Micro-GameBoy

Used:

C++
ESP32
Onshape
KiCad

Components Used

  • Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3
  • Buzzer
  • 4 Push Buttons (+ resistors)
  • Adafruit SSD1306 0.96 Inch OLED Display
  • DHT11 Sensor
  • Keyestudio Rotary Encoder

Building the Circuit

Started out as a simple circuit for the ESP32 using 3 buttons, the OLED display, and a buzzer. The first program it ran was a buzzer frequency test.

Moved the circuit onto a bigger breadboard to do more things.

Adding Games and Sensors

The buzzer program was from my friend, but I wanted to learn how to program myself, so I asked ChatGPT to generate code for a snake game, and I learnt from there.

I then added the DHT11 sensor to see the temperature and humidity.

With coding help from AI, I could now visualise the temperature or humidity on a graph.

Here is a Flappy Bird game I added:
Pong game:

After testing each code individually, I decided to merge all the codes together and be able to switch between them using a menu. This was when I added the rotary encoder to scroll through the menu.

The Final Code

The final version of the code had around 800 lines. This was coded in C++ using PlatformIO on Visual Studio Code. The project code can be downloaded here.

Designing the PCB

To design the PCB, I used KiCad. Here is the schematic:

And here is the PCB wiring. I used the auto-router as the circuit is quite simple.

3D View of the PCB:

You can download the schematics here.

Designing and Redesigning the Case

After I sent the PCB design to JLCPCB for manufacturing, I designed the case for it using Onshape.

I asked my friend to help 3D print the case for me, and once I received the PCB, I soldered all the components and assembled my project.

But then there were a few problems with my design...
I redesigned the case with the following changes:

3D model of the case can be downloaded here.

Here is the finished project after reassembling:

Downloads

PlatformIO C++ Code
Schematics
3D Model
Contents