Published March 7, 2022 © CC BY-NC-SA

How to Improve Focus With Pomodoro

I often have trouble focusing on what I should do. This device will help me!

BeginnerFull instructions provided5 hours821

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Microchip ATtiny85

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Soldering iron (generic)

Story

Step 1: What Is Pomodoro?

I often have trouble focusing on what I should do.

Sometimes it's due to:

insufficient physical activity,
not enough sleep,
or smartphone notifications.

It started to irritate me, so I decided to do research to find out what people wrote about it. Stress, anxiety, depression, ADHD.

GREAT, thanks, I found the search successful.

Sometime later, when I was again distracted and browsing YouTube instead of studying, I ran into a guy (James Scholz) who studied on his stream for 12 hours! Yes, I also thought "how can you waste half your day studying?"

In any case, he was using the Pomodoro. This is done by dividing your working time into several series of 25 minutes of focus and 5 minutes of rest. During focus, you need to turn off the internet so that you do not receive notifications and be able to fully focus on what should be done. On the other hand, during the 5-minute break, the only thing that is forbidden is concentration.

Can I build a device that works like this? Why not :)

Step 2: Prototype

I opened Tinkercad, I created a prototype circuit. Does it work? It works.

I opened Altium Designer, a program for creating printed circuit boards, and transferred my diagram there. Does it work?

I don't know, it remains to be seen.

On the screen, you can see the PCB made on the basis of the diagram, and in here, you have a link to the free trial version of Altium Designer.

Step 3: PCB

1 / 2

I placed all the components on the PCB, created the tracks, and added a polygon. I exported the project to Gerber files, created a new folder, and added these files to it, then zipped them into a.zip extension so I could easily pass them to production.

If you don't know how to remove PCB from the screen yet (like me in the video :D), go to the PCBWay website and make your first order at a bargain price!

Step 4: Assembling

1 / 3

In the meantime, I got the parts, i.e. LEDs, resistors, attiny, and the rest of the elements. The board is double-layer, so the part with more elements is soldered with the hot-air station, and the other with an ordinary soldering iron.

I pasted the program code from Tinkercad into my microcontroller, flipped a switch, pressed a button, and… and nothing! MadinaMe is not working!

I corrected the schematic, PCB, took the PCB from the screen, soldered it, pasted the code, switch, button and… to my surprise, it works!

Step 5: How It Works?

At this point, MadinaMe works in such a way that when you click the button, a countdown of 25 minutes starts, and every 5 minutes one LED goes off and informs you about the elapsed time. When the time has elapsed, a mini animation is activated informing about the break, and after returning from it, press the button again.

My Youtube: YouTube

My Facebook: Facebook

My Instagram: Instagram

Get 10 PCBs for only $5: PCBWay

Code

pomodoro.ino

//Pin connected to latch pin (ST_CP) of 74HC595
const int latchPin = 1;
//Pin connected to clock pin (SH_CP) of 74HC595
const int clockPin = 2;
//Pin connected to Data in (DS) of 74HC595
const int dataPin = 0;
bool lightOn;
void setup() {
  pinMode(latchPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(dataPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(clockPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(3, INPUT);

  lightOn = false;
  light(false);
Serial.begin(9600);
}


void loop() {
  pomodoro();
  Serial.println(digitalRead(3));
}

void light(bool state) {
  byte val = 255;
  if (state == false) val = 0;

  digitalWrite(latchPin, LOW);
  shiftOut(dataPin, clockPin, MSBFIRST, val);
  digitalWrite(latchPin, HIGH);
}

void registerWrite(int whichPin, int whichState) {
  // the bits you want to send
  byte bitsToSend = 0;

  // turn off the output so the pins don't light up
  // while you're shifting bits:
  digitalWrite(latchPin, LOW);

  // turn on the next highest bit in bitsToSend:
  bitWrite(bitsToSend, whichPin, whichState);

  // shift the bits out:
  shiftOut(dataPin, clockPin, MSBFIRST, bitsToSend);

  // turn on the output so the LEDs can light up:
  digitalWrite(latchPin, HIGH);
}

void pomodoro()
{
  if (digitalRead(3) == 1)
  {
    delay(500);
    for (int i = 0; i <= 5; i++) {
      delay(10);
      light(true);
    }

    if (digitalRead(3) == 0)
    {
      for (int i = 5; i >= 0; i--) {
        if (digitalRead(3) == 1)
        {
          break;
        }
        delay(10000);
        light(false);
      }
    }
    for (int a = 0; a < 10; a++)
    {
      for (int i = 5; i >= 0; i--) {
        delay(100);
        light(true);
      }

      for (int i = 5; i >= 0; i--) {
        delay(100);
        light(false);
      }
    }
  }
}

Credits

ardutronic

39 projects • 40 followers

I'm 20 years old student of electronic technical college. I'm passionate about electronics as well as editing movies

How to Improve Focus With Pomodoro

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Step 1: What Is Pomodoro?

Step 2: Prototype

Step 3: PCB

Step 4: Assembling

Step 5: How It Works?

Schematics

Schematic

Code

pomodoro.ino

Credits

ardutronic

Comments

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How to Improve Focus With Pomodoro

How to Improve Focus With Pomodoro

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Step 1: What Is Pomodoro?

Step 2: Prototype

Step 3: PCB

Step 4: Assembling

Step 5: How It Works?

Schematics

Schematic

Code

pomodoro.ino

Credits

ardutronic

Comments

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