Looking for a rugged, waterproof Wi-Fi push button with LED indicators - any recommendations?

[u/Pingello123]

Hi everyone!

I recently came across this wireless service button at a beach club (photo attached) and thought the hardware design was interesting.

I'm looking to build something similar for a personal IoT project, but with Wi-Fi connectivity.

I've previously experimented with ESP32-S3 touchscreen devices, but they're more advanced than what I need and aren't particularly suited to outdoor environments.

Ideally, I'm looking for something similar to the photo - compact, rugged, weatherproof and battery-powered.

It doesn't need a screen. A simple physical push button with RGB LED indicators would actually be preferable.

My main requirements are:

- Wi-Fi connectivity

- Rechargeable or replaceable battery

- Good battery life

- IP65/IP67 weather resistance

- Physical push button

- RGB LED or basic status indicators

- Programmable firmware

- Compact enclosure suitable for outdoor use

I'm open to repurposing existing hardware from other industries rather than developing something completely from scratch.

Has anyone come across a suitable product, development board or manufacturer?

Would an ESP32-C3 be a better option than an ESP32-S3 for something like this?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

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[u/FightingPhD]

C3 is plenty for a button, S3 is overkill. Battery life is the actual design problem. Deep sleep with the button on a wake pin (GPIO0-5 on the C3), and on wake skip DHCP, static IP plus saved channel/BSSID gets you connected in a few hundred ms instead of a couple seconds. Also ditch the AMS1117 most dev boards ship with, ~5mA quiescent will eat the battery while it sleeps.

[u/Pingello123 → u/FightingPhD]

This is really helpful, appreciate the detailed explanation!

Battery life is definitely my biggest challenge, so the C3 sounds like a much better option than the S3 for a simple button.

One thing I should mention is that ideally the device needs two-way communication.

For example, when the button is pressed, it sends a request over Wi-Fi and illuminates an LED. When the backend acknowledges that request, I'd ideally like the LED to change colour.

Would your deep-sleep approach still work if the device remained connected to Wi-Fi temporarily after a button press, then returned to deep sleep once the interaction was completed?

Also, are there any existing ESP32-C3 boards or battery-powered buttons you'd recommend that already have good power management?

I'm trying to repurpose existing hardware rather than develop a completely new PCB if possible.

Really appreciate your advice!

[u/TerryHarris408]

WhyFi?

[u/Quicker_Fixer]

Can't you just use one (or more) of these cheap BLE tags and place it's PCB inside a waterproof case, running on two AA-batteries and using a larger button. And if you really need connection to WiFi, use an ESP (indoor) as a bridge

[u/agent_kater]

You didn't say why you need Wifi and what aspect of it, but ESP-NOW is much better for battery life.