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Content:
0:45 PCB schematic and layout design
0:58 NextPCB sponsor video
1:13 PCB and stencil unboxing
2:00 Solder paste and placing SMD components
3:58 Soldering the PCB bottom side with the hotplate
4:38 Soldering the PCB top side with the soldering iron
5:19 Soldering the FPC OLED connector
6:12 Soldering the LoRa module
6:34 Enclosure design and 3D printing
7:09 PCB & enclosure assembly
7:23 Coding
7:40 Testing and operation explanation

This is the first part of an electronic system I designed to try to catch the burglars. It is based on an ESP32 microcontroller and an 868 MHz long range "LoRa" module. It also offers a 0.96" OLED display, an RGB led and a button. The trickiest part of this project was that the storage units are far from home, without mobile signal available, and there are thick concrete floors and walls that the transmitter wireless signal has to get through in order to send data to the receiver.

It has some nice features such as a 3.7 V LiPo battery with an onboard charger that allows being able to tell and notify if the burglars break in after cutting main's power. Also, this system offers Telegram notification. This could be implemented since the ESP32 offers WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities, being an IoT device.

Unfortunately the battery could not be shown in this video since it arrived too late, but it will be on the second part of the project.

This is the first time I had to use a stencil and solder paste, and I'm really happy with how it all came out, considering the fact that I still have no microscope and the 0603 SMD components are really small to solder without one. Also the special white solder mask and black silkscreen combination gave the PCB a unique look which I really liked.

The second part of this project will be about the transmitter module. I still have to try different kind of sensors to check the door position at all times, but I hope it's easier now that the receiver module is done and the transmission data structure and protocol are clear.

I hope you enjoy the video! Stay tuned for the next one.

Links:

Instagram:   / elite_worm  
GitHub: https://github.com/eliteworm