MeshAQ

Alright so I’ve brought this to the outpost hackathon, but on the way back it didn’t fit into my bag so I had to bring back just my parts without the 3d printed shell - which was fine because I wanted to make tweaks anyways and the gray color was awful but only for testing though.

Allrighty so after yeasterday succes I had today tried codind some code for it. Like I have a lot of thing to prepare for the hackathon so I’m going to vibecode it with claude. And yeah it worked wonderfully. The UI is clean and it works.
I had one hurdle with ADC as AI thought it was the correct code for t114 but it was for the e290.
I have also tried to add in GPS support but I ran out of contex and tokens.

Looks super neat, and I can’t wait to measure the nasty air at the venue lol.
[Video of it working]

Allright so after an amazing family vacation…

I’ve got home and I found the package from lakakit home thanks to my dad bc he grabbed from the post office. Also I have printed the case before the vacation and cleaned up the suports.
I was super happy about building it!!!! Like let’s goooo and let’s build it.
So I’ve started working on it ASAP, bc I’m super exited about it.
Started with a rough assembly to find problems and there were a lot of problems lol bc I was rushing it.

Problems found:

• Hole for the GPS it soo tall
• Hole for the GPS cable is too small
• GPS cable toooooo short
• Didn’t tolerance the SEN66 sensor in any shape or form.
• Battery is too long wth
• Looks like a frog
• No place for the antenna - TSA might look at me wrong fah
• No passthrough for battery cable

Oh man IDK I’m rushing it madmax style.
So I’ve made the cable longer (Which was a pain in the hack) managed to get it passed through by scraping a bit off the connector. FAHHHH

Oh and then there was ZEN as the SEN66 assebly was a lot more smooooother.
It fitted so smoothly and It worked almost first try niiiiceee.
So I have tried the example sketch on it but it didn’t work as I2C pins aren’t prob defined in arduino same as in meshtastic. So with a bit of help from AI I’ve managed to insert one line to define the pins and it worked out good.

I woke up to a door slamming and I really didn’t have a clue what it was. But it turned out to be GLS with my order!
So with my brother we imedeatly opened it up and was really exited that the sensor came in.
After breakfest I imeadedly went to my worksop and connected the sensor, also I have triple checked everything BC this sensor can’t get fried.
So after hooking it up I’ve uploaded the test code from SEN6x library and it worked first try!
And after that succes I’ve coded I’ve imedeatly started coding code for it. I mean I just copied code blocks from the example and hooked everything to the coresponding values. And at first the aligment was wonky but with some tweaks later it looks pretty good.

Time spent: 3.5h
So today I had began to code some code for it. I don’t have the sensor yet but the post said it should get here by tomorrow.
My goal for today was to define what the code should do and display all the variables that will be produced by the sensor.
I have first tried the example givven by heletec but I didn’t like the fact it’s a generic nonmodular library so I went with a comunnity one which worked nice.
So BC IDK how to make a pretty colums for the measurements I let AI to make a function that will handle the colums.
And after that I had my first prototype ready. Which only incremented n by one evehy cycle but it was enough to validate the UI.

I have never gotten a grant to build this one lol.
So why not revive this at outpost and show it at open sauce!
I think that the idea is really cool. I have one meshtastic on hand (Heltec E290) which is kinda suitable. ESP32S3 for low power grrr.
Yeah so I have this week to finish it. That’s why I had ordered the SEN66 out off pocket and hoping for a reimbursment later. Also If I get the grant I’ll swith to the heltec t114 which is way better for low power stuff and also I’ve already made and printed a minimalistic case for it. Also the prices on aliexpress got redicolous and buying locally makes more sense lol.

And yah I have also designed a new case for it with a place for a battery and I didn’t bother CADing the place for the heltec. Also I want this portable so that’s why I need a battery.

So I would love to revisit it with the HW I have at hand. not BC I have a week to build it.
Also it’s going to get simplified like a lot.

I’ve been mindful of the BOM in the beginning of the project. But I wasn’t as mindful on the BOM price. And the Formaldehyde sensor was way too expensive.

So after reducing the BOM the project doesn’t have the same complexity. But I think that it could still have the same informational functionality.

So I began striping things down. And in the end I only need one component and that is the SEN 66.

Then I went ahead and made a first draft of the BOM with links from farnel as they were the cheapest. (SPOILER: they were without VAT)

So I have imported the BOM into the readme. After I said a few words about the project and it’s function.

Made a super simple schematic into the readme.

Screenshoted a few images of the CAD assembly exported.

And the I got to the farnel cart and noticed that the prices were without VAT so I went back to laskakit.

And there it was a complete project blueprint.

So Instead of basing the project around the SEN66 I based my design around the 5Ah battery I aleady have at hand. It looks ugly and and the sensor is super small compared to the case.

So today with no luck either.

I’m pretty worried that this project wouldn’t get accepted so I either put more of my unproductive time to it or I just settle for HackClub sponsoring just the sensor and I’ll buy the heltec. Seems ethicaly right.

Oh boy I’m struggling to come up with the right design today, even though I had the entire afternoon. Yeah nothing just works. A lot of the times I’m doing CAD the ideas just flow and I’m able to come up with a beautiful design. But not today. I’s probably because I was attending a lot of competitions and events.

Yeah I’m not counting today as a super productive day. But every UP and DOWN should be documented so that’s why I’m sharing my struggles. ;)

The journal isn’t as juicy as there is with other days. So excuse me please. - Mainly images this time

I’m struggling with CADing up this design and I’m tight on time. The recepie for dezister.

I’ve managed to make it via a loft.

This doesn’t seem right.

I don’t know where to put the battery.

Even thought it looks decent there is no space for the intended 5Ah battery or for even a smaller one. Yeah so hopefully I’ll be better tomorrow bye.

Even though I sat on it for like 7 hours I think it’s appropriate to count 5.

Also I’m starting to doubt if this project is going to get accepted as I don’t see it as fitting for blueprint. Going to ask in slack TMRW.

With the help of AI I was able to make a table over viewing the sensor which I planned to use. Like a month ago…
Now with 20 days until the blueprint deadline I have to scale back the scope.

That’s why I’ve settled on using only the SEN66 with the heltec t114. I’m also super keen on adding a microphone nut I have a few at hand. But that will be for later.

After thinking of an elegant design I have came up with a slanted screen with the SEN on the back.

Did a few markups on paper and it looks promising. And it will look super smart!

Then I’ve jumped into CAD found the needed reference models for the SEN66 and the heltec t114. made an assembly for the sen and based my design of off it.

PS: I need to go to CT studios so adios

So I’ve got my hand on SGP41 sensor and and thanks of the work of [ oscgonfer and Coloradohusky ] and it measures great! I’m really exited for this project and for revamping the enviroment metrics for the better.
This sensor is going to go into [Travel Buddy!]

https://github.com/meshtastic/firmware/pull/7198