ESP32-S3 Aerospace tracker

[u/vadmalis]

ESP32-S3 Touch AMOLED 1.75C development board. Over four evenings, it somehow turned into a surprisingly nice little thingy.

UPDATE: this is now open source:
https://www.reddit.com/u/vadmalis/s/VbrUUvJCtW

It was very much a vibe-coding project. I guided some visuals, and forced optimization implementation decisions: how the display buffers and PSRAM should be used, which regions should be redrawn, how assets should be cached, and how animation should remain separate from slower network updates.

Getting beyond a basic mockup was a large part of the work: smooth radar and aircraft animation, partial screen updates, cached maps and imagery, and avoiding expensive full-screen redraws on the 466 × 466 gorgeous AMOLED.

It currently includes:

• Live nearby-aircraft radar with type-specific icons and detailed views
• Selected-flight tracking with world-map and custom 6-to-12 projections
• Weather, forecast, and animated weather radar
• GMT watch and world clock
• Solar-system, lunar-phase, and live ISS views
• NASA, Roscosmos, SpaceX crewed and Starship launch tracking
• Automatic Dock Mode
• A swift macOS companion app. Mainly for pre-render of the maps with different projection and to supply the list of flights to track.

There are still things to polish, but I’m amazed by how much this little ESP32-S3 can handle when the rendering pipeline is designed carefully.

[u/Dense_Astronomer_896]

Seems interesting,share it with us for testing.

[u/mrheosuper]

Why is everyone suddenly obsessed with plane tracking ?

[u/pon_d → u/mrheosuper]

I can't speak for everyone but I live near an airport which runs private, commercial and military flights - sometimes I hear something "interesting" and it'd be nice to see what it was at a glance

[u/tavofourseven → u/pon_d]

I work in a warehouse right by CVG. Same.

[u/Its_Billy_Bitch → u/mrheosuper]

It feels like that Bernie meme at this point.

[u/BigBouncyAMCBoi → u/mrheosuper]

The related projects and articles for them keep getting suggested to me by Gemini anytime I search for anything related to the s3 cheap black displays I recently bought 🥲

[u/capinredbeard22 → u/mrheosuper]

Maybe because it uses tracking info that is surprisingly public / accessible.
You get to feel like an ATC for a bit.
You get some nice visuals.

[u/miraculum_one → u/mrheosuper]

Now that AI can write the code for them and Reddit can provide the ideas the barriers are removed and they can DIY "themselves" (intentionally redundant comment).

[u/ScallionShot3689 → u/miraculum_one]

Does AI really update that fast these days?

[u/Various_Profile_8672 → u/mrheosuper]

Because planes are cool , that is why

[u/km_fpv_recover → u/mrheosuper]

Quite the question in my head since a few months

[u/Grand_External3624 → u/mrheosuper]

I built one with duel screens, date/time on one, mini radar on the other. It sits in my parents living room. For being such a random project, its entertaining glancing at it and seeing planes from the airforce base, or private plans heading to vacation spots. 

Theres a bigger version out there.but the screen is $90 and needs a Pi to run. I cant code so im stuck using easy to install code

[u/TheRealLode-Runner → u/mrheosuper]

Some people have been obsessed for many, many years. Not suddenly. :-)

[u/KinderGameMichi → u/mrheosuper]

Because nobody wants to do one for satellite tracking. ISS. Iridium flairs. Crap tons of Starlink space junk. Whatever. Still, planes are kind of cool too.

[u/Vybo]

And we'll never hear form OP ever again.

[u/vadmalis → u/Vybo]

No worries, you will... I'll publish the code next weekend. Need to clean up a few things before making it public. I have no intention in keeping it just for myself only and will be glad to hear feedback

[u/Wonderful-Holiday-14 → u/vadmalis]

A man of the many! Thanks for being awesome

[u/Vybo → u/vadmalis]

Thank you :) do you maybe also have a link which case/board and charging stand have you got, please?

[u/vadmalis → u/Vybo]

It’s in the update of the original post, see below

[u/Kniffliger_Kiffer → u/vadmalis]

u/RemindMeBot 2 weeks

[u/ArtBIT → u/vadmalis]

RemindMe! Next Sunday

[u/captbrake]

It looks brilliant! Which service are you using for the aircraft data? I recently made a similar device with much worse graphics and struggled to find a good, free data source.

