Color Companion Devlog #3

What is this?

A lil handheld device that can tell you the color values of what you put it on.

What’s New?

Its done! I wired it all up, added some bevels to the case so its not sharp, and added a hex conversion at the bottom of the display. I also made a GitHub for it (check it out, it has a lot more info than this devlog!). https://github.com/LetsEatLead/Color-Companion/

Color Companion (Formerly IRL Color Picker) Devlog #2

What is this?
Ever seen a color and thought, I want that color! The Color Companion is a handheld device with a color sensor and display, which can give you the exact RGB and HEX values of anything for you!

New Stuff
Goodbye breadboard, hello case! I modeled an enclosure for the esp32 devboard, TCS34725 color sensor, and the SSD1306 oled display, along with a little toggle button for holding the color on the display.

Also, the color sensor has a shroud which seals itself out from ambient light, and includes a little divider between the integrated LED and the sensor itself. This way, the sensor only receives light reflected from the object, not straight from the LED.

Challenges

• While I originally intended it to have a built in battery, that would end up having to double the components (Battery, battery charger module, boost converter to get 5V), and also make the device too big. So I had to scrap it :(
• When I was building the mount for the display, I thought it would be easy. Just pop in four mounting holes for the screen, screw in the M3 bolts, and done. But disaster struck, The mounting holes for the display were M2 (A whole mm smaller than M3)! And because I didn’t have M2 bolts, I had to come up with a weird mounting solution. (Silver lining, I only need 2 bolts instead of 4 using my mount)

What now?

• Wire it up!
• Add HEX color values to the display
• Make the case round so it feels good to hold

Color Picker Devlog #1

What is this?
The color picker is a device which can identify the RGB and HEX color values of any object using a color sensor and a integrated screen!

Progress

• Figured out how to use the display and color sensor
• Added a button which starts color sampling and turns on the LED (When the button is released, the screen stops updating and LED is turned off)
• Completed the wiring and most of the coding

Challenges

• To convert the raw values to the displayed values, I had to divide the raw value by the overall light and multiply it by 256, but the number simplified itself to zero, resulting in 0 * 256 = 0, and only displaying zero as the color values. I fixed this by multiplying first, and then dividing, avoiding the simplification to zero.

What’s Next?

• Add battery power (Via a 18650 and tp4056 charging module)
• Create a 3d printed enclosure
• Add RGB to HEX conversion
• Add a shroud around the sensor to block outside light and get better color accuracy