Lightsaber

EE445L Embedded Systems Lab with Dr. Valvano
Final Project, 1st place in class design competition
Spring 2021
Team Members: Allen Jiang, Sophia Jiang, Adeel Rehman, Sharon Chen

Features:

  • Circuit Board
    • Compact 4-Layer design (Board dimensions: 1.94" x 0.90")
    • TM4C Microcontroller
    • 12-bit DAC and audio amplifier output
    • MPU-6500 IMU
    • ESP-01S Wifi Module
    • Power initiated by button and latched on by MCU - allows for zero vampire power
    • USB-C Battery Charging
    • Onboard battery protection (overvoltage, undervoltage, short)
  • Firmware
    • Neopixels driven by Ping-Pong uDMA
    • ESP-01S AP-mode for TCP-IP communication with Android app
    • Android app for on-the-fly color, blade effect, and audio configuration with voltage and temperature telemetry
    • Smoothswing v2 algorithm implementation
  • Hardware
    • Hilt
      • Designed in Fusion 360
      • 1" aluminum core hilt
      • Holes drilled and tapped for button access, charging port access, and mounting 3D printed parts
      • Grooves cut using a milling bit on a drill press
      • 3D printed cosmetic attachments are finished through sanding, filler spray coat, and final spray paint coat
    • Blade
      • Polycarbonate tubing (1" OD, 0.125" walls)
      • 2 parallel back-to-back LED strips of 144 pixels/m WS2812B neopixels - up to 15 amps of current
      • LEDs diffused using layers of foam and cellophane. Polycarbonate tubing is sanded on the outside.
      • 3D printed blade cap using translucent filament
    • Blade connector
      • Custom designed as two 1" circular 4-layer PCBs
      • No latching components - easy and quick connect/disconnect
      • Hilt-side connector uses 19 pogo pins to contact with 3 large ring pads on blade-side connector
    • Chassis
      • Holds electronic internals together for durability and convenience
      • 3D printed PLA
      • Houses RGB button, PCB, 21700 Li-ion battery, speaker, and hilt-side blade connector
      • Blade connector mounted using screws and hot-melt insert
      • RGB button connected with ribbon cable

Video Link:

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