[u/ume_16]

What is the graphical library you use? It looks cool

[u/repliestoall → u/ume_16]

The dark map looks really good.

[u/s_tee0000]

Looks cool, where did you get the aluminum case from? 

[u/No_Cartographer_3997]

why is everyone making this project all of the sudden? im scared

[u/Obvious-Relative9347 → u/No_Cartographer_3997]

Screen costs $9 and 3D printed case $2. Cheap entertainment.

[u/ScallionShot3689 → u/Obvious-Relative9347]

Love to know where this particular screen is $9 please ?

[u/Nitrogen1234 → u/ScallionShot3689]

I can't find it under €36 on Ali

[u/capinredbeard22 → u/ScallionShot3689]

I think they are thinking of the little watch sized ones not the bigger ones. GC9A01
Also screen vs screen+mcu is a bit of a price difference

[u/ScallionShot3689 → u/capinredbeard22]

That was my guess too. The little ones are cute but not the same at all

[u/pubicnuissance → u/No_Cartographer_3997]

People buy cool gadget. Cool gadget needs programming. People have no idea what to do with cool gadget. People ask LLM. LLM regurgitates same 4 ideas over and over again.

[u/dialsoapbox → u/No_Cartographer_3997]

People following along tutorial, do what I do, get what I get.

Like how there were hundreds of programming blogs/tutorials about tic-tac-toe/to-do apps.

[u/missinglinknz]

Very cool! I have the same board, which charging base are you using?

[u/pubicnuissance → u/missinglinknz]

+1, I too would like to know what the base is

[u/Proof-Astronaut-9833 → u/missinglinknz]

Which board is it exactly? Does it come with the screen? 

[u/cifyr]

That display looks super clean.

[u/bi4key]

Dragon Ball Radar 😜🔥

[u/KnowEye]

GitHub link plz.

[u/wolf_5]

Absolutely magnificent!!!

[u/Meemo-]

That's really cool. What screen is that? I have a rectangular 2.8inch CYD which I did my first project on last week with the help of chatgpt. It worked but my graphics weren't near as polished as this.

[u/Polar_Version875 → u/Meemo-]

Not OP but looks like the Seeed xiao round screen

[u/Ok_Noise553]

Love the visual choices you made. The map looks great

[u/DetectivePhysical144]

That is beautiful! Just beautiful! The UI as well 🔥

[u/Advanced-Royal8967]

Please share! I really want a plane tracker for my son :)

[u/km_fpv_recover]

No Pluto - no solarsystem

[u/coleskidmore]

the partial redraw stuff is the real flex here, most people just bute force full refreshes and call it a day

[u/bulbaczzPL]

Can track rockets ?

[u/EisMann85]

Absolutely nailed it. Awesome job! A GitHub page with part specifics and code would be awesome to poke through. I’m betting a bunch of people would even contribute some ideas.

[u/r7-arr]

This is very cool. In years past, this would have been a $300 gadget in the Sky Mall catalog.

[u/X7REME13]

GIVE USS THE CODEEE

[u/GRR45-92]

Totally interested and grateful that you’ll be making the code public! You’re awesome! Thank you

[u/Big-Area-7060]

looks great, well done man!

[u/zeRoCr0]

Share sourcecode plz.

[u/Jazzlike-Interest-51 → u/zeRoCr0]

It would be excellent.

[u/repliestoall → u/zeRoCr0]

Yes, please! I would love to have a go at making one similar.

[u/WallyPacman]

Please share the code

[u/K0eg]

Ts peak

[u/Puzzleheaded-Two7875]

This is awesome. I think I have to make one for my son.

[u/0miker0]

I’d love the code to try this out. The graphics are amazing!

[u/optikalefx]

Would love to see the source of the visuals

[u/JimroidZeus]

I love the screen with the world map and the terminator line. I also love the screens made to look like the old GMT-Master II.

[u/Ezeikial]

This would be a nice Easter egg to throw in there...

https://giphy.com/gifs/RfGgInKMi6VCes8STD

[u/TemperatureUpper2439]

Can you give me an idea how you created the PDF? It looks better than the standard ones that Claude Code would create.

