Show HN: My solar-powered, ePaper digital photo frame

154 点作者 jamez大约 2 年前

This is version 2 of my ongoing heirloom device project, a digital photo frame built with the goal of lasting longer than your typical gadget.There's a part of me that wishes to commercialize a polished version of this product, but the more I speak to people, the more I become convinced that I belong to a very small minority.

20 条评论

edent大约 2 年前

That's lovely! I've been experimenting using old eReaders for such a purpose - and you're 100% right about batteries being a pain to deal with.Perhaps, instead of a polished version, you could sell the components as a kit?

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falcolas大约 2 年前

I think this is super cool.That said, calling it a "forever" or "heirloom" doesn't match the reality of the lifespans of electronics. Hopefully it will last longer if there are no defects in the components, and since the components aren't drawing full power most of the time. Still, I think the lifespan issue is worth keeping in mind, and out of marketing.But that's just my 2¢.

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iamflimflam1大约 2 年前

I’ve been playing around with energy harvesting to make my ePaper weather display run on batteries. It’s kind of working, but the solar cell I’m using is pretty small and we really find get enough sun up in the north. It is still running though and if it can last until summer the battery should charge back up to full capacity.<a href="https://atomic14.com/2023/03/23/energy-scavenging.html" rel="nofollow">https://atomic14.com/2023/03/23/energy-scavenging.html</a>

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Lio大约 2 年前

I love this! I totally get it. If it was commercially available it's something I would definitely be interested in.I also know some pretty serious photographers working with large format black and white film. I think they would be interested in something like this.I think they would consider the eInk its own medium and try to shoot stuff that suits it in particular.

kfarr大约 2 年前

I really like this! There are some awesome premade boards with integrated eink displays using the RP2040 (pico) from pimoroni that could benefit from this clever periodic Solar-supercapacitor power source. Kinda surprised this is the first time reading about this concept as it makes tons of sense.

phkahler大约 2 年前

Use internal storage. Have a USB connection that can power it while transferring files. Files need to be "converted" to e-paper format when transferred.Now it's a USB photo frame that anyone can use, requires no cord and no batteries. Everyone wants this.

codethief大约 2 年前

Piggybacking on this: My parents recently changed their newspaper subscription and they now no longer receive a paper version but only a digital one (app + PDF). Can anyone recommend a cheap & lightweight e-ink device with a large screen that would be appropriate for newspaper reading? It should be able to open PDFs from some sort of network or cloud storage. It doesn't need to support handwriting or anything.I imagine they would just have the device lying around on the kitchen table, with the front page open at all times.Personally, I own a Supernote, which I really like but it's too small and also too expensive for using it just as a newspaper reader.

seanalltogether大约 2 年前

I love everything about this and wish I had the electronic skills to piece one together. While a wifi one is more versatile and hands off, I imagine an sd card version would be simpler and more robust. I love the idea of just changing the photo as soon as there's enough power available, and a nice attractive frame with integrated panels should be doable. I would get major karma with my mom, mother in law and wife if I could give each of them one of these

benob大约 2 年前

An ironic version could display the weather forecast.

jareklupinski大约 2 年前

it's hard for people to imagine what the finished, polished product will look like, until you show themthey just think it will look on their wall like it does nowI've worked with 3d artists in the past to turn my ideas into renders, but nothing sells the device like a finished beta that's pretty much ready to be boxed (or a hollywood mockup, if you have the budget)

akamoonknight大约 2 年前

That white, black, and red image is amazing! I remember a post here about optimizing 1 bit black and white images some time ago, which also was amazing, but it's crazy the colors that seem to pop out of that image when just adding red as an additional option.

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mxuribe大约 2 年前

@jamez This is amazing! Though when i looked at the repo, there wasn't any instructions on building one...Because I would love to try my hand at it! :-) In any case, kudos for such a wonderful thing that you built!

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illwrks大约 2 年前

This is fantastic. I wonder... could you have a carpenter create a custom frame? The solar panels could slot into channel around the perimeter of the frame and look like part of a design. It would look seamless.

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vbezhenar大约 2 年前

I wonder if it's possible to create epaper display with solar panel behind it. I guess it'll have black background with white ink particles which might be perfectly OK for many kinds of images.

serialx大约 2 年前

Interesting! Maybe using small cells like these might make the frame and cell blend together?<a href="https://a.aliexpress.com/_oDCStIL" rel="nofollow">https://a.aliexpress.com/_oDCStIL</a>

ifdefdebug大约 2 年前

Hi!I can't help with commercializing, but I love your work and I'd very much like to buy one from you. I don't mind to pay for a good craftsman's time.I'll try to contact you through your site.

tony-allan大约 2 年前

Love the concept of a solar engine and your implementation but be aware the ePaper doesn't like UV so be careful where you put it.

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hattmall大约 2 年前

Love it, is there a secret to getting cheap useable old e-readers?

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louwrentius大约 2 年前

I really love this, awesome.

Crontab大约 2 年前

Very nice work!