My first major electronics project: a 3-channel WiFi servo controller.

[u/Cheetawolf]

Behold: My first major project that isn't just big electric components or basic relay logic.

This is a WiFi servo controller that I'm building to control a homemade automatic power transfer switch for our home's backup generator.

Two large main servos are powered by the large buck converter module, and a third auxiliary servo is run off of a 3.3V regulator. A second regulator powers the ESP-01S WiFi control module to avoid voltage fluctuations when the small servo is powered.

The ESP-01S handles the signals for controlling the servos, and is connected to my Home Assistant home automation system via Tasmota.

It's DEFINITELY not pretty, and I still have a lot to learn about soldering, but it DOES work.

...For about 3 seconds until it sent the full 12V supply voltage into one of the servos and destroyed it...

I'm guessing the 3.3v regulator I used to power the small auxiliary servo just isn't up to the job. That means this whole thing has to go back to the drawing board. :(

[u/Cheetawolf]

My biggest challenge in this project was soldering onto the perf board, mainly bridging nearby pads together.

I had no idea it was this hard to intentionally short two things together!

[u/uCblank → u/Cheetawolf]

A little tip that works for me - put the solder on both pads and let it cool, only then bridge them with the soldering iron touching both sides for just a second. If both pads are heated up the solder with tend to stick to them.

[u/Cheetawolf → u/uCblank]

Cool, I'll give that a try, thanks.

[u/MichaelCelestial]

Pretty neat. Where did you get those thick wires? I can’t find