Week 04: Embedded Programming¶

FabDino Game on QPAD¶

FabDino I constructed QPAD and created the Dinosaur game you see on Chrome browser.

Assignments¶

Group assignment:¶

Demonstrate and compare the toolchains and development workflows for available embedded architectures
Document your work to the group work page and reflect on your individual page what you learned

Individual assignments¶

Browse through the datasheet for a microcontroller
Write and test a program for an embedded system using a microcontroller to interact (with local input &/or output devices) and communicate (with remote wired or wireless connections)

1. Group Assignment¶

We compared several toolchains and development workflows in group assignment and documented on [FabLab Kannai group work page] (https://fabacademy.org/2026/labs/kannai/Weekly_Group_Assignment/week04/).

I learned historicadl method using “Programmer” and some other methods and learned that writing embedded program to a board was a lot of fuss in the past and it is getting easier and easier.

2. Brouse through the datasheet for a microcontroller¶

I am very interested in the Seeed xiao family of boards, and wanted to find out which board is suitable to drive motors and handle camera information. I used Google NotebookLM to ask questions about the data sheets. It seems Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3 Sense is the best choice as it natively supports OV2640 or OV3660 camera sensors and has high processing power.

Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3 Sense

Feature	Description
Processor	Dual-core Xtensa LX7 (32-bit) running up to 240 MHz
Memory	512 KB SRAM (Internal) + 8 MB PSRAM (External)
Storage	8 MB Onboard Flash
Wireless	2.4GHz Wi-Fi & Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.0
Sensors	Camera Sensor (OV2640 or OV3660 supported), Digital Microphone
I/O Pins	11 PWM Pins / 9 Analog Pins
Interfaces	I2C, UART, SPI
Power	Battery Charge Chip & LED onboard
Dimensions	21 x 17.5 mm (Standard XIAO form factor)

3. Developing “FabDINO” game on QPAD¶

FabLab Kannai Instructor Tamiya-san kindly shared with me the “QPAD” board from the instructor workshop in Norway. I soldered necessary parts and then developed a Dinosaur game in MicroPython and Thonny.

3-1 Constructing the board¶

3-2 Install MicroPython via Thonny¶

3-3 Programming in Thonny¶

Checklist¶

[x] Linked to the group assignment page
[x] Browsed and documented some information from a microcontroller’s datasheet
[x] Programmed a board to interact and communicate
[ ] Described the programming process(es) you used
[x] Included your source code
[x] Included ‘hero shot(s)’

Digital Files¶

source code