CJ Trowbridge

Whisplay Chat Bot Build List

Building a chat bot for Whisplay. This will let you create a portable AI assistant which understands your voice, runs what you say through a large langauge model, and then replies with voice. The “Good” model takes a few seconds between each step to reload the next model. The “Better” model is much faster but requires additional hardware. These are affiliate links.

You have two options, and if you start with the “Good” option you can always upgrade to the “Better” option later. It’s as simple as adding the extra hardware and flashing a new image to your MicroSD card.

The Original Setup: Pretty Good.

My video explaining the basic setup

Here are the minimum required parts to make one that will work whether or not you include the upgraded parts later:

• Raspberry Pi 5 - 16GB RAM This kit comes with the heatsink and power supply but none of the unnecessary extras like a case that wont fit with the pieces we’re adding.
• Big, Fast MicroSD Card
• It has to be this specific battery
• Whisplay Hat (screen/scpeaker/mic/button)
• Header Spacers to make everything fit together
• 3D Model of Case to fit everything together

Here is a pre-built image from the manufacturer where everything is already set up: Pre-built Image Simply flash it to your MicroSD card using a tool like balena etcher or rufus and you’re good to go!

If you want to do it all manually, here are the instructions: Manual Setup Instructions

The New Setup: Really Great!

My video about the advanced setup

To make it much faster, you can also add these parts:

• LLM 8850
• Double M.2 Hat
• 3D Model of Case to fit everything together

Here is a pre-built image from the manufacturer where everything is already set up: Pre-built Image Simply flash it to your MicroSD card using a tool like balena etcher or rufus and you’re good to go!

If you want to do it manually with the LLM8850, here are the manufacturer’s instructions for manual setup: Manual Setup Instructions

All Seeing Eye

Visit Project Site

The All-Seeing Eye is a distributed RF observer system designed to map the radio spectrum (literally put all the broadcasts on a geographic map) in real-time. By deploying multiple synchronized nodes (ESP32 + CC1101) in a grid, the system creates a “VLBI Cluster” (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) that correlates signal strength (RSSI) from many locations simultaneously.

A primary goal for this project is that each node should cost just a few dollars to build, making it feasible to quickly and affordably deploy dozens or hundreds of them across a region. They can also integrate with meshtastic nodes to enable cheap and offline regional communication and automated alterts for various undesirable behaviors the nodes may observe ocurring throughout the region.

This allows the system to determine where RF broadcasts are originating from, not by having one powerful sensor, but by combining the partial views of many small, low-cost observers.

The project involves optionally 3D printing a custom “Pyramid” enclosure with embedded diffusion lighting to represent the node’s “latent awareness.” You can use any container you like, but the pyramid is designed to be visually striking way of separating the antennas enough that they wont interfere with each other while also clearly communciating what the nodes actually do.

Key Features:

• Distributed Sensing: Multiple nodes contribute to a single global map.
• 3D Printed Enclosure: A specialized semi-transparent pyramid design (8” base) with magnetic latches.
• Hardware: ESP32-S3 and CC1101 modules.
• Open Source: All code and 3D models are available on GitHub.

Build List

These are the primary components required to build a single node. These are affiliate links.

• Sparkly semi-transparent purple PLA filament ($19.99)
• I used an AD5M Pro 3D printer which is 10/10. Fully enclosed and filtered. 220x220x250mm build volume. Very easy to use. ($379)
• ESP-32 3-pack with IPX MHF1 connector ($17.99)
• CC1101 module 3-pack ($22.99)
• IPX MHF1 to SMA Cable 5-pack ($8.29)
• Jumper wires (male-female) (there are infinite options here but there are what i used) ($6.98)
• Heltec v3 Meshtastic Node (optional, any meshtastic node with IPX MHF1 connector will do) ($21.99)
• GY-NEO6MV2 GPS Module (optional) ($9.99)
• 2.4ghz wifi antenna 4-pack (optional, any wifi antenna with SMA connector will do) ($8.69)
• 915mhz antenna 2-pack (optional, any 915mhz antenna with SMA connector will do) ($9.99)
• SMA Extensions 2-pack (optional, but its going to hard to fit everything without these $6.99)
• Self-advesive breadboard (optional) $8.99

Source Code

Full design documentation, OpenSCAD models, and firmware source code are available in the repository.

Visit Project Site

CJ Streams

The official calendar of all the live streams including CJ.

All my streams from now on will be held on Twitch. View The Calendar Here

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The High Desert Institute

Building a foundation for the survival of humanity.

Get Involved: GoFundMe: Help Us Build the Cyberpony Express GoFundMe: Help Us Buy Land Join the Discord Always-free Substack

Follow along: Website Bluesky Youtube TikTok

Learn more at the website: High Desert Institute

CJ's Meme Library (Revamped!)

A vast library of tens of thousands of memes spaning decades of collection and curation. More features coming soon.

The Code: The library’s contents are generated by a Jupyter notebook. You can read the documentation and check out the code here; The Jupyter

BWB/SF

Burners Without Borders in the SF Bay Area is working on disaster preparedness and response.

Get Involved: Several new projects being announced soon!

Follow along: Bluesky

Backs up tiktok accounts in case of disasters.

My new homelab architecture

Independent, flat media nonprofit featuring progressive, intersectional perspectives on current events.

All the tools and skills you need for your AI toolbox.

A recorded livestream discussion on ethical issues in generative artificial intelligence featuring CJ Trowbridge, Future Inifinitive, and The Real Cornpop.