DIY Wall-E Robot
Rebuilt the electronics and software for a 3D-printed Wall-E robot using an ESP32, servo and motor drivers, audio hardware, power conversion, custom C++ code, and schematic/PCB design.
- Controller
- ESP32 with custom Arduino/C++ firmware
- Motion
- PCA9685 servo control and L298N motor drive
- Power and Audio
- Buck/boost converters and DFPlayer Mini module
This build was inspired by the original 3D-printed Wall-E project. I used the mechanical concept as a starting point, then redesigned the electronics around lower-cost parts, my own wiring, and my own control software.
Mechanical Build
I printed the body and alternate remix parts before final assembly. Because the project uses a large amount of filament, printing the alternate parts first helped avoid wasted duplicate prints and made the mechanism easier to adapt.
Electronics
The electronics include an ESP32-32S module, PCA9685 servo controller, L298N 12 V DC motor driver, XL6019 boost converter, 5 V buck converter, DFPlayer Mini audio module, 4 Ohm 3 W speaker, two 12 V motors, and MG90S metal servos.
Schematic and PCB Work
I created my own schematic and PCB layout in EasyEDA to document a cleaner version of the robot electronics. The current version is wired by hand, but the PCB layout captures the direction for a more maintainable future revision.
Firmware
My code is separate from the original project. It uses the Arduino IDE and ESP32 Bluepad32 support. Before running the full program, I calibrate each servo with test code so the correct travel limits can be entered into the main firmware.
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Result
The project demonstrates robotics integration across mechanical printing, power conversion, motor driving, servo control, audio playback, schematic capture, PCB layout, and embedded C++ firmware.