AfterAI Flaps 🤖
AfterAI Flaps is a DIY split-flap display. It is extensible, so you can start from a single leader unit first, and connect more followers later.
Update: April, 2025
AfterAI Flaps is out of stock now. Please make use of the open source materials to build your own!
Awards
Our exhibits of AfterAI Flaps received the following awards!
- Editor's Choice Award at Maker Faire Bay Area 2024
- Maker of Merit Award at Maker Faire Rome 2024
Example Use Case
Yu-Gi-Oh! Life Counter with AfterAI Flaps
How to Assemble AfterAI Flaps
The drums of AfterAI Flaps sold at Maker Faire Tokyo 2024 need a bit of instant glue to firmly attach to the shaft of motor.
Rule of Unit ID
The leftmost unit must have ID 0, the other units must have IDs that increment by one as it goes to right.
How to Connect Your Device to Leader
AfterAI Flaps Leader offers Wi-Fi connectivity. On start-up, it tries to connect to a local area network. If it succeeds, it joins the LAN. This operation mode is called STA mode. If it fails to connect to a LAN, it fallbacks to AP mode. In this mode, Leader works as a Wi-Fi access point. Also, you can toggle these modes by long-pressing the ESP BOOT button.
stateDiagram-v2
STA: STA Mode
AP: AP Mode
[*] --> STA
STA --> AP: Fallback
STA --> AP: Long-press ESP BOOT
AP --> STA: Long-press ESP BOOT
STA Mode
You can get the current IP address by reading Morse code transmitted as flash of light. A short-press on the ESP BOOT button starts flashing an LED light on the Leader board to communicate the IP address. You can connect to the Leader by accessing the IP address from a device that is connected to the same LAN as the Leader.
| Letter | Morse Code |
|---|---|
| 0 | ----- |
| 1 | .---- |
| 2 | ..--- |
| 3 | ...-- |
| 4 | ....- |
| 5 | ..... |
| 6 | -.... |
| 7 | --... |
| 8 | ---.. |
| 9 | ----. |
| Non-Letter | No Signal Duration in Unit Duration |
|---|---|
| Between Letters | 3 |
| Between Words | 7 |
AP Mode
You should be able to find the SSID of the Leader from your device. The SSID is of form AfterAI_Flaps_XXXXXX. The IP address of the Leader is 192.168.10.123.
Web Console
The web console consists of five sections.
Clock Mode Instructions
- Connect AfterAI Flaps to your Wi-Fi router so that it can get the current time from the Internet.
- Set values in Wi-Fi Settings and restart the device from Operations.
- Connect to AfterAI Flaps from your computer. The IP address can be obtained by following the instructions in STA Mode
- Set Device Mode to clock
Source Code
The source code is available on GitHub.