A pocket-sized daily activity tracker for the PicoCalc.
LPS-Companion helps you record daily activities, write a short note, and compare your expected and actual weight. Completing activities earns experience points (XP) and unlocks collectible keepsakes.
It runs offline on the original RP2040 PicoCalc, with a 320 × 320 display and physical keyboard. Your entries and progress are saved to the SD card.
Status: v1.2 was confirmed working on the user's PicoCalc. v1.10.2 adjusts key emphasis and the home screen spacing; see BUILD-VALIDATION.md for host checks and physical-test limits.
- The French word Retour is normal weight in helper text. The previous/current day hint moves to the next line, and the header date shifts three columns to the right. Home screen status messages remain visible on the line above the day hint.
- Config → Colors / Couleurs now offers PAL4 Orange and PAL5 Pink / Rose alongside red, green, and blue. Up/Down previews; Enter saves, and Esc cancels the preview. New palettes persist in the existing version 6 save format.
- Key names in on-screen hints, including Enter/Entrée, Esc/Échap, N, Delete/Suppr, and the arrow keys, use bold character strokes on the PicoCalc display.
- Added 5 Christian Rosary / Rosaire chrétien to today's main menu.
- Every new session begins by choosing one of four modes: one decade (3–5 min), full Rosary (15–20 min), Scripture and short meditations (20–30 min), or slow contemplation (30–40 min).
- The app proposes the traditional mysteries for the selected date: Joyful on Monday/Saturday, Sorrowful on Tuesday/Friday, Glorious on Wednesday/Sunday, and Luminous on Thursday. Any cycle can be selected manually.
- One-decade mode asks which of the five mysteries to pray.
- Complete English and French guidance includes the opening prayers, mystery announcements, five decades where applicable, Fatima Prayer, Hail Holy Queen, closing prayer and Sign of the Cross.
- Guided and contemplative modes add a short Scripture passage and meditation for every mystery. Contemplative mode also adds a dedicated silent pause.
- The prayer view displays the current prayer, mystery/decade progress, Hail Mary count and a ten-bead indicator. Long prayers are paginated safely for the 40-column display.
- Enter/Right advances, Left returns to the previous page or prayer, and Esc leaves the session. Rosary progress is intentionally session-only and does not modify saved data.
- A bold red
[!] Low battery!/[!] Batterie faible !warning appears when the estimated battery level falls below 20%. Hysteresis prevents flicker near the threshold. - Added Lecture / Reading as activity 15.
- Added Shopping as activity 16 in both languages.
- Both activities appear on the second Activities page and are included in XP totals and calendar exports.
- Added a persistent Kanban for up to 24 user-defined tasks, each with a 32-character name.
- Tasks move between TODO / À FAIRE, DOING / EN COURS, and DONE / FINI and may be renamed, deleted or reordered.
- Kanban displays contextual key reminders and always opens on TODO / À FAIRE.
- 5 Config remains unchanged; Close the day / Terminer le jour moves to item 6.
The save format introduced in v1.7 was version 5. Existing version 1–4 saves import with an empty Kanban. Back up the complete SD-card LPS directory before updating; older firmware cannot read a save after v1.7 has rewritten it.
- A cold start without an SD card displays a bold red
[!] Missing SD card!warning and blocks writes. English is used because the saved language preference cannot be read while the card is absent. - Main and selection menus use consecutive rows for a denser, faster-to-scan layout.
- Activities now show 10 entries per page; Weekend, Sortie/Outing, Jeu/Gaming and Docteur/Doctor appear on the second page.
- ICS descriptions use RFC 5545 newline escapes, so activities, XP, weights and note import as separate lines in calendar applications.
- 5 Config → 2 Colors / Couleurs opens a live palette preview. Its labels follow the active language: red/green/blue/Orange/Pink in English or rouge/vert/bleu/Orange/Rose in French.
- PAL1 is red/rouge, PAL2 is green/vert (default), and PAL3 is blue/bleu.
