Laser Engravers!#

  • Thought about buying a portable laser engraver, started with xTool F1 Lite and almost settled on xTool F2
  • Seemed small enough to be portable so I can use it in my balcony to avoid venting complications
  • F2 also has a higher power diode laser than F1 Lite, and a small IR laser for some acrylic/metal work too!
  • But then decided against it finally. Unsure how much I’m going to use it for all the hassle. Maybe some day!

Some notes about electronics#

  • Pomodoro cube

  • WLED

    • WLED has a built in tool for images, pixel art, gifs, scrolling text etc which can be accessed by going to < wled-ip>/pixelforge.htm
    • Built a nice little display piece with a 64x64 LED matrix, an INMP441 mic and WLED for my stuff/office

    https://x.com/shantanugoel/status/2003821491696378325

  • Bought some “mist maker” modules and tried running them off of a battery but of course that didnt work.

    • Ultrasonic piezoelectric mist makers require a driving circuit and cannot run directly from a battery because they need AC signal at a precise high frequency to function.
    • Piezoelectric transducers change shape when an electric field is applied and to produce mist they need to vibrate rapidly.
    • A special circuit can take DC voltage and act as an oscillator using a timer/transistor/dedicated chip to convert into a high frequency AC signal that matches the transducer’s resonant frequency

  • Capacitive Touch

    • Found that ESP32 can detect touch without a dedicated sensor by using its built-in capacitive touch pins, connecting just a wire or foil to a supported GPIO pin and reading changes in capacitance. Your body acts as the capacitor.
    • Also found that TTP223 Capacitive touch sensors work THROUGH plastic/glass etc. I thought I’ll have to expose them directly.
      • They have onboard pads to control their behavior (momentary v/s toggle and high/low triggering) so can use them directly as a switch without an MCU

  • ESP32 S3 Super mini boards (at least on hubtronics) seem to have built in BMS (LTH7R), which would simplify a lot of my circuits

AI!#