https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/Do you have a half-finished project or a project which did not end up working? This is your excuse to finish it! Take an old project and complete it to be in with a chance of winning.en-USTelligent Community 12https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/m/managed-videos/151343Wed, 20 May 2026 15:48:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:200e25ff-0cd4-407b-90f0-b43656ab736bme_Crishttps://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/b/spring-clean-projects-2026/posts/resurrection-of-the-speakersWed, 20 May 2026 14:57:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:d074dfdc-6ac1-40ae-8d6b-5ca72b9d129cme_CrisHi makers! A little context, I have a pair of speakers that I have never heard music coming out of, I know thi sounds a bit strange, I bought them for a very low price from a thrift store (I couldn't hold myself ), and they seemed unused. After several attempts and checks I still haven't been able to fix them. Movin on, let's implement the "Do It Yourself" method to bring something back to life, in this case it's speakers and LEDs. Wouldn't it be a shame to just throw them away? Main parts: • speakers; • PAM8403 audio amplifier, later PAM8406; • microcontroller and addressable LEDs. I have a pair of PC speakers, powered by 5V, they also have addressable LEDs built in, thus offering a more special look. But these speakers also have problems, the first being a broken LED that I had to replace, easy job, it's like done. The other problem I couldn't solve, something is damaged on the electronic circuit. It mostly contains: audio amplifier, digital volume control and an unencrypted IC but which I think has something to do with LEDs control. {gallery}Original circuit board IMAGE TITLE: Circuit board IMAGE TITLE: Circuit board Solution in 2 steps 1. Audio amplifier replacement I applied the DIY version using a PAM8403 (initially) as an audio amplifier (the well-known module that you can buy almost everywhere), and for LEDs control I have a microcontroller. I designed a circuit in Kicad, then I made a more homemade PCB let's say (given that I only need one piece, it didn't make sense to buy, more) on which I mounted the PAM8403 module and some pin headers to connect with jump wires. I know that this module doesn't have a volume control but I don't mind this, it's basically just made to "sing". I have a very basic schematic and PCB: {gallery}Schematic + PCB IMAGE TITLE: Basic schematoc IMAGE TITLE: PCB After doing some tests I was quite satisfied, until I added LEDs control. That's how another problem appeared, interference and an unbearable noise that bothers anyone's ear. When the LEDs are on and I apply a light show, a very sharp sound is heard, and without playing music. It's less noticeable during music playback, but otherwise it makes its presence felt. I don't think you want to hear it, I'm very serious. community.element14.com/.../Noise-record.m4a I can't accept that, so I tried an upgrade to the PAM8406 which, as mentioned in the datasheet, performs better in terms of noise and interference. Indeed, it is a considerable upgrade, it is not perfect but it is certainly better now. That sharp sound is still audible but weak, only if I put my ears in the speakers. Since I made the original PCB for the PAM8403, I also tested it on this one, basically I improvised by soldering some wires (I mean painstaking work ). I will leave it as it is until I can make a suitable PCB for the PAM8406. {gallery}PAM8403 / PAM8406 IMAGE TITLE: PAM8403 IMAGE TITLE: PAM8403 IMAGE TITLE: PAM8406 IMAGE TITLE: PAM8406 IMAGE TITLE: PAM8406 2. WS2812B addressable LED control As a controller for the LEDs I have an ATMega8 mounted on a simple board, a minimal one. Another option for LED control would have been some simple controllers but since the speakers initially had brightness adjustment I finally opted for a microcontroller because it allows me to use my imagination as well. So I integrated a TTP223 touch button. We also have a program written in Arduino IDE using the FastLed library. There are 6 operating LED effects: Gaussian pulse, Gaussian ping-pong, meteor effect, random single LED fade and sparkle effect. Using TTP223 I can go through these effects as I want. In one version the program was too large to be uploaded, so