- Use Up/Down or
1–5to preview a palette across the complete interface. Press Enter to save it immediately; the full screen is redrawn in the new palette. Esc returns to Configuration without saving the preview. - Existing v1.4 saves import unchanged and retain the default green palette until a colour is chosen.
- 0 Date is a new current-day menu entry in both languages.
- The field is pre-filled as
YYYY-MM-DD. New profiles begin with the build's suggested date, 2026-09-17; imported v1.0–v1.3 entries are explicitly undated until you confirm Date. - The built-in Gregorian calendar covers 2000-01-01 through 2099-12-31, including leap years. No separate calendar file is needed on the SD card: the rules are compiled into the firmware, so there is no extra file to corrupt or maintain.
- Closing a dated day automatically gives the new day the next valid calendar date.
- Closing a dated day also appends its weight values to
LPS/WEIGHTS/YYYY.csvon the SD card. The columns aredate,expected_kg,measured_kg; an unrecorded weight is left blank. Repeating a failed close does not duplicate the date. - Every successfully closed dated day writes
LPS/EXPORT/YYYY-MM-DD_LPS-Companion.icsto the SD card. It is a standard all-day calendar event containing activities, day XP/total XP, recorded weights, and note.
Closing is blocked until Date is valid. ICS export happens before the A/B snapshot is committed: a failed export leaves the day open and removes its incomplete ICS file. If the snapshot write fails after a successful export, retrying replaces that same date-named export; it never creates a duplicate event.
Back up the entire SD LPS folder before updating. v1.0–v1.3 cannot read the new format. Old history remains viewable but is marked undated; past entries are never exported retrospectively.
- English is the default for new profiles and imported v1.0–v1.2 saves.
- 5 Config → 1 Language offers English and Français.
- Choose a language with Up/Down and Enter (or 1/2), then use 3 Save / 3 Enregistrer in Configuration. The language takes effect only after a successful save.
- Esc from Language returns to Configuration without selecting the highlighted choice. Esc from Configuration discards unsaved changes.
- Device labels, activity names, help text, errors and keepsake names are translated. Proper names such as Gurumed and user-authored notes remain unchanged.
- The language survives restart and is stored in the protected A/B snapshots alongside your daily data.
- Old saves load automatically without losing activities, notes, weights, XP or history. The first successful save writes format 2, adding one language byte. Mixed old/new snapshots are supported during upgrade.
Back up the entire SD LPS folder before updating. v1.0–v1.2 cannot read the new format; restore your pre-upgrade backup if downgrading. Fallback to an older v1.2 snapshot also returns the language to English.
- On the home screen, Left steps back one saved day. Press again to go further back, up to the 31 retained completed days.
- On the home screen, Right returns directly to the current day.
- Past days are marked JOUR ARCHIVE - LECTURE SEULE. Open Activities, Note or Weight to inspect that day's entries. Historical entries cannot be edited or closed again.
- Esc returns to the selected day's menu. In Activities, Left/Right still switches activity pages; return to the menu before navigating days.
- The existing save format is unchanged: v1.0/v1.1 history loads automatically. Browsing never writes either save file or awards XP.
- Repas renamed to Régime.
- Congé and Weekend added.
- The Pour demain screen and its navigation removed.
- Terminer le jour is now menu item 4.
- Existing v1.0 saves load without conversion. The previous Repas checkbox becomes Régime; all other existing activity positions are retained.
Back up the SD card’s LPS folder before updating. New activity flags are not supported by v1.0; restore your backup if reverting to that version.
- Original PicoCalc with a Raspberry Pi Pico/Pico H (RP2040).
- FAT16- or FAT32-formatted SD card.
- Linux development computer; the instructions below use Fedora.
- Internet access for the first build to download dependencies.
sudo dnf install git cmake ninja-build gcc-c++ python3 \
arm-none-eabi-gcc-cs arm-none-eabi-gcc-cs-c++ arm-none-eabi-newlibExtract the source package, open a terminal in its directory, and run:
cd LPS-Companion-PicoCalc
bash build.shThe script downloads the pinned dependencies, compiles the application, and checks the generated UF2 file.
