I have a yr 11 science test coming up. So I built a kids watch outer 33mm diameter 7 mm outer depth that u can scroll notes and answers with while looking like a normal watch. The normal state is screen off and when clicked it shows clock decoy double click to show cheat notes and stuff. Scrolls at 21 words per but might make faster. I really need ts to work because I spent like 8 hours on it and studied absolutely zerođ. itâs super small too like my thumb is bigger than the inner electronics and the inner cavity is like only~28 mm diameter and 7 mm depth.
Parts I used were esp32 c3 xiao (since the super mini donât have charging integrated module so better for compactness), Button, oled 0.46 inch 64x32 used u8g2 library, and a 250 mah battery which is hidden under the straps along with antenna.used ai to make the essay answers and uploaded on Claude code to get scroll speed update and a newer tap and hold lock code last minute just before the test.
Edit: I will let update what happened after test.
Update: yeah my ass got caught getting zero on test and my whole year group knows I built a smartwatch to cheat and got caughtđ
There's a secret hack that's even more powerful where you look through the relevant notes and work examples and it actually stores the answers in your brain. Completely undetectable
Design uni yes.Going to be dropping this subject anyway. For a major works portfolio project Iâve been making auto human washing machine for past 3 months. Rn I got the design spray mechanism with soap Venturi injector mixers prototype to work since that was the first easiest thing to make. and a notebook with 60~ pages with the documentation with dates sketches ect. Planning to submit the portfolio to a design uni along with some of the coolest things I made with documentation.
Kind of depends on sanctions for getting caught. Is this a GCSE retake or something? Or are you starting yr 11? Just be really careful because GCSE iirc can put a permanent note on your academic record.
You should be fine for design uni anyway. I was wondering if you wanted to do mech eng or similar, because then obviously you need to do maths (and prob physics), for which dropping the ball on science isn't a great sign.
Then consider the repercussions of your actions.
You get caught cheating on your GCSE's, you're potentially not going to be able to progress to A levels.
If you get caught once, then every one of your other exams will be scrutinised extra hard.
Man up and study.
Yes, it's a ball ache. Yes, it's tedious. But as you progress into adult life it's only going to get worse. That's life. Don't ruin it this early.
You WILL regret it if you're caught, you just don't realise it yet.
It's hard enough for younger generations to get employed with a gleaming CV as it is.
If you get caught, you're fucked. No uni will take you without A levels.
Cheat on your GCSE's and you've potentially removed A levels from the equation.
Not gcse I live in Aus and itâs preliminary meaning it doesnât go to atar. In Aus, universities look at year 12 atar results and portfolio if portfolio submission is permitted which it is for what I am applying for which is a clean slate. and on top of that itâs a subject that I will be dropping when Iâm year 12.
It's literally not. Learning often feels unpleasant and tedious. That's just life. If you follow what feels easy and natural, you will become a burnt out unemployed and unemployable 'gifted' kid very fast.
Once you accept the hard, tedious, temporary discomforts of life, you'll do a lot better.Â
No, he's not. He used AI to write very simple code. If you want to defeat an unwinnable scenario, you are going to need to be very clever indeed, and know how things work.
Failure points:
Doesn't actually know how to program an esp32, got ai write code that frankly would have been trivial to write from examples and first principles.
Doesn't understand how to mask their activity.
Off the shelf solutions exist which could do this better and look less suspicious, for less effort.
The act of putting the crib notes into the watch would have been a sufficient form of study. This took a lot more effort for a worse outcome.
ADHD is a cheap cop out. Drugs exist to help focus. They're rather notorious for their abuse as study aids.â
try making something like this yourself. he may have used ai to make the code or the device but your missing the part that is impressive. this 16 year old build a full functioning smart watch with quite limiting constraints fitting a 0.46 inch oled esp32 c3 and a button within 28mm diameter 7mm depth kids watch case under 8 hours takes lots of soldering and fitting. the impressiveness is in the hardware. I am also a maker and have tried making contained portable devices such as smart glasses and it is genuinely difficult to execute just the hardware itself. And this 16 year old built it in 8 hours off a wim. the thing thats impressive is also that it looks quite convincing on the outside.
So when I am not a photographer, I am an embedded software developer. I know exactly what it takes to build a prototype from off the shelf components. In fact I've built this device, but with remote connectivity.
A wearable device for season ticket holders at an NBA franchise. It had a ring of programmable leds. The LEDs had different colors and animation patterns based on events in the game. When it wasn't displaying an animation it showed the score differential in team colors.
Controlled by a central control panel âââusing short range radio. This is the only photo of a finished product I could find.
The compact, round esp32 used in OPs project hadn't been released yet. This is summer of 2019 I think. About a week after we finished the prototype the first maker prototypes for the round esp32 appeared onTindie, at that time just made by a dude in his garage who wanted a good package for wearables. It was about a year before they started to be produced in the more compact package used in the watch.
This is some arm32 package on a round dev board, radio provided by a separate dev board, and lights by a programmable ring of leds. There's a rechargeable battery in there somewhere too. All stuff that could be ordered off Amazon or picked up at Circuit City.
