A dual-screen wristwatch designed from scratch with AI assistance — starting from zero KiCad knowledge. Custom two-board PCB architecture, ESP32-C3 MCU, USB-C charging, RTC timekeeping. An industrial designer learning EDA through build.
This project started with one question: could an industrial designer — someone who works in SolidWorks and KeyShot, not KiCad — design a functional PCB from scratch using AI as the EDA co-pilot? The answer turned out to be yes, with a lot of iteration.
No EDA background. No prior schematic design. I knew what a PCB was but had never opened KiCad. The goal: design a complete, manufacturable two-board wristwatch with real components.
Claude guided the full process — MCU selection, power architecture, component footprints, net classes, and DRC debugging. Every decision was reasoned through, not copy-pasted. I learned EDA by building the actual thing.
A complete two-board schematic with a documented power budget, per-component net classes, MOSFET power switching for battery life, and a 7-pin stacked board architecture. ERC clean. PCB layout in progress.
A stacked two-board design: a main board (MCU, power, RTC, primary display) and a thin button board (3 tactile inputs + secondary OLED), linked by a 7-pin JST connector. Designed to fit a slim wristwatch enclosure.
Schematic complete, PCB layout underway. Routing not yet started — placement DRC being cleared. Target manufacturer: JLCPCB.
Calculated on a 200mAh LiPo. A low-side MOSFET lets the ESP32 fully cut OLED1 power during sleep — the key design decision that makes the battery life viable.
| COMPONENT | MODE | DRAW | EST. mA |
|---|---|---|---|
| ESP32-C3 | Active (Wi-Fi off) | Normal operation | ~20mA |
| SSD1306 OLED ×2 | Active | Both displays on | ~20mA |
| DS3231SN | Always on | RTC timekeeping | ~0.2mA |
| ME6211 LDO | Always on | Quiescent current | ~0.06mA |
| System (idle) | Deep sleep · OLED off | MOSFET cuts OLED1 | ~0.5mA |