Clock/Weather station (Concept)

[PeterN]

Omnes viae Romam ducunt!

[Basicboy]

Just taking opinions whether I should abandon the last outer layer of weather items (clouds,zeus...etc) for a diy transparent screen

This way the rotating background and the sun/moon will be "real" but the clouds/zeus will be electronic.

[PeterN]

More a bug than a feature ...
… happened today when I retrieved a long-forgotten device from an overfilled storage box

IMG_6962.jpeg

It's an ordinary ILI9341 and is perhaps a bit cheaper than the poor butchered display in the video

[Basicboy]

I am slowly getting ready to taking a shot at this.
I got my slow DC motors and IR sensors. I also purchased miniatures of medieval sun and moon and a nice bell (for bell banging every hour) and I am also sorting out batteries for the project.
I also decided that the top layer of weather elements will be handled by servos so I bought a bunch of these.

I am getting AI to draw a medieval landscape for me. It's looking good (but not perfect) but the real problem is that microsoft copilot has set size dimensions and I don't like it.

Designer (3)-fotor-2024091422121.jpg

I want something that is way wider sideways but narrower than this.

[Basicboy]

So artwise, I want it based on the flammarion engraving

frame.jpg

except that the entire "sky dome" should be visible.

frame 3.jpg

But since the artwork here is very limited, I'll have to "recreate" it by getting AI to draw every part separartely, a medieval landscape and two "spiritual worlds" on the outside of the bubble earth. problem is that AI is not giving me the dimensions that I need and I'm left wondering how the overall look can be realised. Not exactly ESP32 related, but still the project is mainly artistic so yeah!

[Basicboy]

I bought a 5V slow DC motor to roll the background but I don't know how to connect it to ESP32. I know it's such an embarrassingly simply question, but I think I'll need advice here

[PeterN]

An extremely extensive topic that will lead to further questions. I hope this can help you a little

https://picaxe.com/docs/picaxe_manual3.pdf
Attention: the Picaxe has 5V outputs, the ESP32 has 3V3, which can be important under certain circumstances

[BeanieBots]

Most of the PICAXE variants can run on 3v3, so it should be possible to integrate ESP and PICAXE easily. Just pick the right one.
I rarely frequent PICAXE these days (though I am still a moderator there) but please have a good browse on their forum.
It covers a lot of hardware issues, not just code. You might also recognise a few user names!

To run a 5v motor from an ESP just requires 1 transistor + 1 resistor + 1 catch diode.

[PeterN]

Hi BeanieBots
The picaxes only came into play because of the well-described interfaces in the picaxe manuals.
My 5V/3V3 remark was just a hint that the pixaxe interface examples in the manual are designed for 5V peripherals.
However, most commercial interface boards can be operated with both 5V and 3V3 input.

[BeanieBots]

Hi PeterN,
Your comments are sound & good advice. I was only emphasising the issue.
3v3 interfacing requires a little more attention when driving transistors because Vbc has more effect and needs to be taken into account when calculating Rb. Especially when using darlington transistors. Those bridges are easily crossed but do exist none-the-less.
Indeed, the PICAXE documents do cover the basic interfacing methods and just about every hardware issue you can think of has been covered several times within the forum. I actually believe the world of PICAXE is more about the hardware than the software, so it's a useful link.