Output: build/lps_companion.uf2
Subsequent builds reuse the downloaded dependencies. To reduce memory usage while compiling:
LPS_JOBS=2 bash build.shBuild the v1.8 UF2 from the included source using build.sh.
This project produces standalone firmware for direct BOOTSEL flashing. Compatibility with UF2 launchers and other Pico modules has not been established.
- Insert a FAT16/FAT32 SD card into the PicoCalc.
- Hold the BOOTSEL button on the Pico module while connecting the module's USB port to your computer.
- When the
RPI-RP2drive appears, release BOOTSEL. - Copy
build/lps_companion.uf2onto that drive. - The Pico restarts into LPS-Companion.
Use the Pico module's USB port for BOOTSEL flashing, rather than assuming the case USB-C port provides it.
Flashing replaces the current Pico firmware, including any installed interpreter or launcher. Keep its UF2 if you want to restore it later. LPS-Companion creates its save directory automatically; no graphics or other asset files need copying to the SD card.
- Open 0 Date, check or enter the current date, then press Enter.
- Open Activities / Activités and check the activities you have completed.
- Open Notepad / Bloc notes, type a short note, and press Enter to save it.
- Open Weight tracker / Suivi du poids to enter your expected and actual weight.
- Optionally open Kanban to create or update persistent tasks.
- Optionally open Christian Rosary / Rosaire chrétien for a guided prayer session.
- At the end of the day, choose Close the day / Terminer le jour and press Enter to confirm. The ICS export is written automatically.
- Your XP is banked, any new keepsakes are unlocked, and the next day begins.
Days advance manually. Leaving the device switched off does not automatically start a new day.
Select the language from Config on today's home screen. Accented French labels are supported; note entry remains ASCII-only.
| Key | English | Français | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
0 |
Date | Date | Set or correct today's YYYY-MM-DD date. |
1 |
Activities | Activités | Check or uncheck today's activities. |
2 |
Notepad | Bloc notes | Write a short daily note. |
3 |
Weight tracker | Suivi du poids | Enter expected and actual weight. |
4 |
Kanban | Kanban | Manage persistent user-defined tasks. |
5 |
Christian Rosary | Rosaire chrétien | Start a guided Rosary session. |
6 |
Daily review | Revue journalière | Show today’s date, selected activities, actual weight, and TODO/DOING tasks. |
7 |
Config | Config | Choose language or colour palette. |
8 |
Reminders | Rappels | Create, edit, and delete up to three reminders. |
9 |
Close the day | Terminer le jour | Save and close today, then advance. |
Use Up/Down to select an item, Enter to open it, and Esc to return to the main menu.
In read-only history, only items 1–3 are available. Press Right on the home screen to return to today before opening Date or Config.
Choose 8 to manage a maximum of three stored reminders. Press N to create, Up/Down to select, Enter to edit, and Delete to remove one. In the editor, Up/Down switches between From (YYYY-MM-DD), Days (1–365), and Text (up to 32 ASCII characters); Enter validates and saves. Esc cancels. Edit the prefilled date with Backspace.
Every startup shows one screen containing all active reminders, one per line; any key dismisses it for that launch. A reminder starting on October 1 for three days appears October 1–3 and expires October 4. Expired reminders are permanently removed from the SD save on startup, freeing their slots. Future reminders occupy a slot until they expire or are deleted. The app uses its saved today date, which advances when you close the day or edit Date; it has no automatic real-time calendar. An SD save failure leaves the old reminder record intact and displays an error. Version 5 saves migrate automatically to version 6 on the next successful write. Back up the SD card's LPS folder before installing; older firmware cannot read version 6 saves.
Choose 6 to see today’s date and actual weight, followed by the selected activities and all global Kanban TODO / DOING tasks. Finished tasks are excluded. Use Up/Down to scroll one line, Left/Right to move eight lines, and Esc to return. Unrecorded weight and empty lists are shown explicitly. The review does not change saved data.
