Looking for a certain component: E-ink or LCD "Single Dot" SMD Indicators? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: ryanrehfuss
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 29, 2023, 03:04:55 am
content: Greetings! This is my first post on the forumI am a total amateur and I'm looking for a doohickey. I'm trying to design a very-small-form-factor battery protection PCB and I would like to have some tiny indicators on the PCB, a simple on/off black/white dot thingy next to a silkscreen symbol to show the user for instance if there is low voltage, short circuit detected, thermal cutoff. Help out the user asking "why isn't my pack behaving normally?" using the minimum possible power, components, and space.I am thinking of tiny - indicator dots? I don't know what they would be called, I'm finding it hard to come up with good keywords to search. I've attached a quick photoshop that hopefully clarifies the idea. I'm imagining just a liquid crystal or e-ink jobby with simple voltage drive and very low Iq. I could place a few of these indicator dots on my PCB next to silk-screen fault symbols, like I said, to indicate a specific battery fault state.I think I want to avoid 8-segment/matrix/pixel displays because they're way too big on my board, way more functionality than I need, and microcontroller/programming complexity, and I want to avoid LEDs because they draw too much current to be steady on indefinitely in a battery pack, especially during a fault-state. In place of LEDs I imagine the dots might be driven by the same firmware programmable LED-out pins on a fuel gauge IC (pic 2). Hopefully.Surely something like this exists? It seems like a simple little thing, but I haven't had any luck whatsoever searching for them. I appreciate any help finding out what to call them, or whether or not they exist.Thank you and good day

author: hubi
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2023, 03:18:08 am
content: In case you don't find what you're looking for, you could use LEDs and add a small button to activate them similar to the charge level indicator on power tool batteries (e.g. Dewalt).

author: ryanrehfuss
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 29, 2023, 03:49:37 am
content: Quote from: hubi on June 29, 2023, 03:18:08 amI think that's a fine alternative, tried and true! Hadn't even crossed my mind.Maybe the fuel gauge IC can even be in shutdown mode until the button is pressed, for further power savings. Still, if I can avoid needing the button that would be nice. I'd like to conformally coat this since the PCB might be exposed to the elements. Not to mention the possible challenge of training the user to push a button

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 29, 2023, 04:04:26 am
content: A single one of these?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip-disc_displayAlso worth looking at, not sure if they mass-produce these (but I suppose they're all custom and if you're willing to pay $$$ for massive quantities, manufacturers in China might oblige):https://hackaday.com/2017/04/12/can-you-build-an-e-ink-display-from-scratch/

author: ryanrehfuss
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 29, 2023, 05:33:31 am
content: Quote from: amyk on June 29, 2023, 04:04:26 amI'd love to love a flip-dot indicator, they're so cool! But the minimum dot size of 7mm is too much to work with on my 20mm board. As for e-ink, I don't know how many I might need - ultimately if I can't BOM it, I'll probably just go with LEDs. Thanks

author: sd
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 29, 2023, 08:40:00 pm
content: Perhaps this?https://www.ynvisible.com/

author: ryanrehfuss
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 30, 2023, 01:48:31 am
content: Quote from: sd on June 29, 2023, 08:40:00 pmFull service custom shapes, flexible, direct drive hmmmm. They make it easy, but I wonder if the price is right! The store prices look a bit worrying, 5 Euro for a single digit display ouch!I'll update if I get a quote from themUPDATE: My update is here sooner than expected. Their prototyping fee is 2500 Euro, "Cost Effective" they sayMaybe if I sell 5K or so PCBs! Looks like I might be sticking to penny LEDs.