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NorthPole Navigator - Post Deadline updates 2

arvindsa — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 03:16:07 GMT

In continuation to my NorthPole Navigator project here - NorthPole Navigator wherein i wanted to redo the Christmas tree spiral with rectangular cross section as opposed to circular on here are the updates.

The 3D Printing failure rate was quite high, so i had to diagnose why, it turned out that I had changed the nozzle recently but i was not able to tighten the nozzle fully due to some clogged filament inside the threads, This created a gap through which filament would ooze out, and then fall as a droplet on the Print, It owuld cool down and bond with the support or wherever fell on, and when the nozzle hit the blob, it would rip off the support or in one case, disengage the print from the bed itself. In both case, it would start doing spaghetti. So fixed it and here we have. THis weekend i will be cleaning the print and redoing the star.

NorthPole Navigator - Post Deadline updates

arvindsa — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 06:36:57 GMT

So, After submission of my Project ( NorthPole Navigator ) and the deadline here are some of the updates that happened:

I got the Fedex Parcel with my PCB today

Why did i post this "Excuse"? Well it's not an excuse. It's about making others informed of a possible risk in their development process. I chose PCBWay because they had the best tolerances when making the PCB in white soldermask. That high tolerance is needed because of the small size and the QFN Parts. And i needed white solder-mask for best reflection. The light from LEDs hit the diffuser sheet and only some of them is transmitted through the diffuser the rest is bounced back into the PCB. Having any other color than white on PCB solder-mask will absorb some of the light before reflecting back into the diffuser. That's why you'll notice most of the high power LEDs having white soldermask. Plus PCBWay is quite affordable for the white solder-mask and in my past experiences FedeX almost delivered within a week of shipping. But this time customs was not that forgiving. Thankfully as every engineer should have, I had a plan B.

Will post a new project with the PCB assembled and Tested

i am unable to see my project in draft i saved it as draft where ccan i find it

chloro — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 07:00:16 GMT

i am unable to see my project in draft i saved it as draft where ccan i find it

Merry Microchips! — 2025 Holidays Competition Discussion Thread

JoRatcliffe — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 16:04:46 GMT

Hi all, in the spirit of the e14 Community 2025 Holidays competition kicking off, I thought I would start up a discussion thread.

This is your space for sharing project ideas, discussing any challenges or successes that come up while building your projects, and also any general Holidays plans or conversation ❄️☃️🎄

You are also very welcome to DM me with any questions on competition details and so on 🙂

Winners Announcement - Holidays Competition 2024

JoRatcliffe — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 10:59:52 GMT

It’s time! As we saw in last week’s wrap-up, we have had so many fantastic holiday-themed submissions, but there can only be one winner…and a second place winner and five runner-ups 😊

Just as a quick reminder, let’s look back at the competition theme. We asked competitors to share a project that incorporates electronics and ties into the Holiday season, in whatever way the time of year has meaning and importance for them. Submissions had to explain how it relates to the theme, share how the project was created and include photos/videos demonstrating the project functioning. Originality, innovation and technical merit all have equal weighting.

Plus, a quick recap of the prizes everyone was competing for:

FIRST PLACE (choose one of the below)
Tektronix Digital Oscilloscope Buy Now	Multicomp Pro Waveform Generator Buy Now	Weller Fume Extractor Buy Now
SECOND PLACE (choose one of the below)
Weller Soldering Station Buy Now	EA Bench Power Supply Buy Now	Kern OSF 439 Microscope Buy Now
RUNNERS UP (choose one of the below)
CK Tools Slim Screwdriver Set Buy Now	Tenma Bench Power Supply Buy Now	Weller Helping Hands Buy Now

It was a very tough choice because the competition was extremely close but a decision had to be made. So, without further ado, say hello to your winners!

First Place

robogary – Naughty Elf Animatronic Holiday
There is certainly lots of originality here! All the different elements from the motion sensor, atomizer, servo, Arduino, music from the speaker and LEDs on the Christmas tree all combine really well into a brilliantly executed project. Robogary, I hope your grandson enjoys, because this is something I would be really excited to show anyone visiting for the Holidays. Congratulations on creating the best - and also the most mischievous - project of the Holidays competition and for documenting it so well.

