For the last year, I’ve been working on a side project at home which I call Escher. It’s a robotic Etch-a-Sketch that can be controlled over the Internet from anywhere in the world. It’s made possible by the Adafruit Feather HUZZAH32 development board, and Google Firebase to provide the control between the Etch-a-Sketch and a web client.
While there are a bunch of Arduino and Raspberry Pi-controlled Etch-a-Sketch projects out there, I wanted to build something that anyone could walk up to and use just by visiting a web page from their phone.
Hardware
Escher is controlled by an Adafruit Feather HUZZAH32 development board, which features an ESP32 processor running at 240MHz, 520KB of SRAM, 4MB of flash, and integrated 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth. This is a great little development board that is fully supported by the Arduino programming environment.
Escher uses two NEMA17 stepper motors to control the knobs of the Etch-a-Sketch. These are controlled using the Adafruit Motor Featherwing board, making it easy to control each stepper motor either independently or together.
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: New Python Releases, an ESP32+MicroPython IDE and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey
