Cases and complete kits to build your own now available on my Etsy store!

I sell a variety of 3d printed goods, meshtastic radios, pwnagotchi / minigotchi kits and various electronics kits / accessories on Etsy, always trying to add more. If you like the models I've made, maybe you can find something on my store to help support the work.
Thanks! https://magicgrowingshop.etsy.com

This is a housing and build instructions for an ESP8266 powered Minigotchi, based off the excellent minigotchi project from here.

https://github.com/dj1ch/minigotchi

Printing the case is simple. Print the base flat on the bed screen opening down, print the top of the case vertical (bottom side down). No supports needed, no problems printing. Clean it up a little and I use hot glue to hold all the parts in place.

If you want this to be portable and build it exactly like I have, here are the parts used. Everything except the Li Ion protection boards from my etsy is available for much less if you order from aliexpress and wait a few weeks.

ESP8266 D1 Mini

Wemos D1 Battery Shield

SSD1306 .96" Oled displays, all basically the same.

Power switch, these are awesome switches, get them.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086L2GPGX

1000mAh makerfocus battery, great batteries and price

Li Protect board, used as an interface for battery and circuit, I use one of these on every lithium battery project I build. Great to have and dirt cheap.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1743333017/lithium-ion-and-polymer-battery

On the li protect and battery shield, I snip off the JST connectors to save space (not shown in all pics). This housing is tiny and barely fits everything inside.

Line up the pin headers on the battery shield and esp8266 and solder them all together. Make sure you orient the boards the same way as the photos and line up the 3.3v and gnd pins so it actually works.

Unsolder the pin header from the oled screen, and connect to the correct pins on the esp8266 with fairly short wires. There's a little room for wiring in there, but keep it clean.
You need to connect 3.3v VCC and GND to the matching pins on the 8266, and SCL and SDA to pins D1 and D2 on the 8266, look at the pictures and the github if you aren't sure. I'm not here to teach soldering!

Connect gnd from where the battery terminal was on the D1 battery shield to the CHG side of the Li Protect pcb, connect the VBAT positive side through the power switch and to the PCB as seen in the pictures. Connect the battery to the BATT side of the Li Protect PCB. I had 1.25mm jst plugs on hand, but you can either adapt the connector or solder the battery directly to the board. Up to you!

Plug the 8266 into your computer, use the arduino IDE to flash the minigotchi software to the board. It should all power up and work as soon as it is flashed. You can get help on the github or the pwnagotchi reddit sub, please don't message me here for help.

Slide the screen into place and lock it down with a dab of hot glue (or filament pen). Then install the switch, slide the boards into place to line up the USB port with the hole in the top case. Tuck the battery in and close it up!

Thanks! Enjoy the build and carry this little guy along with your pwnagotchi or on its own. Battery life is real good with this, almost a day per charge.

This product uses the Minigotchi software developed by dj1ch. The software is open-source and available under the GPL license. You can find the project page and source code at the minigotchi GitHub page. The Minigotchi software is built on the foundation of various open-source projects, including the original Pwnagotchi project and other contributions from the open-source community. We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of these developers, which allows us to offer this product. Please refer to the GitHub repository for more detailed information and attribution.