Dev log · Jun 2026 · draft sample post
One module powers the whole catalog — so getting it right is the highest-leverage thing I do. Here's how the electronics came together as three small boards.
Every gadz.tech product — the lamp today, the shelf next — is built on a single light module: twelve accent LEDs for color and ambience, plus one 4-watt LED for real task light. Designing, sourcing, and writing firmware for one module instead of many is the whole trick. Every improvement here improves the entire catalog at once. draft copy
Rather than cram everything onto one crowded PCB, the module splits into three: an LED board, an MCU/power board, and a thin skin board. It keeps each board simple to manufacture and lets the turnkey assembler populate them without bespoke handling.
The constraint that shaped it: an ESP32 running WLED-compatible firmware, so nothing here locks the customer into us.
The controller is ESP32-class and stays compatible with vanilla WLED — a mature, open base with a real community and integrations into Home Assistant, Alexa, and Google. We add a design layer on top; the open layer is what guarantees the product keeps working for decades.
The exploded view — every part to design spec, boards rendered — is the next milestone, and it'll headline the lamp page. After that: measured finishing yields and a real cost-down pass on the electronics. draft copy