sol-mate-eink
Hardware
e-paper weather display
SHOW HN2024
How HN took it
13 positive, 24 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 15 critical, out of 56 comments about the project. Thread score +0.01.
Idea: 6 for, 6 againstPerformance: 0 for, 4 againstDesign: 3 for, 1 againstPricing: 1 for, 2 againstExecution: 1 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Fun, clever use of e-ink display
From 3 comments
I use the Inkplate 6Color for some similar projects. Built-in ESP32 controller, so no Pi required. Can be fully battery-powered, so if you make intelligent use of the…
butchlugrod on HNCongrats, it's awesome! I've starred the repo to use some ideas.
brunoarueira on HNReally nice color palettes. Some reminds me if MUI on the Amiga.
rlv-dan on HN
Beautiful visuals and color palettes
From 2 comments
Nice work! Beautiful use of the display.
illuminant on HNReally nice color palettes. Some reminds me if MUI on the Amiga.
rlv-dan on HN
Objections
Using AI for weather is unnecessary; weather APIs exist
From 2 comments
I'm struggling to work out why this uses AI for getting the weather? There are dozens of different free weather APIs which could be called directly.
edent on HNIf your goal was wanting to use AI image generation to create such an image, this makes sense. I think people are just questioning the assumption that such a feature is a…
stetrain on HN
Generated weather and location data can be wrong or hallucinated
From 3 comments
The image displays Barcelona with 26°C and 2°C. I've been to Barcelona a couple of times and it's hard to imagine a day where you hit both temperatures? Is the weather data in…
serial_dev on HNFrom your first point, I'd expect you to be using a service that provides the weather for a given latitude and longitude. From your second point, I'd have expected that to fail…
itishappy on HNHave you stress tested it? "Springfield" is a very common name in the US. I'd love to know how it handles "Sandwich" as well. Again, probably overboard for a fun app!
itishappy on HN
Privacy concern about sending data to OpenAI
From 2 comments
Cool hardware project and idea, but I'm not touching an OpenAI API with a ten-foot pole, especially for an always-on device Maybe when I need a fun project I'll make a version…
advael on HNLimiting contamination is a good first step, but I'm of the mind that anything that doesn't need a cloud service shouldn't use one. To each their own though
advael on HN
E-ink panels are expensive
From 2 comments
All of the cool e-ink projects I want to do fall apart when I'm reminded of the cost of e-ink panels.
declan_roberts on HNYeah I keep checking the prices of them to see if they come down but nope. Meanwhile you can get a touch tft 3.5" for like a dollar.
roygbiv2 on HN
Requests
Support for local models like LAN-hosted Stable Diffusion and OpenStreetMap
From 1 comment
Cool hardware project and idea, but I'm not touching an OpenAI API with a ten-foot pole, especially for an always-on device Maybe when I need a fun project I'll make a version…
advael on HN
Explain the energy use of AI image generation
From 1 comment
I mean cool and all, but as an electrical engineer literally shaving off microamps from my design I can't help but wonder what the energy use behind the AI-generated backdrops…
atoav on HN
Questions
Why is a 7-color e-paper display used and how does dithering work
From 1 comment
I suppose I don't understand how colors work on e-paper at all. Can these 7 colors not be dithered? Or even mixed more properly, for something like true color functionality?
NoMoreNicksLeft on HN
Why clear e-paper images periodically (burn-in risk)
From 2 comments
“Don't leave the same image on the display for too long.” Why is this? Is it something particular about colour e-ink?
mikepurvis on HNThere a difference in how the display works that’s different to a monochrome one, that requires the caveat of “don’t leave the same image on the display for long”? If memory…
MissTake on HN
Can it run on a regular computer instead of a Raspberry Pi
From 1 comment
Does anyone know why projects like this always seem to specify using a particular type of tiny, low-power computer (usually a Raspberry Pi or something similar) to drive the…
kfogel on HN
Alternatives named
Inkplate 6Color with ESP32 and deep sleep
From 1 comment
I use the Inkplate 6Color for some similar projects. Built-in ESP32 controller, so no Pi required. Can be fully battery-powered, so if you make intelligent use of the…
butchlugrod on HN
Pimoroni Inky Impression 7.3 with Pi Zero rain display
From 1 comment
I have a similar project too! I have an e-ink display connected to a Pi Zero that shows just a "Yes" or "No" telling me if it's going to rain outside in the next three hours. (On…
yshui on HN
Free weather APIs called directly
From 1 comment
I'm struggling to work out why this uses AI for getting the weather? There are dozens of different free weather APIs which could be called directly.
edent on HN