyboards and screen, but Linux and Minix work on them with no problem.