The Inspiration Story

While studying for my bachelor's degree at the University of Rwanda, I realized how easy it was to get endlessly distracted by social media loops whenever I unlocked my phone just to look at the time or check my schedule. This often led to missed appointments and disorganized study time. At the same time, I noticed how visually impaired individuals and independent elderly folks lacked simplified, distraction-free devices to help them stay organized and secure. This inspired me to develop a physical, low-cost, and non-intrusive desktop assistant that delivers alerts safely without phone screen distractions.

Problem Statement

Commercial AI assistant devices are often expensive, non-portable, and collect personal user data under closed ecosystems. Crucially, they are rarely optimized natively for accessibility. Elderly and visually impaired groups struggle to keep track of medication windows or changing climate changes without clean audio queues. AURA solves this by combining environmental logging, voice cues, local physical controls, and locally fabricable mechanical frames into a single package.

Target Audience

Who Benefits From AURA?

• Visually Impaired Users: Multi-frequency buzzer tones and spoken updates drop dependence on screens.
• Elderly Individuals: Clear, motion-activated medical alarms and schedule sound warnings.
• STEM Students: A clean, offline desktop toolkit for studying and schedule pacing without smartphone distractions.
• Open Source Makers: A completely modular foundation that can be easily customized or updated locally.

Custom Electronics & Production

PCB Design and Fabrication

The project utilizes a custom PCB drafted in KiCad and structured at the local lab using an FR1 copper board blank. The primary intent behind this board layer was stable, centralized power rail distribution. Since many environmental modules had to be physically distributed around the chassis, the custom system routes clean, decoupled VCC (3.3V) and GND paths seamlessly.

Interested in the complete PCB production process? Visit my Electronic Production Week Documentation →
to see the PCB design, milling, soldering, and testing process in detail.

Mechanical Design

3D Housing & Layout Assembly

The exterior architecture forms a neat desktop robot look designed inside SolidWorks to print cleanly in PLA or PETG materials. The layout maps independent internal shelves to segregate components safely: specialized slide channels lock the TFT module in place, ventilation slits face the environmental sensor arrays, and a bottom compartment securely separates the lithium polymer cell.

Project Challenges & Adjustments

The main challenge during this project was 3D printing fabrication rather than electronics or programming. While early enclosure concepts printed fine, the lab's main 3D printer broke down right before final assembly, and printing filament ran out of stock.

To keep moving forward, I adapted by testing the electronic circuits, refining the firmware, building out the custom PCB, and completing the documentation while keeping the SolidWorks models updated and ready to print later. This structured focus kept the system fully validated and operational on the bench without stalling the timeline.

Testing Routine & Verification

Every sub-circuit on AURA went through isolation testing before full system integration. The display modules, sensor lines, and notification buttons were checked individually to keep debugging fast and reliable.

Comprehensive wiring schematics, code validation tests, and full setup steps are logged on my integration page.

View System Integration Documentation ->