If you are hardware inclined and can use something else for GPS, some of the inexpensive fitness bands from Asia contain Nordic nRF51 / nRF52 microcontrollers and are completely reprogrammable. Roger Clark's site has some good info including http://www.rogerclark.net/arduino-on-the-id100hr-fitness-tra... (I believe the watch pictured is actually an ID107HR, not an ID100HR) The ID107HR is nice because it opens with a few screws rather than cracking glue apart and it also exposes the programming pads. You can write Arduino code and interface with the heart rate sensor, accelerometer, OLED screen, etc.
Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?
21–30 of 122 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?
#22Pebble. Someone installed linux on one and they're extraordinarily cheap to pick up now.
Source? Are you referring to Rebble.io?
Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?
#23A few years back, I played around with TI's EZ430-Chronos: http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/EZ430-Chronos?DCMP=C... It's not sleek like modern fitness bands/watches but is hackable. TI has more Smart Watch components and reference designs here: http://www.ti.com/solution/smart-watch
The Chronos looks like a sci-fi watch. I like it, but it lacks what I want for fitness.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?
#24From a fitness & android perspective - android wear has very few devices with many of the useful sensors in one watch.
I have recently ordered a TIQwatch from the most recent kickstarter and hope between it, TaskerWear, etc, that it might be the first androidwear device that values both sensors and optimizing battery life. I know I should be able to get at the data in it how I want. Companies like Samsung have left AndroidWear.
The watch is reasonably priced compared to alternatives, and I hope may be the first smartwatch I end up keeping.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?
#25Pebble. Someone installed linux on one and they're extraordinarily cheap to pick up now.
I looked at Pebble and I was surprised to see they were out of business.
Which, from your point of view, isn't a bad thing. It's no longer dependant on external servers, yet still enjoys a lot of support, is easy to code for, plus it's superb as smart watches go. Charging 3 times a month rather than every night means you can track your sleep with it effectively as well.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?
#26Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?
#27Anything is hackable.
That's true, I hacked the rear view camera of my car to draw guide lines connected to the wheel position using a pi[1], but it took me tons of effort to reverse engineer the wiring system and CANBUS of my car, I learned a lot (CANBUS is a lot of fun:P), but I don't want that level of involvement here.
But I'd like something easier to work with, the "data accessible on the filesystem" of the Garmin seems to be the perfect balance between effort and "hackability".
Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?
#28If you are hardware inclined and can use something else for GPS, some of the inexpensive fitness bands from Asia contain Nordic nRF51 / nRF52 microcontrollers and are completely reprogrammable. Roger Clark's site has some good info including http://www.rogerclark.net/arduino-on-the-id100hr-fitness-tra... (I believe the watch pictured is actually an ID107HR, not an ID100HR) The ID107HR is nice because it opens with a…
Even if I'm more inclined towards an easier solution like the Garmin for fitness tracking, this looks interesting for pure tinkering.
Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?
#29Pebble. Someone installed linux on one and they're extraordinarily cheap to pick up now.
Source? Are you referring to Rebble.io?
Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?
#30Why not just use ANT+ devices and get an ANT+ HR strap and use something like [Python ANT](https://github.com/mvillalba/python-ant)?