Desktop Weather Module | Devlog #2

Desktop weather (and room temperature) module that plugs into your computer!

Enclosure! 📦

What I’ve done this update:

• Designed the enclosure in Fusion 360
• Looked for ways to work on the code without having the TFT on hand

I hit flow state working on this thing for the last couple of days. It was fun looking at different locking mechanisms that could be used to keep the components secure and also easily accessible. Ultimately, I decided on using screws to hold the buttons and TFT display down and then a rail with a protrusion on the end, which should hold the case together. Maybe in the future I could get rid of the buttons and make it entirely touchscreen (as the screen has a resistive touchscreen). All that’s left for the enclosure is making the PCB and adding mounting holes for it.

Something that made the process a little difficult was figuring out clearances and the tolerance of 3d printers. I’ve yet to print out the enclosure, so I’m not entirely sure it’ll work, but the snap-clicking mechanism is based on this. The display should come around Thursday this week, so until then I’ll just be working on the code and trying to use Wokwi to simulate it.

Feedback or ideas would be appreciated!

Future Plans:

• Altering the code to support the TFT display
• Design and order PCB
• Add PCB support to enclosure model
• 3D print enclosure at the Library

Components:

• ESP32 Devkit (DOIT v1 from ELEGOO)
• 2.8” SPI TFT LCD Display ILI9341
• DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor
• 2kΩ Resistor
• 2x 330Ω Resistors
• 2x Buttons9V Battery

Desktop Weather Module | Devlog #4

Desktop weather (and room temperature) module that plugs into your computer!

PCB!👨‍💻

What I’ve done this update:

• FINALLY bought a display, a 2.8” TFT Module (coming soon)
• Sketched up some designs for the enclosure
• Made a very rough outline on what the module would look like (still very tentative)
• Spent many hours learning basic PCB design
• Made ESP32 PCB which will serve as the base for the weather module (This was my first go at it so don’t mind the actual PCB lol, the weather module’s will be better)

Learning PCB design has been extremely interesting. There’s a lot of nuance in laying the components and traces. Honestly, I thought the hardest part would be the schematic, but that was by far the easiest (to make and to learn). However, the components and traces were really the most difficult part of design, as traces must have enough space to avoid crosstalk, and for that to happen, you should have an efficient layout of components.

In addition, with the display, I’ve spent some time learning the different types of serial communication like UART, I2C, and SPI (which is what the TFT display uses). Overall, probably spent over 20 hours the last couple of days just learning.

Future Plans:

• TFT module arrives and update code for the new display (I’m starting to work on it now)
• Update the wifi interface
• Better scrolling or alternative with buttons (maybe a rotary encoder if i can get one)
• Make prototype on breadboard then PCB
• Make enclosure and 3D print

Still a lot to be done, but I feel like we’re getting closer!

Components:

• ESP32 Devkit (DOIT v1 from ELEGOO)
• 2.8” SPI TFT LCD Display ILI9341
• DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor
• 2kΩ Resistor
• 2x 330Ω Resistors
• 2x Buttons
• 9V Battery

Desktop Weather Module | Devlog #3

Desktop weather station that plugs into your

What I’ve done this update:

• Created an Access Point on startup so WiFi Data, API key, and City can be entered
• Added proper capitalization on displayed text

Future Plans:

• get 0.96” oled screen
• Update display to accommodate new screen
• Create PCB
• Create & 3D print housing (probably from a local library)

Components:

ESP321602 LCD Display
DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor
2kΩ Resistor
2x 330Ω Resistors
2x Buttons
9V Battery

Desktop Weather Module | Devlog #2

Desktop weather station that plugs into your computer.

bugs squashed 🐛🦶

What I’ve done so far:

• Added API weather display on the 1602 LCD screen
• Added a toggle button to switch between indoor temperature and humidity and the weather forecast outside
• Added custom icons to match weather conditions (i tried lol)
• Fixed major bugs with api calling and connecting to wifi consistently

The bugs took the longest as there was a “Guru Meditation error” which i got around with some conditional checks and making sure that the pointers were initialized.

Also, I want to use a 0.96” oled screen as it would probably be more visually appealing and can also display more weather. Lmk if you guys know of anything better.

Future Plans:

• Finish display of weather data
• Create an Access Point on startup so Wifi Data, API key, and City can be entered
• Create PCB and get an oled screen
• Create & 3D print housing (probably from a local library)

Components:

• ESP32
• 1602 LCD Display
• DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor
• 2kΩ Resistor
• 2x 330Ω Resistors
• 2x Buttons
• 9V Battery

Desktop Weather Module | First Devlog (:

I’m working on making a weather display I could put on my desk. This is my first project after learning a bit about ESP32s and Arduino IDE. I want the module to be able to display the indoor climate and the current weather data.

What I’ve got so far:

• Code to display temperature/humidity indoors
• Code to print API data to the serial monitor
• Working circuit for LCD display and DHT11 sensor

Ideally, I’d use an OLED display as it has colours and higher definition for more information, but I only have the LCD, so that’s what we’re working with.

Also, I need to figure out how to power this, as I don’t want to have to use a battery pack.

Plans:

• Use LCD to display weather data
• Decide on display & power method
• Create PCB
• Create housing (Fusion 360)

Lmk if you guys have some advice or recommendations