@jeremyngai

While waiting for all my parts to arrive, i worked on the github repository bill of materials. once all parts arrive, ill solder them!!

Last few days, i worked on the PCB layout, i kept it at a size of 90x90 to fit on my desk, and also there’s a warm white backlight on the bottom so it gives vibee i dont really know how will it look like but i have good feeling about it! anyways i ordered the pcb on JLCPCB and ill be very excited for it haha, then i can solder everything and hopefully it works.. if not, uhh….

Today is the first progress of my diy custom audio amp. i completed my schematics and pcb layout. Im basically using a ht8696 audio amplifier module alongside with baxandoll tone control circuit, also made it togglable whether to apply tone or not. Im surprized by today’s progress its really quick without realising, im excited to move on to the pcb wiring tomorrow. today’s task definitely motivated me alot and i plan to order my pcb in a few days!!

I completed my 3d design slides presentation!! this is the last step of this project. I’ll be shipping soon!!

Over the past few days, i worked on the final design of the drone! These are the things added/changed

1. I finalised the propeller design with aero curve for all 8 propellers.
2. I added colour to all the parts.
3. I added a landing gear skid on the bottom for landing
4. I finalised the assembly file
5. I’m now working on the presentation slides. so stay tuned!! its so fun

Over the past few days i worked on the body harness with a D ring and made the battery compartment. the propeller is dummy right now for size inspection

Added rope, full body seat belt soon!

Spent the last 2 days modelling the main chassis design and the 42 inch propeller and its a fun journey lol. I’ve never designed something this complex. That hole is for the battery which can be replaced out. Then on the front face there’s sensor and cameras for UWB Radar for life detection and LiDAR camera for terrain mapping, and also lights.

Made a rough draft of the drone design in Solid Edge software

Spent the last few days implementing gemini api into the code and formatting json data like text, choice into the e paper display :) I’ll take a break from this project as i have joined other competition. so stay tuned!

GAH DAMN MY PCB IS WORKING!!! Timelapse below!

I spent the last few hours carefully soldering my new PCB. I decided to use 0805 for all smd component cuz in my last project, I used 0603 ones and it was PURE TORTURE to solder them all lol. lessen learnt!

Overall, I absolutely love the pcb outcome its nicer than I expected especially the ws2812b led and all those smd resistor (they look so sci-fi xD).

However there was one flaw, I forgot about the ESP32 antenna. I’m forced to awkwardly fit the antenna on the pcb back (right beside my Great Wave silkscreen print). Luckily it didn’t block it lol. This is something I needa keep in mind the next time!

You might be wondering what’s that tiny pin header I used there. It’s just a pin header, but for the design, I wanted it to be ultra slim, so I designed a PCB sandwich layout. The battery fits perfectly between the e-paper pcb and my pcb. However the problem with normal pin headers is that they are super chunky, they have like 9mm gap. That instantly ruin the whole vibe…

So after hours of digging in aliexpress, I found those low profile pin header. They are SUPER PERFECT for my project (6mm gap), which is exactly my battery thickness!!! Anyways the low profile pin header was NOT CHEAP at all… well at least its so worth it.

Other than soldering the PCB, I did a few adjustment to the firmware, including: rotary encoder logic improvement - I used interrupt pin logic to read it, they place the rotary encoder at the toppest priority (if theres any changes in pin state, the esp32 instantly ignore everything and focus on the encoder).

That’s all for now, stay tuned! its so fun

Today I worked on a WiFi prompt to let user choose whether they want to connect to a different wifi or existing one, because this device is supposed to be portable, working anywhere, so this is very important. However, I’m still figuring out how to show the WiFi name… wm.getWiFiSSID() didn’t work though.

Btw, all my hardware had already arrived just now!! (after slow ahh aliexpress) I can’t wait to solder them, so stay tuned lol XD

In the last few days, I made a few changes to my project:

1. I decided to switch the idea from the initial quiz game concept into a choice-based adventure text game, it’s basically an infinite “choose your own adventure” concept. I feel like it’s way more fun!
2. I worked with the WiFiManager library to make the wifi setup more accessible and easy. We now don’t need to hardcode wifi password into the code, the device will launch a hotspot captive portal and you can just connect any of your device to setup wifi at anytime anywhere. portable, isn’t it?
3. Since this game concept will need the e-paper display to show a long text, I used a serif font and coded an automatic text wrapping and an adaptive scroll bar at the side so you can know the length of the text
4. I also added a low battery and data parsing error page for the user alongside with an ok button to shutdown the device.

What’s next?
After the text formatting is stable, i’ll be focusing on text generation and choice logic!! xD

Added automatic text wrapping, improved code logic and added low battery screen

Sent PCB design to JLCPCB for manufacturing (the silkscreen boutta look fire!!)

Finalised PCB schematics and tested with breadboard. PCB is ready to be manufactured!!

Added WS2812B Neopixel on the PCB and rerouted PCB

Finalised schematics circuit, now starting PCB layout!!

Updated UI interface to fit longer question and answer