From Thinker to Maker | DIY PCB Christmas Tree Decoration

From thinker to maker｜Don't be a giant in thought, be a giant in action.

I'm a person who likes to immerse myself in what I like. I like to try new things constantly and enjoy the rich feelings it brings me, no matter if it is painful or happy.

It was also the first time that I truly felt the joy of transforming from thinker to maker in doing the Christmas tree project, as Santander writes in this blog:"A maker is a person who learns from what they do, especially in areas that involve teamwork, fun and technology. In general, this is achieved through sharing knowledge online and, in particular, on social media. A maker is someone who is used to solving all sorts of problems by themselves and enjoys doing so."

Starting with this very simple and lovely Christmas tree lighting project, the process of turning an idea into a reality can bring you great satisfaction and pleasure!!

This is what the final Christmas tree looked like:

So let's go through the steps of this project.

After you have thought of your design you will then need to choose what your PCB will do, for my example I used a Seeed Studio ESP32C3 mcu as the main control to display various patterns with the LEDs. The advantage of using a microcontroller is that you can change what your PCB will do in code rather than having to produce different PCBs.

Then, you need to design a schematic in software and build your schematic as you usually would then when you are done you will need to convert this into a PCB, all you need to do is click convert to PCB and then you may need to select the package of your component.

Material Required

These are the stuff I used in this build-

• Seeed Fusion CUSTOM PCB x 1
• Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3
• RGB WS2812B LED, PACKAGE- 5050
• DIODE M7, PACKAGE SMA

Basic Setup

To make a PCB-themed after a Christmas tree, I first searched for a Black and white design of a Christmas tree that I could import into my PCB Cad software. This Image was in PNG format so first I edited this in PAINT and exported a BMP image as my PCB Cad Software only uses BMP Image.

BMP format is a standard format for importing images but other software include adding PNG so you can skip this converting process and import your image into the PCB Cad software.

Here's what I used:

Well, I have to make a logo file first and then add the image into this logo file, later then I can import the logo file into my PCB design. This process is long and your software probably can directly import the image so search around for any imported image option or just google how you can do that in your PCB cad software.

Also, this imported image will be placed as a TOP or BOTTOM silkscreen depending on your Board Layout. Try to place it in the Opposite layer of the Components.

Next, I prepared a Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3 Mcu and RGB WS2812B LED. I prepared the schematic and then converted it into a Board file. Art Part of this project will be visible from the front and at the backside, all the components are placed.

Explore more with Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3

Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3 has equipped a highly-integrated ESP32-C3 chip, built around a 32-bit RISC-V chip processor with a four-stage pipeline that operates at up to 160 MHz. The board equips highly-integrated ESP32-C3 SoC. The chip has been installed with a complete 2.4GHz Wi-Fi subsystem which means it supports Station mode, SoftAP mode, SoftAP & Station mode, and promiscuous mode for multiple Wi-Fi applications. It works under an ultra-low power state, also supporting features of Bluetooth 5 and Bluetooth mesh. There are 400 KB SRAM & 4 MB Flash on the chip, allowing for more programming space, and bringing more possibilities to this Christmas tree project!

After finalizing the PCB, I exported its Gerber & Bom and upload it to Seeed Fusion PCB order page for prototype.

Getting PCB Assembly From Seeed Fusion

This Christmas tree PCB quality was AMAZING!

I really love the quality of the solder mask, also it was a tough job but Seeed Fusion did an excellent job of manufacturing this PCB Assembly with no error whatsoever!!

Seeed Studio Fusion PCB Assembly Servicetakes care of the entire fabrication process, from PCB manufacturing to parts sourcing, assembly, and testing services, so you can be sure that you are getting a quality product, offering a wide range of manufacturing and engineering services to help bring ideas into reality.

From prototyping to mass production, Seeed has the manufacturing expertise, e-commerce infrastructure and integrated logistics to deliver products to every corner of the world. Seeed Licensed Product Program can also help you bring the product to market with professional guidance and a strong network of connections!

Coding & Display for Christmas Tree based on Seeed XIAO ESP32C3

First Step: Plug in your xiao and press the reset button, onboard led should flash for a millisecond. If this has happened, it means the Seeed studio xiao ESP32C3 worked.

Second STEP: Install the Adafruit_NeoPixel library on github and upload the sketch by clicking File —> Examples —> Adafruit NeoPixel —> Simple, then edit the code.

Set Brightness

Continuous Display

You can find the full code in the attachment! ;))

Special Thanks!!!

Since I'm a novice in pcb design, I'm ESPECIALLY GRATEFULLLL to my maker friend Arnov Sharma for giving me guidance in this aspect and letting me experience that a novice can also have more fun!!! :D

Wanna say BIG THANK YOU you to Jianfeng for patiently telling me how to debug the code. Moreover, much appreciate the great support of the whole Seeed Fusion team: Qiaoni, Carmen Zheng, Xiangyi, perfect shopping experience!!