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Mastodon: AboutGet the appKeyboard shortcutsView source codev4.4.0-nightly.2025-03-25

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Stefan Scherfke

A few years ago, we bought the 10268 Vestas wind turbine for work. @zeratul2099 put together a circuit board with an ESP32, with which we can control the motor according to the local wind forecast. We also added some lights and other extras. Here are some photos: flickr.com/photos/188984025@N0

The LEGO Vestas Wind Turbine with flashing headlights. Next to it stands an e-paper display in a frame made of bricks. The display shows information from the ESP32 circuit board which is hidden inside the model.
A photo of the ESP32 circuit boards integration process. The wind turbine is strapped from its covering plates. The circuit board is lying on the table next to it. There are many cables from the board to the turbine and to a computer for programming.
Public
Stefan Scherfke

However, the e-paper display has been broken for more than a year now, the WiFi code stopped working even before that and the whole set was getting dusty.

So I took it back home, cleaned it and started to fix the code. I never programmed a micro computer and my C/C++ skills are rusty at best.

But with @zeratul2099's help, I quickly learned how this stuff works. It was a great feeling to light up an LED via a button. And it felt even better when I got the display to actually show something.

Closeup of the ESP32 on its board. There are many colorful wires attached to it. It could as well be a depiction of spaghetti code.
"Hello World!" on the e-paper display.
Me, re-assembling the LEGO model. The flor is covered with bricks, cables and the cicuit board.
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Stefan Scherfke

I am/was not a big fan of AI but thank's to @mitsuhiko's article about his usage of AI, I gave it a shot. An man, did it help me a lot. The documentation of many of the Arduino libs is not very good (compared to Python standards), but ChatGPT4 (via 🦆 AI Chat) understood my questions and its code suggestions realy helped a lot.

Public
Stefan Scherfke

Today, I spent a lot of time hand-crafting pixel graphics and prototypes for the new display layout. This was a lot of fun. Kind of. And the free version of pixenapp.com/ is quite nice. :)

Photo of the e-paper display showing a static bitmap of the nearly final layout.
Screenshot of Pixen app showing an early prototype of the new display layout.
Public
Stefan Scherfke

I’m finally done with the new software. 873 ~~beautiful~~ lines of c/c++.

In forecast mode (FCS), the turbine rotates according to the predicted wind speed (it also shows the forecast for the next 6h). In timer mode, it rotates at full speed for ~1h.

It also displays the current temperature/humidity as measured by the white DHT sensor.

Most pixels are handcrafted and there are some "clever" solutions for a few problems.

But all in all, I'm so glad to be writing Python most of the time.

The complete technical setup. You can see the ESP32 on its board. 8 colorful wires lead to the LEGO frame containing the e-paper display, which shows the current system state and wind power forecast. There is also a white box with a digital temperature/humidity sensor attached to the board with black, red and yellow wires. Another set of wires connects the board with the button box. Two yellow/red Lego buttons can be used to change the system's mode of operation. In the background, you can see a red and a black wire for powering the head lights of the turbine.
Close-up of the e-paper display. The status bar at the top shows the current mode of operation, the temperature and humidtiy and, in the top right corner, the WiFi quality. On the left, there's a depiction of the button box with labels for the button's function. The main part consists of a plot with the 6h wind forecast as well as measurements for the current wind speed and direction as well as the turbines power output (in percent).
The display and behind it, the button box and the digital humidity and temperature box.
Stefan Scherfke

And of course, when everything was ready for the final integration test, the Lego motor broke down. 🫠

Disassembled everything and checked all cables, but it’s definitely the motor. The second one that broke, to be precise. Gud Lego kwalitee. 👌

The gondola of the wind turbine with our company logo and blinking headlights.
The gondola of the wind turbine with the outer panels removed. You can see the (broken) engine and the micro board contrling the headlights.
Feb 13, 2025, 08:01 PM·Public·Web
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Public
Stefan Scherfke

Aaaaand ... it's finally in production! 🎉🎉🎉

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