Second Place

meera_hussien – Festive Interactive LED Wreath with Music and Motion Magic
A great festive experience is created with the Arduino Uno microcontroller, WS2812B addressable LEDs, Grove PIR motion sensor, and Seeed Serial MP3 Player all being synchronized together here. Using a 3D model of a Lego flower wreath as the base is also a creative way of adapting something for your own purposes. Plus, you have put together a nice, comprehensive step-by-step guide with photos, videos, a diagram, your Arduino sketch and references. Well done, meera_hussien!

Runner-Ups

balajivan1995 – Voice Controllable Zen Garden
Very nicely executed combination of Sinric Pro and Alexa with your fountain and LED light strip. I think we are all feeling a bit more peaceful and relaxed after appreciating how you have created a project which not only works well but also looks great too. Plus, it ties perfectly into the theme of the competition.

kmikemoo – Choo Choo Go Stick
This is a great train modification carried out despite the limitation of having to work within the confines of the train model of course. You executed the project perfectly for your ‘client’ 😉 Plus, although every project is judged on its own merits, an honourable mention goes to you for submitting two projects.

iker46 – Santa’s Mailbox
This is another great combination of tech, having the mailbox with its e-ink display work in conjunction with your ZigBee PIR sensor and Nest Hub. Although you say you are far from being an artist, this is a very charming project from the candy cane pole design through to your snowman ☃️

Alistair – Santa Countdown
This is a fun build which was executed really well down to the small details like adding non-slip feet onto the enclosure. You have also put together a nice, really comprehensive write-up, Alistair, with lots of detail – perfect for anyone wanting to recreate this project. I hope Chris the duck enjoyed!

me_Cris – What is your wish?
Nicely done creating this LED matrix circuit to send a festive message to everyone 😊 Great job writing up and documenting the project, including creating the hardest homemade PCB you have ever made. It was interesting reading your ideas for taking the project further in the future.

I know everyone will join me in saying very well done to all of our prize-winners. I’ll be in touch with our winners to confirm their choice of prize.

A big thank you to everyone who submitted a project, liked or commented here in the Holidays space. I hope this has been a really fun, cheerful and festive competition for everyone. Every project approached the theme from an interesting angle and was very resourceful in how they incorporated previously acquired materials, tech and pre-existing home automation setups to come to life.

It has been great chatting with everybody and keeping the seasonal vibes going together.

For anyone still feeling the urge to create and build, don’t worry, it won’t be too long before the next competition. Plus, there will of course be more seasonal activities like this one later this year 🎃 🎄

It's a wrap! - Holidays Competition 2024

JoRatcliffe — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 16:19:42 GMT

Hi everyone, happy Friday 😊 With the Holidays competition concluded, it’s not yet time to announce the winners but I did want to do a quick wrap-up of all the fantastic, holiday-themed projects that everyone submitted.

I am including a short summary of every project below but I encourage everyone to check out the full project posts for yourselves to see all the included imagery and videos. I know a lot of you already have and it’s been great seeing so many likes, words of encouragement and support for one another.

robogary – Naughty Elf Animatronic Holiday Air Freshener

Exactly as described, our first project is a motion-triggered Elf on the Shelf which plays music and not-so-stealthily seasons the air with a holiday-themed scent. Definitely has to be seen to be believed and very mischievous. Great stuff!

Attila Tőkés – 3D Snowflake Ornament with BLE Connectivity

Attila wowed everyone with their 3D-printed snowflake which glistens and glows across its crystalline body. Ethereal, soothing and very festive.

kmikemoo – Christmas Warmth & Choo Choo Go Stick

Kmikemoo gave us two seasonal submissions!

The first, Christmas Warmth, was a recreation of a miniature fire barrel to keep his inflatable cows warm on cold winter nights using an LED spotlight, expanding insulating foam, a 5 gallon bucket and some artistry to recreate the look of a crackling log fire.