I turned to A.I. for optimizations and finally I managed to upload the program to the microcontroller. community.element14.com/.../All-in-one-V3.3.1.txt As for assembly, some manual work, nothing special. {gallery}Assembly IMAGE TITLE: Assembly IMAGE TITLE: Assembly IMAGE TITLE: Assembly IMAGE TITLE: Assembly I also leave you a video (not maximum volume, I don't want to disturb the neighbors). community.element14.com/.../Video-demo.mp4 What do you think of my DIY project? Thank you and have a good day!PAM8403pam8406Spring Clean 2026https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/m/managed-videos/151342Wed, 20 May 2026 10:54:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:2060dd2d-a38c-4a6e-abda-a54ad4553dccembeddedguyhttps://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/b/spring-clean-projects-2026/posts/realtime-heatmap-display-using-panasonic-amg8833-and-micropythonWed, 20 May 2026 10:47:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:94737d1e-f96b-44ea-9ed3-fe3663ca7962embeddedguyIntroduction For the last one year or so, I have been working on a project that was based on Nordic Semiconductor Bluetooth chip and IR temperature sensor array. Unfortunately, the project was not finishing due to many reasons. One of them was some technical difficulties to understand the data from their online documentation regarding the hardware layout and PCB design. But also, I had some other projects to complete which made more delays to this project. Hence, for Spring Clean competition this is a good chance for me to post that project. Why this project for Spring Clean? I think that Spring Clean is something for a project that we were working on and was not able to finish it due to some issue or any other reason. This project has happened to be the same. It took so many delays in completing. The first thing when I decided to work with some IR sensor array for temperature measurement was that I looked on the internet for available sensors and options. The first sensor that I bought was MLX90640 and that was cool. But for tiny devices with several hundreds of KB of RAM memory, it was not possible to run the software that it has. There are so many parameter calculations and RAM usage that at some point did not work as expected. Finally, I decided to create a PCB with Panasonic AMG-8833 I2C sensor. The PCB is with nRF54L15 as the main SoC. PCB design I have make the PCB using KiCad. The PCB is on four-layer board. As the main SoC there is Nordic Semiconductor nRF54L15 device. This is a Bluetooth chip with Cortex-m33 core. It also has RISC-V core inside it as a coprocessor. There is a chip Antenna from Johanson technologies at the right edge of the PCB. The total impedance of the antenna feed should be ~50 ohms. The programming can be done using the SWD interface connected on 10-pin 1.27mm connector. The AMG-8833 is connected over I2C interface. Note: The schematic is in the attachment. The sensor AMG8833 is 8x8 (64 pixels) sensor for IR temperature measurement. The sensor is good for some tasks and is not good for others. There are some applications where this sensor is a good choice. For example, my experience tell me that this sensor may not be suitable to detect human presence. But the sensor is good if someone want to have an application where temperature difference of more than 10 C is evident. Fire detection in automotive/industrial applications Smart home related applications Freezing temperature detection. Cooling application for servers, PC, etc. Expectations v/s Reality There is always expectations vs reality check. For this project it was quite a match. The failed attempt At first, I tried to interface the sensor with nRF52840-DK and the 2.8" Adafruit display shield. I was using LVGL library to do that. I was able to create the canvas and update the display data for heatmap. The only thing was that there is only 254KB of RAM memory on this device which may not be enough to update the display regularly. Here I had to make a design decision. Programming using MicroPython I decided to use Unihiker K10 development board. The k10 is a device with ESP32 s3 chip and various sensors, mic, speaker, camera and display interface. There is a official micropython support from DFRobot for this development board. After installing the Micro python firmware to the development board, we can start