Skrivebord

Desk Controller

Open-hardware controller for a motorized (sit/stand) desk. A Seeed XIAO ESP32-C6 measures the desk height with a VL53L1X time-of-flight lidar and drives the desk's up/down motor lines until it reaches a requested height, exposed over a small WiFi web server.

skrivebord is Danish for desk.

The press-fit 3D-printed enclosure — sensor opening on top, ventilation slots on the front.

How it works

• The ESP32-C6 hosts an HTTP endpoint: GET /target?cm=<height>.
• On request it powers on the lidar, reads the current height, then holds the UP or DOWN line until the measured height reaches the target.
• Target height is clamped to a safe range (64–114 cm) and every move has a hard safety timeout, so the motor is never left running.

Repository layout

casing/ — enclosure files

esp_program/ — firmware

Building the firmware

1. Install the ESP32 board support (Seeed XIAO ESP32-C6) in the Arduino IDE.

2. Install the VL53L1X (Pololu) library via Library Manager.

3. Open esp_program/main/simple_up_down.ino and set your WiFi credentials:

   const char* ssid     = "XXX";   // <- your network
   const char* password = "XXX";   // <- your password

   Keep your real credentials out of git — leave the placeholders in the committed copy.

4. Flash to the board, open the serial monitor at 115200 baud to see the assigned IP, then move the desk with e.g. http://<device-ip>/target?cm=90.

Hardware

• Board / schematic / gerbers: open kicad_files/skrivebord.kicad_pro in KiCad 10. kicad_files/gerbers/desktop_control_v1.zip is the packaged fabrication output.
• Enclosure: print box_top.3mf and box_bottom.3mf and press-fit.

License

Released under the MIT License — free to use, modify, and distribute, keep the copyright notice. The bundled Seeed XIAO KiCad libraries under kicad_files/libraries/ remain the property of Seeed Studio.