Image Credit: GeneralAd552

Published 5 minutes ago

Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family’s go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech.

Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he has been working with it and its sister website, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity topics.

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Summary

• ESP32 powers a retro analog gauge, bringing steampunk charm to CO2 or other metrics.
• Uses automotive dashboard drive, custom gauge graphics, and an IKEA DEKAD clock repurposed.
• Open-source files and Tasmota support make it easy to build or adapt for other projects.

There’s something really cool about bringing older, retro tech into the modern day using an ESP32. It hasn’t even been a week since we covered someone turning a 1955 radio into an internet streaming station using the microcontroller, and I still think it was a very impressive project.

Now, someone on the ESP32 subreddit has posted a cool project that uses retro gauges as trackers for your smart home. And while this particular project uses one as a CO2 tracker, you can use it to keep tabs on pretty much anything you want.

Related

This ESP32-powered smart home analog display brings a little steampunk into our lives

And looks awesome to boot

Over on the ESP32 subreddit, tinkerer GeneralAd552 is showing off what they’ve been working on. It’s an ESP32-based system that can represent smart home metrics on a retro-styled gauge that you can make at home, and honestly, I don’t think I can go back to e-ink displays again after seeing this.

Here’s how GeneralAd552 describes the project:

Hey Folks, please checkout my new device. This is ESP32-based analog display. It was done to measure CO2 as a Christmas gift, but it can display whatever you need to.

It uses Automotive drive from dashboards. I also have merged patches into Tasmota to add support for such drivers, so you can now build your own easily.

If you’d like to see all the files, plans, and instructions for this project, head over to its GitHub page. For me, the biggest surprise with this project was learning that the gauge wasn’t something the creator bought as-is; it was actually made specifically for this project. If you don’t believe me, check out the assembly instructions; they include the ESP32 board, some custom graphics for the gauge, and even an IKEA DEKAD alarm clock that gets taken apart and its pieces repurposed for this project. Very cool stuff.

If you, too, enjoy seeing retro-styled devices with an ESP32 at its heart, you’re in luck. We at XDA also love seeing the old brought into the 21st century with a modern-day twist. For example, you can make this retro-style weather station with modern features using an ESP32. You can also check out this ESP32 handheld NES emulator someone made as their "first embedded project," which I’m still really impressed by. Seriously, if all my first projects turned out like that, I’d do a lot more tinkering, I think.