The mode is chosen at the beginning of every new session:
| Mode | Contents | Expected duration |
|---|---|---|
| One decade | One selected mystery and one decade | 3–5 minutes |
| Full Rosary | Five mysteries and prayers | 15–20 minutes |
| Scripture + guidance | Full Rosary, Scripture and short meditations | 20–30 minutes |
| Slow contemplation | Guided Rosary with silent contemplative pauses | 30–40 minutes |
After choosing the mode, accept the proposed mysteries for today's saved date or select Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful or Glorious manually. One-decade mode then asks for one of the five mysteries.
During prayer, press Enter or Right to advance. A long prayer may occupy several pages; Enter advances the page before proceeding to the next prayer. Press Left to return to the previous page or prayer. Esc leaves the current session and returns home.
Date accepts exactly YYYY-MM-DD, from 2000-01-01 to 2099-12-31. Press Backspace to edit and Enter to save. It is manual because the base PicoCalc has no dependable real-time clock.
After closing a day, the next date is set automatically, including month/year boundaries and 29 February in leap years. You may correct it through Date before closing the next day. The final supported date, 2099-12-31, cannot be closed because no supported next day exists.
| Key | English | Français |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Walk | Marche |
2 |
Diet | Régime |
3 |
Bible | Bible |
4 |
Mass | Messe |
5 |
Work | Travail |
6 |
Project | Projet |
7 |
Nap | Sieste |
8 |
Gurumed | Gurumed |
9 |
Illness | Maladie |
| Arrows + Enter | Day off (10) | Congé (10) |
| Arrows + Enter | Weekend (11) | Weekend (11) |
| Arrows + Enter | Outing (12) | Sortie (12) |
| Arrows + Enter | Gaming (13) | Jeu (13) |
| Arrows + Enter | Doctor (14) | Docteur (14) |
| Arrows + Enter | Reading (15) | Lecture (15) |
| Arrows + Enter | Shopping (16) | Shopping (16) |
Activities are displayed across two pages (10 + 6). Left/Right changes page; Up/Down selects an activity; Enter toggles its checkbox. Keys 1–9 toggle the corresponding activity from any page. Select activities 10–16 with Up/Down, then press Enter.
Each checkbox can be counted once per day. Checking or unchecking an activity saves immediately.
The Kanban is one persistent global board. It is not reset when a day is closed and is not attached to archived days. It holds up to 24 tasks, with names of up to 32 printable ASCII characters.
It has three circular columns:
| English | Français | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| TODO | À FAIRE | Work not started. |
| DOING | EN COURS | Work currently underway. |
| DONE | FINI | Completed work. |
Kanban always opens on TODO / À FAIRE. The screen shows the active column, its task count, the selected task, and compact reminders for the available keys.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
N |
Create a task in the current column. |
| Left / Right | Move between columns, wrapping at either end. |
| Up / Down | Select the previous or next task, wrapping through the list. |
| Enter | Edit the selected task name. |
| Del | Delete the selected task immediately. |
F1 |
Move the selected task to TODO / À FAIRE. |
F2 |
Move the selected task to DOING / EN COURS. |
F3 |
Move the selected task to DONE / FINI. |
F4 |
Move the selected task up, wrapping from top to bottom. |
F5 |
Move the selected task down, wrapping from bottom to top. |
| Esc | Return to the main menu, or cancel name editing. |
New names and every Kanban operation are saved immediately. If a save fails, the previous board remains intact.
Type up to 96 printable ASCII characters. Use Backspace to delete characters.
- Enter: save the note.
- Esc: cancel the edit and return home.
Accented characters are not supported by the current text-entry implementation.
The two optional fields are:
- Expected / Attendu: expected weight for today.
- Actual / Effectif: actual measured weight for today.
Enter values in kilograms, using either a decimal point or comma, with up to three decimal places. For example, 110.5 and 110,500 represent the same weight.
Use Up/Down or Tab to switch fields, Backspace to edit, Enter to save both fields, and Esc to cancel. Leave a field blank when it is not recorded.
The displayed difference is actual minus expected. For example, expected 110.5 kg and actual 111.2 kg gives +0.700 kg.
Expected weight is entered manually. The app does not calculate a diet target or schedule. Both weight fields start empty on the next day.
