• 

  CAD Model of the Case for the Scanner

• 

  Potential parts; arrayed

• 

  First SPI test

• 

  Final Assembly

WiFi Buddy

WiFi Buddy was inspired by a simple insight: network knowledge should be accessible and friendly!

Most networking tools require users to buy specialized hardware, expensive licenses, and large time commitments to perform audits and surveys. Purpose-built, open source, and cheap to manufacture gets these tools in the hands of more people.

WiFi Buddy is a handheld network monitoring system that continuously scans nearby wireless access points and their locations.

Practical applications:

• Governmental: Identify infrastructure weaknesses for large scale coverage and access.

• Enterprise: Perform site surveys of operating locations for frequent cybersecurity updates.

• Consumer: Enhance connectivity by finding weak-points in home networks to enhance IoT and smart-home capabilities.

How we built it

We built WiFi Buddy We built WIFI Buddy as a compact and simple system optimized for mobility and ease of use.

ESP32-S3-DevkitC was used as networks antennas and processing tools with TFT LCD Display provides a large, real-time readout or location of networks found by the ESP GY-NEO6MV2 GPS and MPU9520 chips allow localization of the user and estimation of signal positions.

Challenges

We encountered a few challenges, including:

• Enclosure spacing and ventilation
• Charging and power subsystem balancing
• TFT and ESP driver conflicts

We learned that designing a handheld technology fundamentally affects design and allowances for things like parts and power management, and especially that it is worthwhile to make complicated, expensive systems more affordable and beginner-friendly.

Built With

• adafruit
• arduino
• c
• esp-if
• solidworks
• spi
• tft
• visual-studio