GitHub - zonghaoyuan/adhd-focus-light: A red LED heartbeat blinker for M5StickC Plus2 to help people with ADHD improve focus and concentration

中文版

A red LED heartbeat blinker for M5StickC Plus2 designed to help people with ADHD improve focus and concentration.

Background

This project is inspired by a Hacker News comment where a user shared their personal hack for managing ADHD:

Place a tiny LED by the side of your monitor. Make it blink like a fast heartbeat (120-150 bpm) and gradually slow down to around 60 bpm. Without realizing, your brain will try to sync with the light that you can barely see, calming you down and allowing you to go focus-mode. Works like hypnosis!

This project is also based on ADHD_Blink by Qiaogun, which implemented this concept for M5StickC Plus. This version is updated for the newer M5StickC Plus2 hardware.

Photos

Minimal Mode	Info Mode

Features

• 50% Duty Cycle Flash: Natural blinking pattern (half on, half off per beat)
• Multiple BPM Modes: 120 → 100 → 80 → 60 → PAUSE
• Configurable Ramp-Down: BPM decreases by 5 at configurable intervals (30s/60s/90s/2m/OFF)
• Auto Sleep Flow: 60 BPM for 5 min → PAUSE for 2 min → Auto power off
• Adjustable LED Brightness: 4 levels (30/80/150/255), default level 3
• Adjustable Screen Brightness: 4 levels (20/60/120/200), default level 3
• Dual Display Modes: Minimal mode (BPM only) and Info mode
• Battery Powered: Portable design using M5StickC Plus2's built-in battery

Hardware Requirements

• M5StickC Plus2 (ESP32-based mini development kit)

Installation

Prerequisites

1. Install Arduino IDE or arduino-cli
2. Add M5Stack board manager URL:

   https://static-cdn.m5stack.com/resource/arduino/package_m5stack_index.json
   

3. Install M5Stack ESP32 board package
4. Install M5StickCPlus2 library

Using Arduino CLI

# Add M5Stack board URL
arduino-cli config add board_manager.additional_urls https://static-cdn.m5stack.com/resource/arduino/package_m5stack_index.json

# Update index and install board
arduino-cli core update-index
arduino-cli core install m5stack:esp32

# Compile
arduino-cli compile --fqbn m5stack:esp32:m5stack_stickc_plus2 adhd.ino

# Upload (replace PORT with your serial port)
arduino-cli upload -p PORT --fqbn m5stack:esp32:m5stack_stickc_plus2 adhd.ino

Using Arduino IDE

1. Open adhd.ino in Arduino IDE
2. Select Board: M5StickC Plus2
3. Select the correct Port
4. Click Upload

Usage

Button Controls

Minimal Mode (Page 0) - Default

Info Mode (Page 1)

Display Modes

• Minimal Mode: Large centered BPM number or "PAUSE" - zero distractions
• Info Mode: Shows battery %, LED brightness, BPM/PAUSE, run time, and ramp config
  • Top bar: BAT:XX%[+] (left) and LED:X (right)
  • Center: Large BPM value or "PAUSE"
  • Bottom bar: Run:MM:SS (left) and Ramp:XXs (right)
  • LED stays on solid to help adjust brightness
  • Display is static (time snapshot when entering) to save power

Ramp Intervals

Configurable via long press on BtnA in Info Mode:

• 30s: Fast ramp-down
• 60s: Default
• 90s: Slow ramp-down
• 2m: Very slow ramp-down
• OFF: No auto ramp-down

Auto Sleep Flow

120 BPM → 100 → 80 → 60 → [5 min] → PAUSE → [2 min] → Power Off

1. BPM decreases by 5 at each ramp interval
2. After reaching 60 BPM, continues for 5 minutes
3. Automatically enters PAUSE mode
4. After 2 minutes in PAUSE, device powers off

Manual mode switching resets all timers.

How It Works

1. Startup: Red LED lights up for 2 seconds as a self-test
2. Running: LED flashes at 50% duty cycle at current BPM
3. Auto Ramp-Down: BPM decreases by 5 at configured interval (min 60 BPM)
4. Auto Sleep: After reaching 60 BPM for 5 min, pauses then powers off

Default Settings

Star History

License

MIT License - Feel free to use, modify, and distribute.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

Acknowledgments

• Original idea from this Hacker News comment
• Based on ADHD_Blink by Qiaogun
• Built with M5StickCPlus2 Library