Mohit Bhoite's Latest Lunar Lander Sculpture Is Powered by Particle's Upcoming Photon 2 Dev Board

Engineer and circuit sculptor Mohit Bhoite is back with another Lunar Lander-inspired freeform circuit, this time boasting a full-color graphical display and powered by Particle's Photon 2 Internet of Things (IoT) development board.

"I just finished an all-new lander circuit sculpture based on the Particle's new Photon 2 with dual-band Wi-Fi and BLE [Bluetooth Low Energy]," Bhoite writes of his latest creation. "I'm using Particle webhooks and the Weather.Gov API to fetch weather forecast data. "You can technically use any number of controllers, display, and sensor combination[s]. This is just one way to imagine it!"

Bhoite's build is based on an ST7789-driven 240×240 TFT color display, mounted at the very front of a sculpture which uses 20 AWG brass wire as both its framework and for electrical connectivity. Hidden behind the display is a Sensirion SHT31 temperature and humidity sensor for local environmental data, plus the Particle Photon 2 development board — not due to be released to the public until next month.

Elsewhere in the build is a piezoelectric buzzer for audible alerts, a compact 0805-format LED mounted between the two pillars of a fake antenna, and a 3.7V 350mA 14250 lithium-ion battery. "[The battery] should last anywhere from four to 12 hours," Bhoite notes.

Bhoite has been working on his circuit sculpture art since the 90s, recently shifting from robotic-like creations to those inspired by the Lunar Lander — including a temperature sensor which outputs its findings in binary-coded decimal format and a four-bit timer designed for use in the kitchen. His work has also inspired others, like Peter Müller with his SMOLSAT 1 communications satellite sculpture.

"I used the Particle workbench, so [it's] mostly Arduino-wrapped CPP [C++]," Bhoite writes of the software side of the project. "I heavily relied on the Adafruit libraries — ST77XX, GFX, and SHT31. First time using the GFX canvas. I spent a ton of time iterating on the 'face' for the sculpture."

More information on the build is available on Bhoite's Twitter thread.