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Jolly Roger

Overview

This project implements a distributed network of Halloween animatronics controlled by ESP32 microcontrollers. The system is organized around a master/slave architecture, with the Jolly Roger animatronic acting as the master unit and several additional animatronics operating as synchronized slaves. Communication between units is handled wirelessly over Wi-Fi (esp-now), allowing for coordinated, scalable effects.

Overview

  • Each animatronic is controlled by an ESP32. Master has an LD2410 radar sensor to detect human presence and broadcasts triggers to slaves.

  • Audio: DFPlayer Mini on every unit.

  • Motion: SG90 hobby servos (powered from a 5V supply).

  • Lighting: addressable LEDs (WS2812-style) or simple LED strings — powered from 5V.

  • Eyes: GC9A01 round SPI LCD.

Power & decoupling

  • Supply rails:

    • 5V for servos, DFPlayer, LEDs, speakers (if using amp) — recommended common supply for power-hungry parts.

    • 3.3V for ESP32 logic (ESP32's regulator when using 5V VIN).

  • Common ground: absolutely tie the 5V and ESP32 ground together.

  • Decoupling for servos & LEDs:

    • Add a 1000 μF electrolytic capacitor (or larger depending on the number of servos) close to the servo/LED power feed.

    • Add 0.1 μF ceramic capacitors near ESP32 Vcc pins.

  • Wire gauge: use thicker wires (20–18 AWG) for servo + LED power if several are in parallel to avoid voltage drop.

Master (Jolly Roger) wiring (high level)

  • ESP32 VCC -> 3.3V (or VIN from 5V via onboard regulator)

  • LD2410

    • VCC -> 5V (or module-specified supply)

    • GND -> common GND

    • Output -> ESP32 BUSY/INT pin (see section 5)

  • DFPlayer Mini

    • VCC -> 5V

    • GND -> GND

    • RX/TX -> ESP32 UART (use hardware UART, see section 6)

  • Servos (SG90)

    • VCC -> 5V rail

    • GND -> GND

    • Signal -> ESP32 PWM-capable pin

  • LEDs -> 5V + data pin to ESP32 (with 470Ω series on the data line recommended for WS2812)

  • GC9A01 -> SPI bus pins + CS/DC/RST (see section 7)

Slave animatronic wiring (same as master but no LD2410)

  • ESP32, DFPlayer, servos, LEDs, GC9A01 wired exactly like master nodes.

  • Each slave listens for the master broadcast and runs its local routine.

Level shifting & BUSY-pin handling

  • Problem: DFPlayer BUSY may be open-drain/floating or output 5V.

  • If BUSY is 5V TTL: use a resistor divider (example below) or logic level shifter.

Voltage divider (5V -> 3.3V)


BUSY (DFPlayer) ---- R1 ----+----> ESP32 input
|
R2
|
GND

Use R1 = 10kΩ, R2 = 20kΩ -> Vout ≈ 3.33V when BUSY = 5V

BUSY to input-only pins (GPIO34–39)

  • These pins do not support internal pull-ups. If the BUSY line can float (open-drain), add an external 10k pull-up to 3.3V.

  • If you wire BUSY to GPIOs that support INPUT_PULLUP (e.g., 25, 26, 32, 33), you can use pinMode(pin, INPUT_PULLUP).

DFPlayer wiring notes (UART)

  • DFPlayer VCC -> 5V, GND -> common ground.

  • DFPlayer TX -> ESP32 RX (no level shift needed if DFPlayer TX ≈ 3.3V). If unsure, measure with a multimeter.

  • DFPlayer RX -> ESP32 TX (ESP32 TX is 3.3V, OK for DFPlayer RX).

  • Use one of ESP32 hardware UARTs (UART2 is convenient): e.g. TX2=GPIO17, RX2=GPIO16. These pins are commonly free on dev boards.

  • If these pins conflict in your build, pick other UART-capable pins and configure Serial2.begin(9600, SERIAL_8N1, rxPin, txPin);.

GC9A01 round LCD (SPI) wiring

Example mapping (shared SPI bus; one CS per display):

  • SCLK -> GPIO18

  • MOSI -> GPIO23

  • MISO -> (not used)

  • CS -> GPIO5 (per display choose unique CS if multiple)

  • DC -> GPIO21

  • RST -> GPIO22

These pins are examples — SPI can be remapped. Keep MOSI/SCLK on the same SPI peripheral for best performance.

Servo wiring & recommendations

  • SG90 signal pins are 3.3V-logic-friendly.

  • Use separate 5V supply for servos to avoid brownouts on ESP32.

  • Add a 1000 μF cap across 5V and GND near servo power feed.

  • Use PWM pins for servo signals; each ESP32 can drive several servos using ledc or servo libraries.

jolly_roger.png

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