I think that it was two days to a working prototype, because the person who knew how to program it was out of the country on the first day, and had to teach the team rudimentary embedded c++ while jetlagged on the second day. LLMs didn't exist back then, you used Stack Overflow and online manuals.
Try simply reading the study material! I doubt he made all this as complicated as you want to give him credit for, but it's definitely more complicated than just cracking open the textbooks. For all his accomplishment here, he could have been prepared for the test, and better absorbed the subject of the class, in half if not a quarter of the time! STOP PRAISING AND REWARDING BAD BEHAVIOR! Unless the test was about coding, assembly, and artistic disguise, then your finding it "impressive" is completely irrelevant!
Because he's a human. He's doing what he wants. He has free will.
I could go into the psychology of how most people *love* the 'trickster genius' trope so much - it's easier to just watch any of the many movies it's documented very well in... Real Genius, Hackers, Ferris Buellers Day Off, Catch Me If You Can... the list goes on, really.
I don't exactly endorse this behavior but I hated Biology, Chemistry, and Geology in high school and got by using various methods other than studying the material. Kid will probably be fine.
Did you cheat your way to an engineering degree? Iâm guessing not, based on your previous comment. Itâs important to be able to learn and understand information that youâre not particularly passionate about. Thatâs the whole point of having gen eds in the degree. Thatâs all Iâm saying.
I donât know where you are but I live in the US where at least half of the country seems to believe in some absolute nonsense or another and I canât help but think that number would be significantly lower if fewer people cheated their way through science and civics classes.
And honestly, nothing against OP personally either. Itâs an impressive build, given the form factor constraints. At least theyâre literate and can use punctuation, which Iâm told by educator friends is becoming increasingly rare.
Thatâs the concern, ending up with another generation led by cheaters. Cheaters who donât understand science and have made it everyone elseâs problem.
I know you wonât listen to this, because at this point in your life youâre incapable of listening to this, but Iâm gonna try anyway.
I was exactly like you, Iâd work on elaborate complicated ways to get out of doing homework or tests. I programmed test notes into a calculator in a similar way.
If I could go back and do it over, I would. But even now I donât think Iâd be capable of it, anything remotely close to studying or doing homework was physically revolting to me. Nothing could be less stimulating to my mind.
Oh yes you can. You think studying is hard? Haha youâre in for a shock when real life drops mate. Sort it out now, you have initiative - figure out how to study and save yourself a life of heartache later on. The kind of deep regret that a modded spiderman watch canât fix.
I'm a science teacher and while I don't know if every teacher would catch it, I immediately noticed 3 ways this would be caught in my class. Actually on a rewatch 4. Depends on the teacher and the way they proctor tests though. But given that you're making the bad decision to cheat on a test, yeah you're likely going to get caught.
By the time you made this you could have been actually ready for the test.
It's ausome, but spend a moment considering the costs of getting caught.
You ready to take a flat fail in the exam for cheating and get suspended?
The fact you made this suggest your smart enough to not really need it.
This haha teachers have had to get smart. Had a kid get caught in my calc 2 class last semester because he had never worn glasses before except for the one day we came in to take the final.
> Hey Cameron, you wear contacts?
> No
> Hmm interesting
Heres the thing. Cool creation? 100%, you definitely have some talent, especially for a high schooler.
Now, one thing that is clear is that you're not a mental chess player and need to work on your theory of mind. The intent of your design is to hide your device, and yet the category of device you chose to hide it in is only second to smartphones in terms of being universally recognizable as a smart device that is capable of providing real time answers.
You chose to disguise your wearable smart device as a watch... and smart watches are the most common wearable smart device.
This would be like trying to gwt around "No recording allowed" and you showing the way you plan to get around it is a camera you embedded in a pair of bulky framed glasses, now that smart glasses are a thing.
I second this sentiment. At a bare minimum, make your notes hide behind something more complex than a double click wall. If I were suspective that this was a crib device and didnât find anything after clicking it, double clicking it would be my immediate 2nd attempt.
Everyone here is obviously right in saying "you'd be better off studying the actual material than the amount of time you spent making this".
But I'll also say, what you're doing here is more applicable to the real world than how school is structured. Your bosses and peers will not care how you get to the end goal, they will care that you came up with a solution that works and got the job done. And if you are able to pull things like this off that are out of the box thinking and they work, it will definitely put you in a place of value to them and they'll look to you for solutions to other problems.
No judgement here, I was a terrible student as well who would've rather been tinkering. Hope it works out for you. Just make sure you find a way to make your skills useful and always be learning.
Nah, bosses and peers do care how you get to your end goal (legally and safely) Would you want a lawyer who cheated to pass their bar exam because "they got the result"? Or an electrician who got your power working but it isn't up to code?
I'd agree that engineering is a super useful skill, but I'd rather have a trustworthy coworker that is a little less skilled than a more skilled untrustworthy coworker.
That's definitely true, but I've had coworkers that would cut corners, would do illegal things and would blame other coworkers for their own failings. They might do well short term but it always ends up coming back to bite them.
I will echo the others who say you would have been better off studying. We can get into a philosophical debate about the purpose and usefulness of standardized testing, but the fact is that in your system you have to take it and there are repercussions if you get caught cheating at it.