the actual programming process. I will explain the code samples with each section and how it works. The first thing is to get the I2C device for the AMG8833 sensor. The I2C device on address is at 0x68/0x69. After the device is available, we can set the device with following settings. In the following code, the device is set with Normal mode with 10 FPS data rate. After the device is set, we are reading the data continuously in the while() loop from the address 0x80 . The data is 12-bit signed value. In the following code, we need to do the bit operations to get the correct sign out of data. Then, we need to multiply the data with (0.25) to get the correct value of the temperature of that particular pixel. This is all for getting and processing 64 pixels data. from machine import Pin, I2C # Configure I2C pins and frequency # Adjust 'scl' and 'sda' pins according to your board # Example: ESP32 (SCL=22, SDA=21), Raspberry Pi Pico (SCL=1, SDA=0) i2c = I2C(0, scl=Pin(48), sda=Pin(47), freq=400000) #Normalmode i2c.writeto_mem(0x68, 0x00, bytes([0x00])) time.sleep(0.5) i2c.writeto_mem(0x68, 0x01, bytes([0x3F])) time.sleep(0.5) #10 FPS setting i2c.writeto_mem(0x68, 0x02, bytes([0x00])) time.sleep(0.5) while(True): data = i2c.readfrom_mem(0x68, 0x80, 128) count = 0 time.sleep(0.2) print('\n') print('New Frame') incre = 0 for i in range(0, 127, 2): count += 1 temp = ((data[i+1] 50): rgb.write(num = 0, R=255,G=0,B=0) rgb.write(num = 1, R=255,G=0,B=0) rgb.write(num = 2, R=255,G=0,B=0) elif(min_temp < 5): rgb.write(num = 0, R=0,G=0,B=255) rgb.write(num = 1, R=0,G=0,B=255) rgb.write(num = 2, R=0,G=0,B=255) else: rgb.clear() Finally, I have a display with live heatmap on it. Video This video shows the demo application in real time. I have a matchstick and a freezing cold-water bottle. When I show the matchstick, the red is indicated on the pixelmap and the RED light is also ON. When I show the water bottle with ice, that is also displayed with Blue pixels on map. Also, the BLUE LED is ON. community.element14.com/.../4857.ANMR0120.mp4 Conclusion and future work For this project, I was quite satisfied that I was able to create a heatmap like display that too on small screen like this. Also, the commercially available devices are quite so expensive. This might be a DIY cheap device. One of the things that I noticed is that for high resolution sensors and display applications we need a SoC with more RAM memory. Which ESP32s3 device has and the nRF52840 do not. But at the cost of relatively high-power requirements. The project could be extended to add wireless connectivity such as Bluetooth or cellular connection. Also, the project can find it's place in devices that could detect fire and alert users. This can prevent number of fire incidence that we have. For example, in Trains, in Cars engine, in industry or in forbidden zones. community.element14.com/.../8154.nRF54_5F00_NextPCB.pdfesp32kicadheatmapSpring Clean 2026nrf52https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/f/forum/56956/in-spite-of-rigorous-testing-when-the-final-design-is-ready-for-its-maiden-voyage-it-mocks-you-with-a-ribbon-of-smoke/235662Tue, 19 May 2026 23:05:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:8588ac65-d912-45bc-b589-a2869b93290frobogaryI recognize that signature screen - are you a Do Bee or a Don't Bee ? youtu.be/8H9pnSjqs-Ahttps://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/m/managed-videos/151334Tue, 19 May 2026 23:05:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:8846dbc6-4bbf-4adb-9027-0d44cc0a2198robogaryRomper Room Do BEE Song with nostalgic images from the television series. Lyrics: I always do what's right. I never do anything wrong. I'm a Romper Room Do Bee, a Do Bee all day long. Do be a sidewalk player, Don't be a street player, Do be a car ...i'm a romper room doo beeromper room lyricsromper room 1970sdoobee songromper room songour nostalgic memoriesromper room songsromper room do bememories of romper roomromper room theme songromperoom do bekids tv shows 1960sromper room 1960sromper roomkids tv shows 1970sromper room doobieromper room do bee songfull romper room episodemagic mirrorromper room magic mirrordo bee songsongs from romper roomromper stomper bomper boohttps://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/f/forum/56956/in-spite-of-rigorous-testing-when-the-final-design-is-ready-for-its-maiden-voyage-it-mocks-you-with-a-ribbon-of-smoke/235659Tue, 