Motivation

As a high school student, I was deeply involved in FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC). Being involved in this competition was fundamental to my development as a programmer and engineer. Yet, as amazing as it this competition was, it had a big flaw, the price. The truth is that this competition and its more complex parallel competition, FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), are often too expensive for most students to participate in. This is where ControlHub comes in. This controller is similar to the FTC controller, but it is much more affordable and made to be used with cheaper components. The controller is built using an ESP32 parts that where handpicked from personal research and are easily available.

Design Remarks

For the design of the controller, I was inspired by the CRICKIT adafruit circuit playground board. I picked this design because it’s well documented and has a lot of features that are useful for a controller. I didn’t pick exactly the same design, as my sizing wasn’t identical to the CRICKIT board.

Production

One of my main tenets for this project is to make it as affordable as possible. To achieve this, I will plan to assemble the controller myself using open source pnp hardware and software plus, 3D printers, and ovens for reflow soldering. I will also source all of the parts myself to ensure the lowest possible price and will either sell these at cost or give them away for free. I will also provide the source code for the controller and the circuit design for the PCB in the controlhub repository.

to - do:

• finish the controller circuit design
• explain parts selection
• add images