The Wio Tracker L1 Meshtastic Communicator

Background

This is my first project, but I'm not here by chance. I started it because I wanted a communication device for my son that didn't require any built-in infrastructure or additional devices. That's how I found the Meshtastic network, exactly what I need.

I looked at the list of supported devices, and I liked the Lilygo t-deck the most, but I didn't want a color display. Plus, the GPS-capable T-deck is expensive for me. Browsing further, I saw the option in the seeedstudio Wio tracker L1 family. All I need is a qwerty keyboard. I found existing projects for this too using the CardKB v1.1 board. I ordered the necessary parts on August 24th.

I joined the seeedstudio discord channel looking for clever ideas, and that's when I found the hackster.io challenge. I like challenges like this because the deadline motivates me, and I'm already in flow anyway. I registered on August 26th.

I'm a structural engineer in my private job. First I had to free myself up, only then could the new project come.

The power supply will be provided by a 18650 lithium battery, because it is easily replaceable and standardized. This also determines the minimum thickness of the device. I figured that I could best utilize this thickness with a foldable device.

3D design

These images were exported from a raw CAD file. The case still needs to be opened to install the devices.