Goldie: Your Hydration Companion

Goldie is an interactive hydration-tracking device built around a pixelated goldfish who thrives on your water intake. Designed for the ESP8266 platform, Goldie brings charm and accountability to the mundane task of staying hydrated, featuring hand-drawn animation, touch interactions and minigames.

A well-hydrated Goldie flips, glows, and smiles. A neglected Goldie sinks, turns blue, and glares at you.

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_{Logging a Glass of Water}

Features

• Hydration Reminder: Animates based on hydration—cheerful when watered, sulky when ignored. Encourages staying hydrated—keeping yourself and Goldie healthy.
• Touch Logging: Tap to log a glass of water; Goldie and the environment respond instantly.
• Rich Ambiance: Based on hydration, elements in the tank vary—such as water levels, bubbles, water currents and the height of seaweed (her home).
• Interactive Pet: Feed the goldfish pellets, 'pet' her and play a minigame where Goldie jumps and dodges seaweed.
• Pixel Animation: Retro-style rendering optimized for a humble single-threaded CPU.

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Hardware Overview

Component	Function	Pin Assignment (ESP-12E / NodeMCU D-Pin)
ESP8266 (ESP-12E)	Core microcontroller for display & logic	N/A
ST7789 240×240 TFT	Pixel display for Goldie’s animations
CS	Chip Select	GPIO15 (D8)
DC	Data/Command	GPIO0 (D3)
RST	Reset	GPIO2 (D4)
MOSI	Master Out Slave In	GPIO13 (D7)
SCLK	Serial Clock	GPIO14 (D5)
BL	Backlight Control	GPIO5 (D1)
RGB LED	Visual mood/status indicator	GPIO12 (D6)
Capacitive Touch Sensor	User input for water logging	GPIO16 (D0)
Buzzer	Optional sound feedback	GPIO4 (D2)
3D-Printed Enclosure	Use as a desktop toy	N/A

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Firmware Stack

• PlatformIO Framework: Uses espressif8266@4.2.1 platform and arduino framework.
• Languages: C, C++
• Key Libraries:
  • bodmer/TFT_eSPI – Fast display rendering
  • bodmer/TJpg_Decoder – Optional JPG support
  • ivanseidel/Thread – Cooperative multitasking
  • lennarthennigs/Button2 – Touch input handling
  • FastLED/FastLED – RGB control
  • jcsb1994/Buzzer – Optional sound feedback
• Build Flags: Configured with -Os for optimization, debug level, and various TFT and peripheral pin definitions:
  • ST7789_2_DRIVER, TFT_RGB_ORDER, TFT_WIDTH=240, TFT_HEIGHT=240
  • TFT_CS=15, TFT_DC=0, TFT_RST=2, TFT_MOSI=13, TFT_SCLK=14, TFT_BL=5
  • SPI_FREQUENCY=27000000, SPI_READ_FREQUENCY=20000000
  • LOAD_GLCD, LOAD_FONT2
  • AMBIENT_PIN=12, BUTTON_PIN=16, BEEPER_PIN=4

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Technical Feats

• Real-time pixel animation optimized under strict memory/CPU constraints, using techniques from VGA graphics programming. All graphics are redrawn per frame with direct-to-display rendering.
• Optimized Firmware that handles sound, RGB lighting, animation, and touch sensing with minimal delay.
• Single Touch-based interaction without menus or buttons; designed for simplicity.

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_{An Early Prototype}

Getting Started

Requirements

• ESP8266 (specifically ESP-12E as configured, or similar boards like NodeMCU, Wemos D1 Mini)
• USB-to-Serial Cable
• 240x240 ST7789 display
• Capacitive Touch Sensor, RGB LED, Buzzer
• PlatformIO or Arduino IDE

Installation

1. Clone this repository git clone https://github.com/yourname/goldie-hydration.git

2. Open in PlatformIO or Arduino IDE (Ensure correct board is selected, e.g., esp12e for PlatformIO)

3. Install dependencies (PlatformIO will auto-install libraries if listed in platformio.ini)

4. Upload the code to your ESP8266.

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Future Plans

• Add wireless support for cloud sync and weekly hydration stats
• New skins, animations, minigames
• Low-power battery version
• Commercial production (currently in talks with manufacturers)