The process
My experience in this area is very limited, and the mini-course on electronics presented by Monther from Vujadé helped me organize my thoughts and figure out how to start.
Group assignment
Musaed AlKout is the one who had the full process documented in detail; I will cover some highlights on my page.
01: Using test equipment
01 | Regulated power supply
02| Multimeter
03| Oscilloscope
03| Logic analyzer
- Feedback:
- Challenge:
Individual assignment:
01: Simulate a circuit (Wokwi)
00 | I started this task by asking Google AI Gemini to provide me with steps to use Wokwi to design and simulate a simple circuit
01 | I selected to work with ESP32-C3, then I added new parts for the list
02 | I selected a red LED, a button, and a 10K resistance for the button
03 | I connected the parts as shown in the drawing. The LED anode is connected to the resistor and then to ground on the microcontroller. The LED cathode goes to pin 10 on the microcontroller. I also connected one leg of the button to the ground of the microcontroller, and the other leg to pin 9
04 | I copied the code from Gemini AI, which first defines each pin to a variable name, then uses an if-condition to define the behavior of the circuit
05 | Deleted the default code in the simulation and ran the simulation, but it did not work.
06 | I followed the documentation by Musaed AlKout and changed my circuit to connect the LED to the button instead of to ground
07 | After running the circuit, the LED did not turn on. Then I changed the code and ran the simulation.
08 | There was an error in the syntax; I fixed the code
09 | When running the new code, the button was working, as the message "LED OFF/LED ON" was printed in the simulation — but the LED was not on yet
10 | I checked the connection, and after searching I found that I had misunderstood the LED legs. The short leg (cathode) is straight and the long leg (anode) is curved, even though it looked shorter. I switched the connections
11 | I ran the simulation and it worked — the statement "LED ON" is printed when the button is pressed and the LED turns red.
12 | Then I checked the first code generated by AI Gemini and it worked
13 | Then I tried the connection as I made it the first time — disconnecting the LED from the button and connecting it directly to the ESP32 — ran the simulation, and it worked.
- Feedback: Understanding the graphics is very important, as well as making sure the code syntax is correctly written or pasted
- Challenge: Debugging is not easy when building circuits. Including the print command for the button component was very useful
02: EDA tool to design PCB (KiCAD)
01 | I am using the ESP32-C3 SuperMini for my project, so I had to get the footprint from SnapEDA
02 | I imported the files to the library of KiCAD
02 | I imported the files to the library of KiCAD
03 | Selecting the file be imported
04 | I add the microprocessor, a LED light, a resestor and a button from the library
05 | I aligned them and connected them to create my PCB
06 | I ran the Electrical Rules Checker to find the errors
07 | Then I started to fix the errors, first by closing the pins that are not connected to anything
08 | Then I added a power-flag net to the ground connection and all the errors were fixed
09 | Then I assigned the footprints to each part from the list
10 | After completed the foot prints and now ready to switch to PCB Editor
11 | This is how it looks, and I found that I selected the wrong LED and resestor part. So I had to switch to the Schematics editos and repeat steps from 4 to 10
12 | So I had to switch to the schematics editor and repeat steps 4–10
13 | This is how it looks in the PCB Editor with all routes connected
14 | a also draw the shape of the board and changed the properties to Edge Cuts
14 | and this is how it looks in the 3D Viewer
- Feedback: KiCad is an interesting EDA. It took me time to learn the basics, and fixing the errors took hours spent on tutorials. Even so, it's worth the effort.
- Challenge: Knowing the exact name of the parts in the library and making sure each has a footprint to be linked to. Many library parts are missing footprints.
04: Design a case in FreeCAD
00 | I followed this YouTube tutorial
01 | I exported my KiCAD file as STEP file, Imported it to the FreeCAD and started creating the case
02 | I followed the steps in the video to create a case
03 | I was not able to complete slicing the top cover of the case, and I ran out of time to complete this task
- Feedback: I learned a lot and I appreciate parametric designs for the case — it was very easy and time-saving compared to the previous way I used to manually try to fit things in
- Challenge: Time, time, time… I need more time to watch tutorials and try more. Sometimes I feel I didn't try enough to even ask for assistance