The second submission, Choo Choo Go Stick, modified a battery-operated model train to be controlled by his 4 year old grandson, enabling the train to be started and stopped using a magical ‘go stick’ ✨ Check out the project page for a great video demonstration.

manojroy123 – LED Night Lamp Painting

A framed picture got a sparkly, seasonal upgrade in this project with a string of LED lights attached to the back. The LEDs shine through the picture and light it up, adding a festive look to the painting during the day and enabling it to function as a nightlight at night.

maxpowerr – Playstation 1 Replacing CD-Rom

Receiving new games consoles and videogames as gifts have a special place in many of our hearts and that’s what inspired Maxpowerr to breathe new life into his old Playstation 1 console. He rescued it from his attic and, after discovering it could not read discs anymore, he connected the console to the CD drive from an old audio player to bring it back to life. Happy gaming!

me_Cris – What Is Your Wish?

Using Kingbright matrices from an elevator panel and a homemade PCB created using the thermal toner transfer method, me_Cris created an LED matrix circuit to send a seasonal message to the e14 community.

Alistair – Santa Countdown

I know at least one person who starts counting down to Christmas starting on the day after Christmas, that’s how much they love the holiday, and this project is perfect for anyone who falls into that category, both the young and the young at heart. Alistair has used a dot matrix module to make a device that tells you how many sleeps there are until Christmas. It comes complete with a 3D-printed enclosure, stick-on Christmas bow and rubber duck Santa called Chris 🦆🎅

meera_hussien – Festive Interactive LED Wreath with Music and Motion Magic

Meera_hussien created an interactive LED festive wreath which incorporates motion-triggered dynamic lighting and synchronized audio playback. A sturdy 3D-printed base keeps it grounded and includes cylindrical holes where perhaps candles could be added. Check out the videos to see the wreath in action!

balajivan1995 – Voice Controllable Zen Garden

Check out the video for this project which is voice-controlled via Alexa to fully appreciate this great-looking Zen Garden which combines a fountain, Plants, and LED lighting with adjustable light intensity and colour to provide a sense of peace and reduce stress.

iker46 – Santa’s Mailbox

What do you do with a broken mailbox? For iker46, the choice was clear, turn it into mailbox direct to Santa, complete with an E-ink display. Anyone sending a letter is told what the date is and how many days there are until presents will be arriving. The adjustable, candy cane-colored pole can be used to increase the height of the mailbox as children grow up which is a great idea.

battlecoder – Christmas Music Box!

Battlecoder used an Arduino connected to a speaker to play Jingle Bells underneath their Christmas tree. A transistor-based amplifier made sure it had enough volume to fill their apartment with music and it all fits inside a neat, unobtrusive box under the tree. Fun and musical 🎵🎄

Well done again to everyone who submitted a project. It’s been fantastic seeing so many varied projects all approaching the theme from different places with very worthwhile motivations and reasoning behind each one.

Have an amazing weekend and there is not long now until we announce the winners of this competition. See y’all next week 😉

Quick reminder - The Holidays competition deadline is tomorrow :)

JoRatcliffe — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 17:04:06 GMT

Hi all, just a quick reminder that the Holidays competition closes end-of-day tomorrow on Friday 17th so don't forget to submit your project! ⏳

Next week, I am very much looking forward to doing a wrap-up of all the excellent, seasonal submissions we have had - so make sure yours is included if you haven't already shared it.

There's no business like snow business

JoRatcliffe — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 14:51:59 GMT

Hi everyone, hope you all had a fantastic Holidays and a great start to the new year.

There's still ~2 weeks until the 17th January deadline for our Holidays competition and it's still feeling quite festive where I am based, with lots of snow in my local area (including a very cute, very tiny snowman ☃️).

A big thanks to everyone who has already submitted a project. I love how varied the projects are and the stories behind them. All the projects for this year can be found here and they are all great inspiration for contenders yet to submit their project.

{gallery}Snow Photos :)
Snow!:
Lots of snow!:
Tiny snowman!:

{gallery}Snow Photos :)

Snow!:

Lots of snow!:

Tiny snowman!:

What're you up to for the holidays?

JoRatcliffe — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 17:04:41 GMT

Hi everyone, I figured I'd create a place where we can all discuss our projects but also chat about the holidays and any plans we have.

Kind of in keeping with the theme of the competition, I'm celebrating Christmas differently this year. I usually spend the holidays with my family in the UK and Christmas is a big operation planned well in advance with a huge Christmas tree etc. This year though I'm spending the holidays with my partner's family in Hong Kong so there's still going to be lots of family time and celebrations, just maybe a different style and a bit more low-key.