Looking for answers.. don't know where to start...

[RH_Az]

Okay so I have this idea that I want to make come to life but I don't know where to start.

I picked up this little device that displays given sensor parameters to monitor on my PC such as CPU speed, temperatures, GPU speeds, temps, Network activity etc..

The device is poorly made and the software is only maintained by 1 guy in Hong Kong.. so I decided I wanted to build my own and I will write my own software for it. The software part isn't hard but the actual device is what gets me.

By disecting the device as much as I can without breaking it I can see it uses a small 2.8" TFT screen which is mounted to a small board. It holds (I believe) around 4MB on board memory and is USB powered. The device is really slim so I know it's not mounted to anything like a raspberry pi or arduino. It's a simple board with an MC from Amtel.

So if I were to build this what do I need? I found some small TFT screens on http://www.displaytech-us.com/tft-lcd-displays but what kind of board does it need to mount to? I see they advertise something called "integrated tft driver boards" so I assume I would need a "driver" of some sort? Also how would I go about making it USB interface with the PC and store files on it?

thanks for all the help guys!

 

[donkey]

howdy
personally I would start from the ground and decide what sensors I want to use, if it is taking it all of the PC via USB then its easier
find the output
use any TFT you have with any microcontroller you know and get it to read the data
at the moment I use Arduino and sainsmart 3.2inch LCD for a lot of visual projects but am hindered by coding. I do know that if you send data out the USB you just need something that knows how to translate it into the item you want
a start http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-CPURAM-usage-monitor-LCD/you can add things later but you have to find a program that will send the info you want out the USB line
if however its all standalone then I am a little more stuck