A Bulky But Brilliant DIY Smart Ring
This DIY smart ring was built by salvaging parts from an old smartwatch.
Makers regularly create their own DIY versions of just about every electronic gadget you can imagine, from computers to smartwatches. But one thing that you hardly ever see is a DIY smart ring. That is for good reason: fitting all of the tiny components into a sufficiently small package is nearly impossible using the sorts of tools typically found in a hobbyist’s toolbox. To make something that looks decent and is useful, you need access to industrial-grade manufacturing facilities that specialize in micro-assembly and encapsulation.
Despite the challenges, YouTuber Gadget Industry decided to give it a whirl anyway. Rather than design the electronics from scratch, Gadget Industry salvaged parts from an old smartwatch. This did make things easier, but it also made everything larger. Even so, despite the oversized appearance, this ring is still quite impressive for a DIY build that doesn’t require any special tools.
To kick things off, a mold with a finger-shaped hole was created and epoxy resin was poured into it. This slips over the finger and serves as the base of the ring. A smartwatch was then disassembled, and the touchscreen display, control board, and USB-C port were set aside for reuse. The battery was too large for a ring, so it was discarded. As is often the case with cheap smartwatches, there was a fake heart rate sensor, so that was also tossed to the side.
An epoxy adhesive was mixed up to attach the screen, control board, and USB port to the ring base. Extremely small rechargeable batteries were then adhered to the ring and wired together in parallel. This provided the power needed, but without being a single, big inconvenient rectangle like the watch’s battery. Finally, a small screw was wired to the control board and installed beneath the display to serve as a capacitive touch sensor.
As a final touch, clay was used to fill the finger hole and USB port, then the entire device was submerged in a mold of epoxy resin. After it hardened, the clay was removed and the resin was cut and sanded to produce the final ring.
The result is way too large to be comfortably worn as a ring, but as a DIY project, there is no denying that this smart ring is super cool!
R&D, creativity, and building the next big thing you never knew you wanted are my specialties.