DIY Lunar Lander: A Stunning Hackaday Project
mohit Bhoite’s latest creation is not your average electronics project. This meticulously crafted DIY lunar lander is a testament to ingenuity,blending artistic flair with notable engineering. The project, showcased on Hackaday, features a striking design and surprising functionality, making it a standout in the world of maker projects.
The lander’s most striking features are its unique aesthetic, employing Bhoite’s signature “bare wire sculpture” style, and its vibrant 1.9″ TFT display, sourced from Adafruit. “The 20 AWG brass wires form the superstructure and act as interconnects,” Bhoite explains, highlighting the ingenious use of the wiring. Even the battery connection is a testament to this minimalist approach: “A single wire is the positive, and the negative attaches thru the cell’s body.”
At the heart of this lunar marvel lies a Particle Photon 2 development board. this board boasts a powerful Realtek RTL8721DM SoC, featuring an Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller core running at 200 MHz, along with 2MB of RAM, 2MB of request storage, and 2MB of general-purpose flash memory. This powerful core allows for the lander’s impressive capabilities.
Beyond its core functionality, Bhoite has added several delightful touches. A blinking 0805 surface-mount LEAD acts as an ”antenna,” a piezo element speaker adds sound effects, and a PDM microphone breakout board hints at future voice command capabilities. “The Photon 2 Lander can also show animated GIFs!” Bhoite notes, showcasing examples like a Lunar Rover animation and recreations of the HAL9000 interface and a classic Pong game.
While this unique project is a one-off creation with no plans for commercial sale, Bhoite promises a future tutorial on how to build your own. In the meantime, the detailed project page on Hackaday offers a wealth of images and data for those inspired to embark on a similar endeavor. “This project page has numerous pictures to give you an idea of the meticulous steps involved,” Bhoite encourages prospective builders.
This project highlights the boundless creativity and ingenuity within the maker community, demonstrating how readily available technology can be transformed into stunning and functional works of art. It’s a testament to the power of passion and dedication in the world of DIY electronics.
