I recently purchased a few 8x8 WS2182 led matrices, and wanted a cool project to test them on. Each WS2182 led is individually addressable, has 32bit color, can refresh at up to 400Hz, and can be easily chained with a simple one wire protocol. Given these capabilities, I thought an ESP32-C3 powered console would be a great choice.

Assembly was simple, with a single bracket per panel attached to a bamboo chopstick providing enough support. A capacitor was added across the display VIN/GND to smooth out inrush current from the battery, and an admittedly bad controller was made from the handful of tiny smd buttons I had available. I initially intended to have a cover and button casings, but poor tolerances on my 3D printer made them difficult to fit. If I ever update this hardware, the controller will certainly be changed.

Behind only smoking and obesity, exposure to UV radiation is a leading cause of preventable cancer cases in the UK¹. With that in mind, I wanted to minimise my exposure during periods of dangerous intensity, while also spending as little time and money on protecting myself as possible.

To help with this, I made a portable sensor unit to help me decide in real time if the UV risk justified my effort, eliminating reliance on my phone for estimates and looking pretty too.