Custom smartwatch built from scratch on nRF52 and DA1470x platforms covering hardware, firmware, and PCB.
A hobby project: building a fully custom smartwatch from the ground up, covering everything from PCB layout to firmware. Two hardware iterations were built, one on nRF52 and one on the Dialog DA1470x platform.
Both versions designed entirely in Altium Designer. Compact multilayer PCB fitting into a watch form factor. TFT display integrated with custom connector layout. Environmental sensors added for health tracking. Battery management circuit designed for wearable power profile.
First iteration built on nRF52, chosen for its strong BLE stack and low power profile. Firmware written in C with FreeRTOS. BLE used for phone pairing and data sync. Display driver written from scratch for the target TFT controller.
Second iteration on Dialog DA1470x, which offers more processing headroom and richer peripheral set for a smartwatch application. C/C++ firmware with improved power management and additional sensor support.
Building a smartwatch forces you to solve problems you do not encounter on industrial hardware: extremely tight PCB constraints, wearable-grade power budgets, display performance on a small MCU, and the full software stack from sensor drivers to UI rendering. A rewarding project that sharpened skills across every layer of the stack.