1. Idea

1.1. Idea V1 - Zodiac Book STEMKit

This week I’m framing my FabAcademy final project: a Zodiac Book STEMKit — twelve book-sized STEM labs, one for every animal of the Chinese Zodiac.

Each kit turns a 3D-printed, gear-driven creature into a moving, talking, codeable character using motors, LEDs, AI voices and browser-based blocks.

Because time is limit I’ll prototype the full stack on a single animal: the Horse. The 2026 is the Year of the Horse in the traditional Chinese zodiac. I hope to create a work related to the horse.

1.2. Zodiac Book: AI Horse

My final project is an interactive “book” ,It contain a horse that can move legs, whinny, tell stories and obey wireless commands.

Children write the code with drag-and-drop blocks in any web browser — no install, no wires.

It is an AI Book ,contains: a Movable Horse, AI Voice chat and talking story,a wireless control. Kids can use Blocky Coding web to control the horse,make the horse move , led lights,and horse talk or tone music.

1.2.1. Features

1.Movable Horse ESP32-C3 + micro-servo legs, RGB mane and tail.

2.AI Voice Chat ESP32-S3 with on-device wake-word, speech-to-text and a tiny TTS engine so the horse can answer questions.

3.Story-Teller Mode The same voice module plays tales about the Horse, the Dragon, the Great Race and other zodiac legends (English & Chinese).

4.Wireless Control BLE joystick , kids drive the horse or trigger light patterns from across the room.

5.Web Blocky Coding Use the opensource MicroBlocks; one-click upload to ESP32 board; blocks for “gallop 3 steps”, “say ‘Hello’”, “change eye colour”, etc.

1.2. Idea V2 - Digital Hand Winnower STEMKit

Inspired by China's Spring Festival holiday and traditional objects from my hometown—such as the wind winnower (风柜/吹谷机) and stone mill (石磨)—which are quintessential artifacts of rural village life.

I have carefully considered a project idea. I aim to create a modern, programmable wind winnower that allows young students in STEM classrooms to both learn about the historical significance of this traditional tool and engage with it through hands-on programming.

1.2.1 Digital Hand Winnower

This project combines a digitally-controlled hand winnower built around the ESP32 microcontroller, integrated with a microphone, speaker, display screen, and a 3D-printed winnower structure modeled after the traditional design.

The system is paired with a remote control device, also implemented using an ESP32, enabling wireless operation of the winnower's functions.

old hand winnower	sketch

1.2.2 design

To help everyone better understand this project, I used Gemini AI 、Hunyuan AI to generate concept renderings and visual illustrations.

design v1	design v2