Crafting Perfection: PowerPotters’ Quest for the ACDC Craftsman Badge

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Greetings, wizarding developers and tech sorcerers! ✨

At Team PowerPotters, we take pride in our meticulous craftsmanship. From modular code design to robust CI/CD pipelines and seamless hardware integration, every aspect of our solution reflects a dedication to excellence. Today, we unveil the full spectrum of our development practices as we humbly submit our case for the ACDC Craftsman badge.

🪄 The Cornerstones of Craftsmanship

1. Modular Python Code for Seamless Integration

Our potion production system relies on a trio of well-structured Python scripts, each dedicated to a specific task:

  • sensor_script.py: Captures real-time data from ultrasonic sensors, seamlessly integrating with our IoT platform.
  • voice_script.py: Powers AI-driven voice recognition using the OpenAI Whisper API, enabling potion masters to command the system verbally.
  • integration_script.py: Acts as the conductor, tying sensor data and voice commands into cohesive workflows with Power Automate.

This modular structure ensures clarity, maintainability, and scalability, allowing individual components to be refined or extended independently.

Best Practices in Python Development:

  • Error Handling and Logging:
    Detailed try...except blocks ensure stability by gracefully handling errors, while comprehensive logging captures critical information for troubleshooting.
  • Mocking for Testability:
    Using a GPIO mock module, we simulate sensor behavior during testing, enabling rapid iteration without needing access to physical hardware.

🧙‍♂️ 2. Automating the Magic with GitHub Actions

To ensure our hardware remains ready for action, we created a GitHub Actions workflow that automates ESP32 firmware updates.

ESP32 Firmware Deployment Workflow:

  • Triggering the Workflow: Commits pushed to the main branch automatically initiate the firmware update process.
  • Code Checkout: The workflow uses the actions/checkout@v3 step to pull the latest code onto the runner.
  • Installing Dependencies: The esptool Python package is installed to enable communication with the ESP32.
  • Flashing the ESP32: The firmware is flashed using a shell command:
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
 
jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: self-hosted
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
      - name: Install Python dependencies
        run: python -m pip install esptool
 
      - name: Flash ESP32
        run: |
          python -m esptool --chip esp32 --port COM3 --baud 115200 write_flash -z 0x1000 .pio/build/esp32dev/firmware.bin

This process ensures fast, accurate, and automated firmware updates, reducing the risk of errors and saving time.

Why This Workflow Matters:

  • Automation: Eliminates manual steps, ensuring reliable and repeatable firmware updates.
  • Hardware Integration: Bridges the gap between software and IoT devices using a self-hosted runner for direct ESP32 access.
  • Scalability: Adaptable for multiple ESP32 units, making it a powerful tool for future growth.

✨ 3. CI/CD Pipelines: From Development to Deployment

Our CI/CD pipelines exemplify best practices in automation, ensuring smooth transitions from development to production:

  • Pre-Build Pipeline:
    A smart script starts the build box and waits for the service to become available before initiating the express build, which performs a simplified build without syncing.
  • Full Build Pipeline:
    If the express build succeeds, the full build pipeline is triggered. Success activates a webhook to:
    • Notify a Teams channel about the new release.
    • Trigger the upload of the package to the target environment.
    • Automatically deploy the package, ensuring rapid access to new features.

This pipeline streamlines the entire development lifecycle, ensuring efficiency and reliability at every step.

🧙‍♂️ 4. ALM Magic: Consistency in Customizations

Our Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) practices ensure clarity and structure across all customizations:

  • Naming Standards: We prefix all artifacts with Ad (Application Development) to maintain consistency. Examples:
    • AdCustGroup_Frm_Extension: Form extension for CustGroup.
    • AdCustGroup_Frm_dsCustGroup_fldGroupId_Extension: Field extension for CustGroup data source.

These conventions create an organized and easily navigable codebase, critical for large-scale projects.

🔮 Why We Deserve the ACDC Craftsman Badge

Our development practices embody the principles of the ACDC Craftsman badge:

  1. Modular, Maintainable Code: Python scripts are well-structured and adhere to best practices, ensuring long-term scalability and clarity.
  2. Automation Excellence: CI/CD pipelines and GitHub Actions workflows eliminate manual steps, streamline deployment, and reduce errors.
  3. Consistency and Standards: Rigorous ALM practices, including naming conventions and structured customization, reflect our commitment to professionalism.

🐍 Crafting a Legacy of Excellence

From clean code to seamless deployment workflows, we’ve poured our hearts into creating a solution that reflects true craftsmanship. With every detail carefully considered, we humbly submit our case for the ACDC Craftsman badge.

Follow our journey as we continue to innovate and enchant ACDC 2025: acdc.blog/category/cepheo25.

#ACDC2025 #ACDCCraftsman #PowerPotters #AutomationMagic #CI/CDPipelines

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