The ESP32 is an affordable and flexible microcontroller this is typically related to reasonable good house gadgets and small DIY units. However this sliver of silicon can do a lot more than you almost certainly concept, as evidenced by means of tasks that push the board to its restrict.
Host a internet server
HelloESP is a website online hosted on a $10 ESP32 building board with a paltry 520KB of RAM. First of all deployed in 2022, the venture exists to look how a long way an inexpensive microcontroller may also be driven. The unique design lasted 500 days prior to burning out, however in mid-2026, the venture creator rebuilt the venture, and it’s now up for all to look.
You’ll take a look at the temporary at the venture’s GitHub web page. The total invoice of fabrics contains the ESP32 DOIT DevKit V1, BME280 and CCS811 sensor arrays that acquire environmental information, a 128×64 OLED panel that presentations the server’s standing, a microSD card, and two LEDs.
The venture is totally open supply, and you’ll be able to construct one thing an identical your self. This looks like a venture you’d adopt for the sake of it slightly than a major try to host a website online, nevertheless it’s nonetheless an outstanding feat. The creator has carried out some type of redundancy by way of a Cloudflare Employee that displays an offline web page if the server is going down.
A polyphonic audio synthesizer with 80 voices
You don’t wish to know so much about synthesizers to needless to say the use of an ESP32 to energy an 80-voice polyphonic synthesizer with crystal transparent audio is an success. The ESP32Synth venture is in a position to rendering greater than 364 voices, however the documentation refers to this mode as “The Abyss” in that it leads to deficient latency, audio jitter, and different issues. Therefore, 80 is the secure restrict prior to issues get started falling aside.
For this venture, you’ll desire a dual-core ESP32 just like the vintage or S3 type (single-core C3s and S2s aren’t beneficial), an exterior digital-to-audio converter (DAC) that may interface with the board’s I2C pin, and a few working out of ways a synthesizer works with the intention to make track.
There are lots extra ESP32-powered synthesizers in the market, like MothSynth and esp32_basic_synth, however none that move somewhat as exhausting as this one (that I may in finding).
Responsive radar-powered predictive lighting fixtures
The ESP32 is frequently used to energy mmWave presence sensors within the good house, which might be necessarily small radar scanners that monitor the location of other folks with a prime level of accuracy. That is just right for feeding again into a wise house platform like House Assistant, to stop the lighting fixtures from going out whilst you’re nonetheless within the room (amongst different issues).
So what if it’s essential take information from a sensor, procedure it, after which use it to activate within sight LED lighting fixtures like some type of magic trick? It seems you’ll be able to, and you’ll be able to use a unmarried ESP32 board for either side of the equation, with a reaction time within the milliseconds.
Most likely probably the most spectacular of those examples is LightTrack-VISION due to the creator’s spectacular video demo posted on Reddit. This actual venture used an ESP32-C3 SuperMini and an LD2410B radar sensor, whilst the an identical AmbiSense venture (which has higher documentation) can be arrange to make use of a couple of ESP32s for extra accuracy.
Run native AI fashions with symbol popularity
One of the fascinating ESP32-powered good house tasks that I’ve noticed just lately is a magnetometer-based sensor that measures fuel and water meters. It’s extremely correct and senses motion within the mechanism that your software corporate makes use of, nevertheless it doesn’t precisely “learn” the meter.
However due to light-weight AI frameworks like Tensorflow Lite, you’ll be able to run an AI type on an ESP32 board with a digicam that reads a meter and pushes this knowledge again to a platform like House Assistant by way of MQTT.
The meter reader venture makes use of an ESP32-CAM module, however there are alternative ways you’ll be able to use this generation. One Instructables educational focuses extra usually on the use of an ESP32-S3 with an exterior digicam module for extra basic symbol popularity duties.
Set up a “actual” working machine with apps
In contrast to the Raspberry Pi, ESP32 microcontrollers don’t run a “correct” OS that you’ll be able to engage with within the conventional sense. As a substitute, you flash it with code, and it plays its process till you unplug it or flash it once more. However due to the paintings of a few very devoted folks, you’ll be able to now set up “correct” working methods on an ESP32 entire with apps.
Tactility and MicroPythonOS are two examples of this in motion. Every has a graphical person interface, integrated and exterior programs, app retail outlets, over-the-air updates, and beef up for touchscreen enter. You’ll set up them on presentations embedded with ESP32 microcontrollers just like the Affordable Yellow Show circle of relatives of gadgets and LilyGO good watches, or construct one thing your self.
Every may also be put in by way of a internet installer the use of a supported browser like Chrome.
In search of some simpler tasks? Listed here are seven ESP32 tasks you’ll be able to do in an hour.