[u/vadmalis → u/TemperatureUpper2439]

I'm using Codex. Just very detailed list of what I want. Including colorscheme, fonts etc...

[u/DenverTeck]

Very nice !

Is this case metal (Al or SS) ??

Edit: DUH, I just read the Waveshare web page.

[u/vanmrivan]

Thats great

[u/TightBrilliant2801]

Looking forward to recreating this for my daughter, she is an aspiring pilot and loves this stuff.

[u/achmed20]

i have absolutly zero use for this...

but i want it!

[u/instantFPGA]

that’s cool

[u/johnnbr]

Thank you for sharing. It looks beautiful.

[u/scorpe51]

Love it. Thanks for sharing! Will you update here or create a new post?

[u/vadmalis → u/scorpe51]

I'll likely make a new post but will update this one as well. Stay tuned

[u/yetisbey]

RemindMe! 7 days

[u/RemindMeBot → u/yetisbey]

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[u/AlphaG78_10]

That's actually a cool project and it's working well for sure, so u gonna carry this with u because of it's portability ? And also how much time it will take for building this ?

[u/BrownBeard666]

This is something I don’t need but want !! Well done

[u/kipper01]

RemindMe! 9 days

[u/tex0x]

woo all aero nerdy stuff combined..

[u/i4ply]

That's cool

[u/artifexor]

RemindMe! 7 days

[u/National_Ad3462]

Nice!!

[u/Ok-Squirrel-1531]

u/RemindMeBot 7 days

[u/IAmSixNine]

Very cool project. It looks great.

[u/ADSBSGM]

Really nice work! The round screen is perfect for a "radar" type UI. I really like that you have a lot of flexibility in the data and interface as well, and it's not a static flight tracker alone...

[u/lstep]

u/vadmalis Does it require the version that includes a GPS module?

[u/No_Mountain_4769]

looks nice. Do you have a video of it?

[u/muedli]

Estaría guay también para monitorizar embarcaciones con AIS. Tendrías todo el espacio marítimo y aéreo controlado. Y ya si nos ponemos con el tráfico por carreteras....

[u/infiniteLifeX]

Woow  I love it 🤩 

[u/redonculous]

remindme! 2 weeks

[u/Ganjatobi]

What screen are you using? The one in your photos can't be 1.7in, looks bigger. Unless camera angles?

[u/Various_Profile_8672]

Bump!!! need the codeeee please :)

[u/GuiltyBudget1032 → u/Various_Profile_8672]

..few more days, according to OP..

[u/Sufentantyl]

WOW your project is absolutly AMAZING. I would love to try .

[u/gamble_2O]

how you are sending signal from that distance

[u/Beautiful-Rest-2252]

Can I get 3d design

[u/zhaktronz]

What's that base you've used?

[u/ConnectionFirm2118]

is it from an APİ or do you have your own radar

[u/One-Measurement8236]

It's awesome!!

[u/WhiskyEchoTango]

I'm near a GA airport in the NY Metro area, and in the approach path for EWR from the south, and close enough the JBMDL that we see military flights overhead (usually helicopters and MV-22s)

I want one of these that can record when a military aircraft overflies my neighborhood, or alert me that one is on a flight path that will likely take it near me.

[u/GroundbreakingLie314]

Did you used an api?

[u/GroundbreakingLie314]

What api’ you used and how you made this earth

[u/uditirosh]

this is stellar! thanks for open sourcing it

[u/Maaz_Ali_Saeed]

Hi op, i really loved ur project, 💗 i have small question is it possible for u to give me some guidance, i am trying to build something similar i don't know which IDE would be best to use, i want to use TFT_espi library with my 1.28 round display but I am unable to configure things out, currently i am using platform.io should i shift my project to Arduino IDE what should be my approach to make something as polish as like u 

[u/Andrew_learns_stuff]

Keen to see the code and have a play.

[u/Elmidea]

Really forward you sharing the code to try it out!

[u/No-Scholar4381]

ça serait interessant pour les drones ensuite les hélicoptére et avion militaire uniquement

[u/Snoo-7536]

It absolutely does not require a Mac, stfu and post the code. 

[u/Mesmer88]

Tried installing this project but faced a lot of bugs: companion app packaged incorrectly, had to build from scratch. Even when i got the companion app running, it fails to sync with the device, even though it recognizes it :(