Week 18

✦ Where the project stands right now

This week documents the current state of the Kinetic Ambient Lamp, the plan for the coming days, and the intellectual property and dissemination decisions made for the project. Rather than describing what the project will do, this page focuses on what has been built, what still needs to happen, and what comes next.

✦ What's Working / What's Not

Working

CAD design
OLED display
NeoPixel system
Holographic concept
Custom PCB design

Needs Validation

Final hologram visibility
Touch sensor placement
WiFi interface testing
ESP32 communication

Not Started Yet

Final enclosure assembly
System integration test

✦ Project Timeline

Task Description Timeline Status

Protoboard integration Connect all components on a single protoboard and test full system simultaneously before manufacturing the final PCB May 17 Planned

Hologram test Test GC9A01 display with acrylic reflector at 45° and evaluate holographic effect visibility May 19 Planned

WiFi interface Deploy web server on ESP32-C6 and test remote control from phone browser May 22-31 Planned

Enclosure modeling Continue 3D modeling of dome, structural rings and internal supports May 24–27 In progress

PCB design in KiCad Design custom PCB routing all connections from protoboard into a compact board May 24–29 Planned

PCB fabrication Mill and solder the custom PCB at Fab Lab Puebla June 2-4 Pending

Final assembly Assemble all 3D printed, laser cut and electronic components into the final enclosure June 5–6 Pending

Final documentation Complete all documentation pages and record final project video June 4–8 Pending

✦ What questions still need to be resolved

How visible is the holographic effect under normal room lighting conditions?
What is the optimal brightness ratio between the OLED display and the NeoPixel ring to avoid washing out the hologram?
Can all subsystems run simultaneously on the ESP32-C6 without timing conflicts or memory issues?
How reliable is the WiFi connection when the lamp is used away from the router?
What is the minimum enclosure volume that allows clean cable routing and proper heat dissipation?

✦ Dissemination plan

The project will be shared openly following Fab Academy's open-source philosophy. The dissemination plan includes:

Channel Content

Fab Academy archive Full documentation including design files, code, BOM and fabrication process

GitLab repository All source files — KiCad PCB, 3D models, firmware and web interface

Project video Short demonstration video showing the lamp operating: hologram, lighting, touch and WiFi

✦ Intellectual Property

The project is released under a Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial - Share Alike 4.0 license. This means:

Attribution: anyone using or adapting this work must credit the original author
Non-commercial: the project cannot be used for commercial purposes without explicit permission
Share alike: any adaptations must be released under the same license

All design files, firmware and documentation will be publicly available. The project doesn't contain any patented processes or proprietary technologies. Also, all components and techniques used are open source or commercially available.

01. CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE

This is the main page. If the user already knows which license they want to use, the platform allows them to directly select it from a list of available Creative Commons licenses.

02. LICENSE SELECTION

Since I was not sure which license was the most appropriate for my project, I chose the guided option to receive recommendations based on my preferences.

0.3 ATTRIBUTION INFORMATION

Once a license has been selected, optional attribution information can be added to provide proper credit details.

04. RECOMMENDED LICENSE

Based on the selected answers, the platform recommends a Creative Commons license and explains its permissions and restrictions.

05. GENERATED LICENSE CODE

After the license is generated, Creative Commons provides ready-to-use text and code that can be added to a website or project documentation.

06. FINAL RESULT

This is how my code looks on my page, except I've decided to remove the symbols and leave the text.

❮ ❯

✦ Questions asked in Creative Commons

Question Description

Do you know which license you need? Determines whether the user already has a specific license in mind or needs guidance.

Require attribution for your work? Decides if others must give credit to the original creator.

Allow others to use your work commercially? Determines whether the work can be used for commercial purposes.

Allow others to remix, adapt, or build upon your work? Defines whether modifications and derivative works are allowed.

Require adaptations of your work to be licensed under the same CC license? Ensures that modified versions remain under the same license conditions.

Confirm that CC Licensing is appropriate Confirms ownership of the work and acceptance of the license terms.

✦ Final Thoughts

✦ Final Project

What have you learned

Working on this project has reinforced that the most valuable skill is not knowing how to use specific tools, but knowing how to think through a problem systematically. Each subsystem — the holographic optics, the lighting animations, the touch logic, the WiFi server — required a completely different way of approaching the problem.

I also learned that iteration is not failure. The servo-driven kinetic mechanism was removed not because it was a bad idea, but because the project became more focused and honest without it. Knowing when to simplify is as important as knowing when to add complexity.

Finally, Fab Academy taught me that documentation is part of the design. A project that cannot be understood, reproduced, or shared is incomplete, regardless of how well it works in person.