DEVLOG 003 — First Real Assembly

Now that the firmware was in a solid place, it was
time to actually build the thing.

Got into CAD properly and started designing the
enclosure for real not just roughing it out
anymore, actually planning where every component
sits and how it all fits together.

Originally I was just going to use the bare ESP32
board and solder everything directly onto it, but
ended up switching to a breakout board for the ESP32
instead which was the right call. That change meant
I had to scale the enclosure up a bit to fit
everything properly, so I reworked the design, got
the dimensions right, and sent it to print.

Once it came off the printer I grabbed the calipers
and started checking everything:

◆ ESP32 breakout board fit perfectly in its slot
◆ Screen seated clean in the cutout
◆ Touch sensor connected and sitting in the
right spots
◆ Overall fit was exactly where I wanted it

Pretty satisfying moment honestly.

But then I started running into the first real
problems.

◈ The walls ended up being too thick, so the
capacitive touch sensors could barely detect
anything through them touch was sluggish and
inconsistent, not responsive at all

◈ The screen had to be mounted the way it is
because flipping it would’ve sent the wires
running from the pins straight into the
breakout board no room for that. Which left
the display showing everything upside down

Both things need fixing, but overall for a first
proper assembly it came out pretty well. It’s
starting to look like an actual product, which
is a good feeling.