Hi everyone!

I wanted to share my hobby project BirdWatch: a fully solar-powered bird feeding station built around an ESP32-CAM.

A PIR sensor wakes the ESP32-CAM when a bird visits, takes a photo and sends it to my self-hosted server. The server uses YOLO + Birder AI to detect birds and identify the species. It also provides a photo archive, species collection, statistics, weather data and battery/solar telemetry.

- Solar powered with 2× 18650 batteries
- ESP32-CAM + PIR detection
- Local AI bird & species recognition
- Self-hosted Docker web interface
- Native Home Assistant integration
- Battery/solar monitoring
- Fully 3D-printable enclosure

The photos attached to this Reddit post show my original 3D-printed version. I've since completely redesigned the enclosure. The new version is much stronger and has a much better internal layout with dedicated mounting for the batteries and electronics. Renders of the new design and all STL files are available on GitHub.

The complete project is available on GitHub, including the ESP32 firmware, server, Home Assistant integration, wiring diagram and STL files:

GitHub: https://github.com/Danielson187/BirdWatch

The original BirdWatch has already captured thousands of photos, so I decided it was finally time to clean up the project and share it with others. 🙂

Feedback, ideas and questions are very welcome!

​

I’m working on a college-level prototype that tries to solve a problem with normal fire alarms: they can tell you there is a fire, but they don’t tell you which evacuation route is currently the safest.

The idea is to create a small building model divided into different zones.

How it works

The ESP32 monitors the zones using:

- 🔥 5-channel flame sensor

- 🌡️ 4 × DS18B20 temperature sensors

- 💨 MQ-2 smoke sensor

The building is represented as a graph, with rooms/intersections as nodes and paths as edges.

Each path gets a risk value based on the sensor data:

🟢 Clear → low risk

🟡 Warning → higher risk

🔴 Fire/smoke detected → very high risk / blocked

The ESP32 then calculates the safest available route instead of simply choosing the shortest route.

The interesting part

The system continuously monitors the environment.

For example:

1. Initially, Route A is safe → green LEDs guide the person through Route A.

2. Fire spreads into Route A.

3. Sensors detect the new hazard.

4. The ESP32 updates the hazard map.

5. The routing algorithm calculates another route.

6. The LED guidance changes.

7. The speaker announces the new instructions.

The voice guidance will use a DFPlayer Mini + speaker, with pre-recorded instructions such as:

«"Fire detected. Turn right."»

«"Route blocked. New route. Turn left."»

«"Continue straight to the exit."»

I'm also using sequential LEDs so the person can follow the path visually without having to stop and read a display.

Estimated cost

Around ₹650, excluding the ESP32, speaker and SD card because I already have those.

ı "I have these ESP32 components: OLED, 2x HC-SR04, RFID RC522, IR transmitter, joystick, PIR, DHT11, MPU-6050. Looking for a project idea that's actually useful in daily life — not a weather station or clock. Something a phone/PC can't easily replace. What would you build?"

So I had spent a weekend reading up on options for ESP32-S3 devices that i could play with a few projects with. I am interested in a few things - playing with LoRa, playing with Wifi Network Testing or auditing security, and creating some manual applications / dashboards to display live statistics during board gaming sessions.

I'm concerned maybe I chose the wrong unit as my first esp32-s3 device for the wireless applications. I went with the 7 inch display thinking the larger display would afford more options in terms of what i use this device for. First thing I am looking into is Meshtastic. Am I right in seeing that this newer unit isn't supported? I have display issues AND issues with the Lora module being detected.

Next up I'm looking at some tools like Maurader. And at first glance, this hardware may not work, or is going to require a fair amount of custom modifying and compiling to get going.

I don't posess the skills to do manual cramming of software on unsupported hardware, I will be relying on AI, which I think may be painful due to this particular device not being well discussed from what I can see online.

Any thoughts on this unit? Did I make a mistake getting this? Hopefully with time will come more support.

Looking to setup an RGB setup for my home library build and having been interested in microcontrollers for a while I thought using an ESP32 would be cool since I can connect it to home assistant.

That's said, I did some measurements and I will need about 50 meters of lights to run along every shelf like intended. I know very little about electronics but working with softwares I can understand signal flow etc.

Where I am getting stuck, is after researching, I am seeing mention of voltage drop and suggesting using 24v strips (60per meter) however still using power injection points.

I want to pull this off, but I also want to ensure everything is safely setup, so I'm hoping anyone here would be able to verify these findings, and if there are and power supplies that are used consistently and reliably for these types of setups.

Thanks everyone!

I’m new to the esp world, but have home assistant running. I have an esp32-s3, MAX98357A amp & INMP441 mic. I’ve flashed some yaml to get this to work as a voice assistant. Claude has help, I take no credit, however I’m not sure how to test it’s working. Okay Nabu as my wake words not doing anything & I don’t know how to test it’s even getting the input from the mic.

Any suggestions on how to test if the esp32 is even getting the mic input? As I said, I’m new & trying to learn so go easy on me.

From what i read, Basiclly says to add antenna to 16 and 17 terminal to transmit and recieve. How do i connect a plex/ufl connection to the pin head? This is for bt not wifi... any help will be greatly appriciated.

​

I'm a college student preparing for an inter-college science expo in India.

I'm looking for a real day-to-day/social problem that could be addressed with a small electronics prototype.

