
Welcome to the latest edition of the VoltJots newsletter, linking you to the very best electronics and IoT news, products, and projects.
Hope you enjoy! Until next week,
VoltJots
Meet MicroPythonOS, an Android-inspired operating system built entirely in MicroPython that turns your ESP32 into a touchscreen device with app support, Wi-Fi management, and OTA updates. The tutorial guides you from installation to creating a custom app on a Waveshare ESP32 touchscreen.
By capturing hand motions through a webcam, this setup uses OpenCV and MediaPipe to interpret gestures and wirelessly control a robot’s motors via Arduino Nanos and an nRF24L01 radio link, with an L298N driver handling the motor actions. The project’s open-source code focuses on simplicity and affordability for easy DIY builds.
Optocouplers often fail silently, but this easy-to-build tester lets you verify their internal LED and photosensitive output in seconds without complex tools or setups.
LightInk is an ESP32-based solar watch with a 1.54-inch e-paper display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LoRa, and GPS. It runs on a tiny 100mAh battery, using smart power management and solar energy to last up to 10 months without charging.
You’ll create a rotating ultrasonic radar using Arduino UNO Q, a servo, and an HC-SR04 sensor that scans distances and sends data to a Linux host, where Python and a web interface draw a live sonar animation in your browser.
An ESP32 Lite board scans for nearby Bluetooth devices and lights an LED when a registered device is detected, letting you press a button to unlock a door when you’re close enough.
This RP2354B-based board from Clintech keeps the Raspberry Pi Pico’s compact form while exposing all 48 GPIO pins directly on the PCB, letting you tap into the chip’s dual-core Arm and RISC-V power with no GPIO compromises.
This guide shows how to connect Elecrow’s CrowPanel e-paper screens to ESPHome via a custom driver that works with LVGL, letting you do partial refreshes, set full-refresh intervals, and trigger full updates manually, plus it includes a minimal example and a weather dashboard using OpenWeatherMap.
Using a Waveshare e-paper screen and a Pi Zero 2, the PiPaper Frame offers a calm, paper-like view of your daily info that blends into your space without glowing or buzzing.
This project walks through making a mechanical keyboard using Raspberry Pi Pico, including schematic design, PCB creation, QMK firmware development, and assembling the final product.
Using an ESP32 and a capacitive moisture sensor, this setup waters indoor plants only when needed, thanks to a relay controlling a 12V pump. The system runs off a 12V battery stepped down to 5V, with deep sleep saving energy for unattended use.
This guide shows how to create a wireless two-way communication link using Arduino paired with powerful 433MHz SX1278 LoRa transceivers.

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