The current scoring rules are:
- 10 XP for each checked activity.
- 10 bonus XP for checking at least three different activities.
- No penalty for an empty day.
For example, three checked activities earn 40 XP. Pending XP becomes permanent when you close the day.
New keepsakes are announced after closing a day. There is no collection browsing screen.
| Total XP | English | Français |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | Pocket notebook | Carnet de poche |
| 70 | Cup of tea | Tasse de thé |
| 120 | Compass | Boussole |
| 180 | Pocket radio | Radio de poche |
| 250 | Mini computer | Mini-ordinateur |
| 330 | Lantern | Lanterne |
Keepsakes unlock automatically; XP is not spent when unlocking them.
Open Close the day / Terminer le jour to review the day's activity count, bonus and total XP. Press Enter to confirm or Esc to return without closing the day.
Confirmation saves the completed day, banks its XP, and clears the activity checkboxes, note and weight fields for the next day. The following screen announces any new keepsakes. Press Enter to continue.
On closing a dated day, LPS Companion creates:
LPS/EXPORT/YYYY-MM-DD_LPS-Companion.ics
For example: LPS/EXPORT/2026-09-17_LPS-Companion.ics.
Each file is an iCalendar 2.0 file with one all-day event. It can be copied from the SD card and imported into desktop calendar software. The event description records activities, XP, any weights, and your note. LPS Companion overwrites the same date's export on a retry, so it remains one event per closed day.
LPS-Companion stores data in the SD card's LPS directory:
SAVE_A.BINSAVE_B.BIN
Each file is a complete snapshot of the current day, total XP, retained history, configuration and global Kanban; the two files are not assigned to different days. The app alternates writes between them. At startup it checks both records and loads the highest-generation valid snapshot. If the newest is missing or fails validation, it uses the older intact snapshot, which may lack the latest change. If loading fails due to an I/O error or neither existing record is valid, writes are blocked.
Day navigation uses the history from that loaded snapshot in RAM. It indexes backwards from the history ring's next-write position, so the correct day is selected even after the 31 slots wrap. It does not reload the card at every arrow press, switch between A and B to change days, or write while browsing. Back up the whole LPS directory to preserve your data.
The save contains the language and palette preferences, current date, total XP, global Kanban and the last 31 completed days. Older completed days are replaced as new days are added. Browse the retained entries with Left on the home screen. The total XP shown remains your current cumulative total; the activity summary shows XP for the selected day.
If saving fails, restart with a working SD card before continuing. A missing, unreadable or corrupt card does not silently become a new saved profile. Avoid removing the SD card while the app is running.
- Battery charge is estimated from RP2040 VSYS voltage; the 20% warning must be calibrated on the physical PicoCalc.
- Date is manually entered; there is no RTC/autonomous clock integration.
- Activities are daily checkboxes, without duration or repetition counts.
- Notes support ASCII text only.
- Kanban is limited to 24 tasks; task names support 32 printable ASCII characters.
- Saved history is limited to 31 completed days; earlier days cannot be recovered by browsing. Past days are read-only.
- The current build targets the original RP2040 model.
| File | Role |
|---|---|
src/lps_companion.cpp |
Application logic, screens and host tests. |
src/main.cpp |
PicoCalc display, keyboard and persistent storage adapter. |
src/hw_config.c |
SD-card SPI configuration. |
CMakeLists.txt |
Firmware build and memory layout. |
build.sh |
Dependency download and compilation. |
test.sh |
Application tests and A/B storage integration tests with host files. |
tests/kanban_test.cpp |
Kanban navigation, editing, movement, ordering, rollback and persistence tests. |
tests/ |
Hardware/FatFs stand-ins used only for host tests of the actual firmware adapter. |
verify_uf2.py |
UF2 format, target and address checks. |
Run the application tests on your development computer with:
bash test.shBuilt with the Raspberry Pi Pico SDK, ClockworkPi PicoCalc drivers, and Carl Kugler's FatFs SPI library. Dependency revisions are pinned in the build configuration; third-party components retain their upstream licensing and notices.