#techprojects

Okay, we've got our 1.3" round TFT prototype ready for testing - and here's a cute GIF of a dial turning back and forth. It's a great way to test the display, backlight, and SD card interface. We're using a QT Py ESP32 since we need quite a bit of oomph to decode GIFs and display them in real-time. With EYESPI, no wiring is required! This is good to go - it's time to book the PCB panel!

WLED-compatible board. We're doing the audio-reactive test with the built-in I2S microphone this time. This digital mic will give great audio quality without needing any extra work. If you want an external mic wired far away, there are GPIOs exposed that you can solder to for another I2S connection - ESP32 lets you use any pins, which is nice! this demo is a graphical equalizer that makes verification easy! All we have left is to test the IR remote and fuse, and we're good to go!

Ladyada tasked Jepler with exploring the new libPIO for Raspberry Pi 5 computers: this gives us access to the RP1 chip so that we can run custom PIO state machines on the GPIO pins. A common use case is NeoPixels, because of the tight timing requirements of the WS281x LEDs. Here is our first light test that shows it is possible…

These cafe lights come with WS2811s inside. Power them with 12V, and you can send them 5V NeoPixel signals to light up individual 3 RGB LEDs inside for a nice, bright outdoor look. They're weatherproof and even come with a weatherproof connector, so they'll survive outdoor installation. They'll work great in Arduino, CircuitPython, or WLED. We're excited to get these installed for the holidays! Coming soon.

Sparkle Motion Mini testers. The Mini came together fast, but classic testers had cascading issues. We used Claude for firmware and got cool samples, including filament letters and enclosures for Sparkle Motion Stick. And our dinosaur tissue holder fell, disassembling an arm! Time to find strong foam tape for reattachment.

WLED-compatible board. This time, we're doing the fuse test. we got a lot of requests to include a 5A fuse onboard. Of course, we need to verify that it works as expected. With a chonky 12V 25A power supply and my trusty electronic load, we dial up one amp at a time… note that all PTC fuses have a 'hold' of 5A and a higher trip current of ~2x that, so we actually open at 10A. Once it heats up a bit, that trip current can drop a bit, but it will always be over 5A and under 10A. Good test equipment makes this job nice and easy. The board is complete - time to book it up, just in time for the New Year.