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Building a T1D smartwatch for my son from scratch

andrewchilds.com

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Re: Building a T1D smartwatch for my son from scratch

#2

Post by mattboyle »

This is really really awesome. I applaud you.

I had my own project trying to achieve a similar outcome to you, I wrote about it here: https://www.bytesizego.com/blog/keeping-alive-with-go. Your approach is much more hardcore. I hope you find a path to make them available to more folks.

If there is anything I can do to assist you please let me know!

Re: Building a T1D smartwatch for my son from scratch

#3

Post by bdcravens »

This is great. I do watch my Dexcom on my Apple Watch, but there's times I just want the number, ASAP. I was hoping it'd talk about eliminating the need for the iOS app ("...where he shouldn’t have to run around with a phone strapped to him...") but it sounds like it's just not possible to avoid at least periodic polling.

Reading through the product development, I'm curious why you didn't use a dev kit like the Pine Time? (https://pine64.org/devices/pinetime/) I bought one a few years ago and it's just been sitting in the box, waiting for a project to build on it. I may take a stab at something similar.

Re: Building a T1D smartwatch for my son from scratch

#5

Post by andrewchilds »

mattboyle wrote: post #2

This is really really awesome. I applaud you. I had my own project trying to achieve a similar outcome to you, I wrote about it here: https://www.bytesizego.com/blog/keeping-alive-with-go . Your approach is much more hardcore. I hope you find a path to make them available to more folks. If there is anything I can do to assist you please let me know!

Thank you! I remember reading your article! Even though you have to maintain it, it’s actually way better than what’s commercially available since you actually have control over _how_ you’re alerted, not to mention when to escalate to friends or family. I’ve heard Type 1 kids going away to college is a huge source of stress for parents/caregivers for this reason - Sugarmate and the SugerPixel help with this but it still feels like a huge problem (a Type 1 sleeping through a low).

Re: Building a T1D smartwatch for my son from scratch

#6

Post by andrewchilds »

lagrange77 wrote: post #4

Very cool! I love the texture of the enclosure. I guess that's not possible with an FDM printer, right?

Thank you, I do too! I wish it was possible to leave it uncoated, but it develops a worn look pretty quickly. Printing MJF through Fictiv was pretty cheap, especially if you don’t need a rush delivery.

Re: Building a T1D smartwatch for my son from scratch

#7

Post by andrewchilds »

bdcravens wrote: post #3

This is great. I do watch my Dexcom on my Apple Watch, but there's times I just want the number, ASAP. I was hoping it'd talk about eliminating the need for the iOS app ("...where he shouldn’t have to run around with a phone strapped to him...") but it sounds like it's just not possible to avoid at least periodic polling. Reading through the product development, I'm curious why you didn't use a dev kit like the Pine…

Thank you! It should be possible now with the G7 to have the watch pair directly with the sensor. We’re still on the G6. Agreed that would be much better than having to go through the iOS app and up to the cloud.

Honestly I don’t remember why I ruled out the PineTime. I purchased a Bangle.js and while it’s very small, it seemed very limited in what I could do with it. Of course with the Pebble announcement yesterday, that might change things.

Re: Building a T1D smartwatch for my son from scratch

#9

Post by wanderingmoose »

First of all -- awesome!

Second, if you aren't aware or in case others are interested, the main dev from the xdrip project released a custom watch as well: https://bluejay.website/ There are some posts on reddit from the dev. (for others -- the watch is available for purchase, and allows integration w/ xdrip).

Third --> we've come a long way in a short time. When I was diagnosed I had to collect urine samples and drop chemical tablets in them to see how much glucose was present. And now you are building an custom solution tailored to your and your son's needs...wow. I really applaud you.

Fourth --> I'm hoping the new discoveries in the synthetic signaling w/ insulin will finally give us a biological solution and the tech will no longer be necessary. Here's to hoping!

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