AvatarForge & Gadjet
AvatarForge
Hey Gadjet, I was thinking we could build a pixel avatar that changes with my mood—paint it on one side, you wire up a sensor on the other. What do you think?
Gadjet
Yeah, mood‑sensors + LED matrix, boom! Start with a 16x16 RGB OLED, wire it to a cheap ADC reading from a cheap flex‑sensor or even a tiny photodiode tied to your skin. Use a microcontroller with built‑in I²C, maybe an ESP32, so you can stream the mood data to a cloud endpoint for future AI tweaking. Just be careful with that serial output, I’ve seen half the LEDs go haywire from a stray ground. Also, if you expose the sensor data to the net, watch your privacy – I’d run a local MQTT broker instead. Now, grab that old breadboard, we’re hacking a mood‑avatar in minutes!
AvatarForge
Oh wow, you just handed me a full DIY mood‑avatar kit! That ESP32 + 16x16 OLED is my kind of playground—pixel dust and code. I’ll grab that breadboard, toss in a flex‑sensor, and make my avatar grin when I’m in a good mood, frown when I’m stuck in a creative slump. If we keep the MQTT local, my privacy stays intact and the LEDs won’t go on a wild rave. Let’s get those wires flying!
Gadjet
Yeah! Grab a 3.3V pull‑up, wire the flex‑sensor to an ADC pin, debounce it with a simple 10‑ms delay, and drive the OLED via I²C. When your flex dips below, flash a smiley, above it, a frown. Keep the MQTT broker on the same LAN, fire the JSON packet with “mood: 7/10” and you’re set. Just make sure the power rails stay clean, no nasty ground loops, and you’ll have a mood‑avatar that’s as fast as your thoughts. Let the pixel party begin!
AvatarForge
Sounds like a pixel party in the making! I’ll set up the pull‑up, hit that ADC, and program the OLED to wink when I’m feeling bright and sigh when I’m not. With the MQTT on the LAN, I’ll toss a little “mood: 7/10” packet whenever the flex sensor does its thing. Watch out for those ground loops, and let’s paint this mood avatar with some neon pixels! Ready to code?
Gadjet
Great, fire up the IDE, start with the standard ESP32 OLED library, hook the flex‑sensor to A0, add the pull‑up, debounce, map the range 0‑4095 to 0‑100 mood score, then translate that into a simple smiley or frown pattern. For MQTT, use PubSubClient, point it at 192.168.1.x:1883, publish “/mood” with the integer. Don’t forget the 10k pull‑up on VCC, keep GND clean, and add a 100nF cap across the sensor line. Now let’s hit compile and see those neon pixels dance. Code on!
AvatarForge
Okay, let’s fire up the sketch! Here’s the skeleton to get those neon pixels dancing:
```cpp
#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_SSD1306.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>
#include <WiFi.h>
#define OLED_SDA 21
#define OLED_SCL 22
#define OLED_RST -1
#define OLED_DC 23
#define OLED_CS 5
#define FLEX_PIN 34
#define PULLUP_PIN 35
WiFiClient espClient;
PubSubClient client(espClient);
Adafruit_SSD1306 display(128, 64, &Wire, OLED_RST);
void setup() {
Serial.begin(115200);
WiFi.begin("ssid","pass");
while (WiFi.status()!=WL_CONNECTED) delay(500);
client.setServer("192.168.1.x",1883);
display.begin(SSD1306_SWITCHCAPVCC, 0x3C);
pinMode(PULLUP_PIN, INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(FLEX_PIN, INPUT);
}
int readMood() {
int raw = analogRead(FLEX_PIN);
int mood = map(raw, 0, 4095, 0, 100);
return mood;
}
void loop() {
if (!client.connected()) client.connect("MoodAvatar");
client.publish("/mood", String(readMood()).c_str());
int mood = readMood();
display.clearDisplay();
if (mood < 50) {
// draw frown
display.drawCircle(64,32,20,WHITE);
display.drawLine(54,42,74,42,WHITE);
} else {
// draw smile
display.drawCircle(64,32,20,WHITE);
display.drawLine(54,38,74,38,WHITE);
}
display.display();
delay(10);
}
```
Just plug the flex sensor, add that 10k pull‑up, the 100nF cap, hit compile, and let the pixel mood party begin!
Gadjet
Nice skeleton, but a few tweaks: use a debounced loop—add a 10 ms delay after reading to filter noise, and swap the pull‑up logic: the flex needs the pull‑up on the sensor side, not on a separate pin. Also, map the raw value in the correct range (sensor returns 0‑4095, but you might get 300‑4000). For MQTT, add `client.setCallback()` if you plan to react to commands. And keep the display’s width 128, height 64; you drew a 20‑radius circle but the screen is 64 high, so the frown line should be at 42, not 38 for the smile, or adjust coordinates. After that compile, you’ll see the avatar wink every time the flex flexes. Let’s go—time to watch those neon pixels groove!