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QvanK edited this page May 4, 2021 · 22 revisions

Prerequisites:

Hardware:

  • USB-C cable
  • Pliers
  • Small utility knife
  • Ruler
  • (double sided) Tape

Software:

  • Visual studio Code

Box content:

  • Mini Whiteboard with pen test
  • 2 breadboards
  • Esp32 Microcontroller
  • 2 WS2812b LED strips with ten LEDs each
  • 2 three pin color coded connectors
  • set of extra connectors
  • IR remote controller with spare battery
  • bag with additional components for future projects

Initial Hardware assembly

  1. Place transparency on the paper with the ESP32 pinout diagram
  2. Carefully remove the pen holder from the Whiteboard (this will make life simpler later on)
  3. Use (double sided) tape to stick the top borders together
  4. Click the two breadboards together
  5. Place the stuck together transparency and paper on the Whiteboard
  6. Use the breadboards to keep the paper & transparency in place

Make sure the breadboard is touching the red border and the protrusions are on the bottom

  1. Cut the red, black and yellow wires to the lengths as shown in the diagram taking into account that each end of the wire should be 3 holes longer (this will take a while....) OR use the altrnative layout with no crossed wires

  2. Plug the wires into the breadboard

simpler setup with crossed wires

slightly more involved setup without crossed wires 9. Stick the two LED strips on either side of the transparency, making sure they are lined out with the horizontal lines on the transparency

Final assembly looks like this

Firmware compilation

  1. Clone the git repo from: https://github.com/QvanK/WLED/
  2. Make sure the ESP32 is NOT plugged into the breadboard
  3. Connect the ESP32 Microcontroller to your PC with the USB-C cable (check the PCs device manager and note down the COM port used by the ESP32)
  4. VS Code will recommend installing the PlatformIO extension, please do so
  5. in the platformio.ini file edit the "upload_port" and "monitor_port" values in the [env:esp32dev] to reflect the COM port used by the ESP32 (e.g. COM5, COM4, etc...)
  6. Make sure to read the instructions in: usermods/TTGO-T-Display/README.md
  7. IMPORTANT! execute the steps described below BEFORE compiling:

TFT_eSPI Library Adjustments (board selection) We need to modify a file in the TFT_eSPI library to select the correct board. If you followed the directions to modify and save the platformio.ini file above, the User_Setup_Select.h file can be found in the /.pio/libdeps/esp32dev/TFT_eSPI_ID1559 folder.

Modify the User_Setup_Select.h file as follows:

  • Comment out the following line (which is the 'default' setup file):
//#include <User_Setup.h>           // Default setup is root library folder
  • Uncomment the following line (which points to the setup file for the TTGO T-Display):
#include <User_Setups/Setup25_TTGO_T_Display.h>    // Setup file for ESP32 and TTGO T-Display ST7789V SPI bus TFT
  1. Compile the Firmware bij clicking on the ✓ on the bottom bar, if that goes well, compile again and upload the firmware by clicking on the → on the bottom bar
  2. Set up the WLED Firmware

Final Hardware Assembly

  1. Disconnect the ESP32 from the PC
  2. Place the ESP32 on the breadboard, making sure the pins are lined up correctly with the wires
  3. If you did not already, connect the LEDs to the breadboard as shown in the final assembly picture

Useful links:

© ℚuinten

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