19 May 2026 22:23:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:52924e96-6215-483d-8c26-e0ce73d73ba7kmikemooThat's when you use the attenuating helmet and the observation screen. The "High Safety" version looks suprisingly like a cookie sheet.https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/f/forum/56956/in-spite-of-rigorous-testing-when-the-final-design-is-ready-for-its-maiden-voyage-it-mocks-you-with-a-ribbon-of-smoke/235658Tue, 19 May 2026 22:03:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:85b3d302-f463-4361-becd-52e119debf3erobogaryIndeed, that was the case.https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/f/forum/56956/in-spite-of-rigorous-testing-when-the-final-design-is-ready-for-its-maiden-voyage-it-mocks-you-with-a-ribbon-of-smoke/235657Tue, 19 May 2026 22:00:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:3acc55aa-2594-45ef-b570-8ee3e1adbeaerobogaryDont give up hope, it takes infintesmal time to smoke a component. It doesnt even take much more effort than flicking a switch. You must have folded an Aluminum KNACK hat for these situations...https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/f/forum/56956/in-spite-of-rigorous-testing-when-the-final-design-is-ready-for-its-maiden-voyage-it-mocks-you-with-a-ribbon-of-smoke/235655Tue, 19 May 2026 21:16:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:f3568250-d908-4ecf-8575-3e6a7d76b85ckmikemooSpring Clean project?! THAT was what I was supposed to be doing all those times I went into the basement. Well... the workshop is a bit cleaner - but I haven't been able to get my Winlink station working with the radio that I wanted to use. ☹ I haven't let the magic smoke out of that - yet . I've still got a week. There's time. I may or may not have smoked an AD8703 logarithmic amplifier recently.https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/f/forum/56956/in-spite-of-rigorous-testing-when-the-final-design-is-ready-for-its-maiden-voyage-it-mocks-you-with-a-ribbon-of-smoke/235650Tue, 19 May 2026 19:14:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:2467d181-1aae-43a2-978d-7743db3ea9aaDABYes, you can proceed with confidence right up to the point were it fails. At that point you realize that in spite of your best efforts, you forgot something very vital.https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/f/forum/56956/in-spite-of-rigorous-testing-when-the-final-design-is-ready-for-its-maiden-voyage-it-mocks-you-with-a-ribbon-of-smoke/235647Tue, 19 May 2026 17:48:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:40ed3e91-78f4-460f-9a30-e9d5d06a9326me_Crishttps://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/f/forum/56956/in-spite-of-rigorous-testing-when-the-final-design-is-ready-for-its-maiden-voyage-it-mocks-you-with-a-ribbon-of-smoke/235645Tue, 19 May 2026 16:38:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:1b6df85e-433e-405b-8f9c-75988aa911cdrobogaryAbsolutely, the bigger the better.https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/f/forum/56956/in-spite-of-rigorous-testing-when-the-final-design-is-ready-for-its-maiden-voyage-it-mocks-you-with-a-ribbon-of-smoke/235640Tue, 19 May 2026 15:24:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:09caf342-19d0-4aee-a154-98ecff7642badang74Your words... "In spite of rigorous testing, when the final design is ready for its maiden voyage, it mocks you with a ribbon of smoke." ... are beautiful... poetry even.https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/f/forum/56956/in-spite-of-rigorous-testing-when-the-final-design-is-ready-for-its-maiden-voyage-it-mocks-you-with-a-ribbon-of-smoke/235639Tue, 19 May 2026 14:53:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:7d6e7fca-7507-44b3-a635-18c4d2b4de30me_CrisIs magic smoke coming out of components while I'm at work counted?https://community.element14.com/challenges-projects/project14/spring-clean/f/forum/56956/in-spite-of-rigorous-testing-when-the-final-design-is-ready-for-its-maiden-voyage-it-mocks-you-with-a-ribbon-of-smokeTue, 19 May 2026 01:59:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:e91974ea-b740-492f-a5ed-0ad2d53870b8robogaryMy homemade FET driver board decided it was Klingon, and today would be a good day to die. How is your spring clean project going ?