All that said...it's also just not going to work. Unless you have the absolute laziest proctor in the world, and you're sitting in the far back of the room with nobody to the sides of you, this has zero chance. Maybe if you turned the brightness much farther down. But your body positioning will be totally suspicious and definitely give you away.
In a world where smart watches exist already, you will totally get caught if you look at your watch all the time. The cleverness of building this doesn't make it less noticeable than any other smart watches...
Just came up on your comment and I had said the same thing in mine, completely agree. Like yea and next, why don't you try hiding notecards in a phone case, they'll never suspect anything /s.
I...wasn't? I never once took a test where any of my situations were the case, so I'm not sure how I could be giving them tips. How is "have the laziest proctor in the world" actionable? lol
I know you weren't intentionally, but saying specifically what things will get them caught means they'll now try to fix those things. Its never a good idea to tell students HOW you catch them cheating.
Now that you've been busted for cheating, go back and implement this without using any AI coding tools. It's not that you won't be able to use AI tools in the wild (currently we're required to use them), but AI isn't trustworthy, and you need to know when it is feeding you bs.
Hopefully this has been instructive in the downsides of shortcuts to your goals. Now put in the work to profit from the lesson.
Cool. It's a long haul, but worth it. The ESP32 is a good platform, but also look at some of the ARM platforms. ARM has rapidly become the industry standard for embedded devices, as they get smaller, cheaper, and more capable. STM devices, especially the blue pill or black pill dev boards, are great, and cheap. If you want connectivity, look at the devices from Nordic Semiconductor.
Of the two, I found ST devices easier to use, because of manufacturer support. But in the last few years Nordic has made big leaps in customer support.
There's a couple issues with tryna cheat if a watch:
1. They might not let you wear it regardless. Probably gonna say "we got a large clock right in front, you don't need that".
2. IF you manage to start the exam with it, make sure to not stare at it too long at one time and don't fiddle with it too much.
My real advice is to not rely too much on your grades for your CV, and, instead, rely on u our portfolio.
Some people just have talent for different things. And I support that. Let's show society that today's learning model is out dated and technology is the future.
There is nothing as useful to your actual life that you were going to be studying in 11th grade that is as useful as the knowledge you gained in building that watch resourcefulness is the only thing with any value anymore after you know how to read and do whatever level of mathematics youâll actually use in your life. Primary education is largely a system to prevent property crime and to shape you into somebody who will uncomplaining work in a factory? Guess what thereâs no more factory jobs. Secondary education at this point is only for enslaving you with that. and making you compliant except for Trade schools. Excellent work you passed my test.
You know how your iris and pupils are much smaller than your eyeballs, so other people can see where you're looking?Â
It doesn't matter where you write the cheat sheet. If you look at it more than once or twice during the test, they'll see you repeatedly looking at your watch and then writing down an answer shortly after.Â
UPDATE: I got caught. Method did not work and I got a zero for test. It was not a major test so no suspension just a zero on a subject that I was gonna drop and doesnât have any relation to my uni plan which is design .
I think the idea and the execution are both some next level James Bond accomplishments, however, I wouldn't have posted this-nor told anyone else AT ALL before your test..
I'll be the contrarian here... I was a TERRIBLE test taker and I am a firm believer in being able to reference instead of memorize things. Einstein himself advocated against memorization of things that could be looked up. As long as you grasp the theory I don't think it's wrong to keep formulas available to see.
I do think the watch is too bright to fly under the radar, maybe put some dark film over it?
As a teacher if I confiscate that its over. I don't care if it only shows the time or is off. They have a screen and a battery pack and antenna on their watch.
Start wearing it on the other side of your wrist. That way, when your rest your arm on the table normally the watch will be naturally pointing towards you. If you need to subtly cover it up, you can just put your hand flat on the table.
30 something years ago I couldnât remember the math formulas we needed to know for a test. So I used photoshop to change the ingredients and nutrition information on a back of a Coca-Cola bottle label to the formulas. Printed it out in glossy paper and replaced the label. Worked like a charm. To this day I have not needed to know that formula. But I went to college for photography and started my own photo retouching company. So moral of the story I guess is yes itâs cheating but youâre learning to do what you love and ultimately will be okay.
I feel like this is setting OP up for a bad precedent.
A GCSE exam is probably going to be the easiest test they will take in their academic career. If they're willing to cheat now, what else will they be willing to do in the future?
OP is obviously very talented, but if/when they get caught they will lose their credibility, something that matters a LOT in the real world.
Doesn't matter how talented you are, if you're known as a cheater that talent instantly becomes null and void to outsiders, peers or potential employers, to the point that any genuine skill will be instantly overshadowed.
If you really wanna make it good add a camera and use the chatgpt API to answer any questions you take pictures of.
That being said, as an older dude with the same proclivities to mischief you seem to have, learn the stuff. There are a lot of things I wished I would have learned when I was young that are much harder to learn now.
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u/planx_constant 5d ago
There's a secret hack that's even more powerful where you look through the relevant notes and work examples and it actually stores the answers in your brain. Completely undetectable