The ESP family of microcontrollers is an extraordinary ally when it comes to creating all sorts of projects. We’ve previously shared basic ideas like Tiny Internet Clock and explored the concept of a weather clock, but this time we come across the Makestreme channel on YouTube, where we find GUS, a desktop companion that simulates emotions to report details such as air quality and temperature.
There is always room to recycle or reuse devices. An old smartphone turned into a radio, a tablet working as a flip clock, and even an old CRT TV can come back into action. However, we have at our disposal a wide availability of inexpensive microcontrollers that allow us to create new things without burning budgets or suffering (too many) headaches. All we need is to find the right project, and with the weekend just around the corner, I think the GUS weather companion is an excellent candidate:
GUS: Reporting Air Quality with 'Emotions'
The essence of GUS is divided into five components: a miniature ESP32-C3 module, an ultracompact 1.12-inch OLED display (SH1107 or similar), a touch sensor, a temperature and humidity sensor (combining DHT22 and AM2302), and an air quality sensor. The creator of GUS, Makestreme, took advantage of the Seeed Studio ecosystem to interconnect all modules with minimal friction, but nothing prevents us from exploring alternative solutions.
Now, most projects are limited to presenting numbers on the screen, but GUS has a pair of eyes that communicate the state of our environment with four levels. When values are optimal, GUS is 'alert', but if the sensors detect air pollution, excessive temperature, or too much humidity, GUS will gradually close its eyes. To know more about the background values, you just need to touch the sensor on top of its head.
By far, the most complicated part of GUS is the code loaded into the ESP32, but fortunately Makestreme has already done the heavy lifting for us, and by using local sensors, it doesn’t need to connect to the Internet (USB is for power). All files, including the STL files to print GUS’s body, are located below.
Access the files: Click here
Source: Hackaday