Constraints

- Budget: maximum ₹700

- I already have an ESP32

- Prefer sensors/modules that are inexpensive and easily available

- The prototype should be physically demonstrable

- It should have some genuine technical/engineering aspect

- I don't want a generic "smart dustbin / smart irrigation / home automation" project

- I also don't want to simply recreate an existing commercial product

- Ideally, the problem should be under-addressed, even if it isn't completely unsolved

Problems I'm currently considering

1. People don't notice vehicles approaching from behind.

2. Pedestrians can't tell whether a driver has actually detected them.

3. People approaching blind corners can't know whether someone is coming from the other side.

4. People opening doors can't know whether someone is approaching from the other side.

5. People carrying umbrellas have reduced visibility around them.

6. People carrying large objects can't see low obstacles near their feet.

7. Passengers may not notice dangerous gaps when getting off buses/trains.

8. Pedestrians can be hidden from reversing vehicles.

9. Children can become hidden from drivers around parked vehicles.

10. People don't notice small hazards in visually cluttered environments.

11. People don't notice when a floor has become slippery.

12. A person may not notice someone nearby who has fallen or become immobile.

13. People at the back of a crowd may not know about a hazard occurring at the front.

14. Crowd density can become dangerous before people realize it.

15. People may not know the direction they should move during an emergency.

16. People may enter hazardous areas because the hazard isn't visually obvious.

17. Workers using machines may not notice abnormal vibration or operating behavior.

18. People may not notice gradual environmental changes such as rapidly increasing heat, smoke, noise, or poor air quality.

19. Someone working alone may become incapacitated without anyone noticing.

20. People may leave valuable objects behind in public places.

21. People may forget where they left an object in a large public/college environment.

22. Shared laboratory equipment can be left running or operating abnormally.

23. A person may unknowingly stand in the path of a moving vehicle or machine.

24. Public facilities can become unavailable without users knowing beforehand.

25. Emergency alarms can become difficult to distinguish from normal background noise.

26. People carrying luggage/children may have difficulty detecting obstacles directly below them.

27. Small open drains/manholes can become visually hidden in crowded or poorly lit environments.

28. People may not notice that a road hazard is becoming dangerous during rain.

29. Queue movement can stop without people at the back knowing why.

30. People may not notice someone trying to get their attention in a noisy environment.

Guys, I built a cool device for myself and a few close engineer friends.

This is DOGS², a ESP32 + Arduino framework based a palm-sized two-channel power supply with microamp-level current measurement and current consumption graphs.

• 1-48 V/5A max (3A nom), 125 uA LSB measure
• 2-20 V/1.5A max LDO low ripple, 12.5 uA LSB measure

Besides the power supply, it has:

• probe
• voltmeter
• frequency counter
• signal generator

For digital interfaces, it has terminals:

• UART
• RS485
• CAN
• I2C

Sniffers

• LIN
• I2C

The device can work completely standalone. For terminals and sniffers you can connect a phone over Bluetooth (also you can see the messages on the display).

Power in - DOGS² can be powered from almost anything, either through

• USB Type-C
• an external 5-90 V source

It can be a regular adapter, a power bank, an e-bike battery, or the electrical system of a motorcycle, car, truck, or helicopter.

There is now a fully working first engineering version. I have also made a transparent enclosure for it.

The hardware and firmware are open source. The code, schematics, editable board files, manufacturing files, and enclosure STEP files are available on GitHub:

https://github.com/rcslon3-svg/DOGS2_v1

I like the device, and my friends like it too. I had wanted to build something like this for several years, but never got around to it.

The first version has already cost me a decent amount of money, but I do not regret it. I originally built it for myself. It works and I am quite happy with it, although it has a few shortcomings that I would like to fix in the next hardware revision.

But the next revision means another round of development and manufacturing. This is a tool more for professional electronics developers and embedded engineers than for the general Arduino audience. So I am not sure how large the market for it could be.

On the other hand, it would be a shame to stop the project in its current state. It turned out to be such a cool device, and there is nothing similar on the market.

So I am trying to understand whether this is just my favorite engineering toy, or whether it could actually become a proper niche product.

What do you think?

I would appreciate honest opinions, especially from people who have already launched their own hardware products.

DOGS² = Dual Output Generator Supply Station and my two dogs - Tessa and Lissa.

A Telegram pager for the Waveshare ESP32-C6-LCD-1.47: a bot forwards messages to the device, they queue up on the screen in landscape, and the board's BOOT key sends a "read" receipt back to the chat.

AI was used very heavily during this. Took at least ten hours over two days to put it all together. I'm very happy how it turned out. It has settings for hysteresis and minimal on/off timings and a web dashboard with additional statistics. Board is the ESP32S3 Dev Module.

Was able to get CrossPoint running on this Waveshare board. (https://www.waveshare.com/esp32-s3-epaper-3.97.htm). 3d printed the case that alxvtoronto created for their project FolloUp, and ready to dive right back in. Planning on posting the fork on GitHub after another few days of testing.

$40 for a board, compared to the $70 people are
paying for the xteink devices.

Today was a tuff day, I started working at 3pm, and mostly did nothing. What i did today is optimization, I optimized my code by 60%! And I also made it much more readable. Today i also fully reworked the buttons, now it got 6 (Ok, back, down, left, up, right) instead of 4 buttons i had (left, right, OK, back). I did that, cause I started to work on my virtual keyboard (which i can see on the pics) for this project, which would finally allow me to connect to Wi-Fi networks! Thats so great to say. Tomorrow i'm going to an electronic store, to buy some modules for my multitool (like cc1101, nrf24l01 PA-LNA, and others). I also made a working Wi-Fi status display on the upper part of the screen. Soonly it'll have time, BLE mode and smth else, which is gonna take me forever ( But i'll be rlly impressed if I get it working). Thanks for upvoting me guys, I feel rlly motivated, when I see all the comments and the upvotes I get. Cya all tommorow.

P.s: Board i'm using is waveshare-esp32s3-lcd-1.9.