The System Control device, the main component, utilizes an ESP32 S3 Mini and a LCD display (128×64). The main purpose was to control the LEDs for the day/night cycle.

The main microcontroller is an ESP32 S3 Mini. Its form factor is ideal for a small enclosure, and its processing power is sufficient for all tasks the control center requires. To enable user input, I created a custom PCB that holds the ESP32. This board features six tactile buttons, which are configured as a D-Pad (four directions), a select button, and a back button. The LCD displays a custom user interface via a dedicated library built on top of u8g2.

This system is built to be highly extensible. For this purpose, I designed a wireless system for indoor use based on Bluetooth LE. This decision was primarily driven by two factors: firstly, my desire to gain experience with BLE in a new project, and secondly (and more importantly), the aim to ensure independence from any specific MCU. Currently, I'm using an ESP32, which supports both Wi-Fi and BLE. However, I also plan to test other microcontrollers, such as those from the STM32 family (for instance, the STM32WB-Series, which offers strong BLE capabilities), to maintain this flexibility.

Every client advertised a specific service. The System Control scans all BLE devices and filters for this UUID. Within this service is a capabilities characteristic, which send the capabilities after the System Control activate notify on this. This way the System Control can build the UI accordingly to the transmitted data.

More indepth information will be following, after I finished the MVP.

Github Action:

The list of the clients, which can be connected to the system is:

- Miniature Town