u/Ok_Stress3654

My sister and I have been working on a small open-source project built around an ESP32.

The idea was simple: instead of another tiny black ambient light sensor on the desk, why not turn it into something that actually looks like part of the workspace?

So we built LumaBloom.

The light sensor is hidden in the center of the flower and continuously measures ambient light, while the desktop application adjusts the brightness of all connected monitors over USB.

My sister wrote the firmware and desktop software, while I designed the hardware and the fully 3D printable enclosure.

Current features:
• ESP32-based
• USB connection
• Ambient light sensing
• Automatic brightness adjustment
• Supports multiple monitors
• Fully 3D printable enclosure
• Customizable petal and pot colors
• 100% open source

We're still adding new features and would love to hear ideas from the ESP32 community.

If you were building something like this:
- Which light sensor would you choose?
- Would you add wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi/BLE) or keep USB-only?
- Any features you'd like to see?

GitHub:
https://github.com/mkdsfm/LumaBloom

This is KAST, a small wearable device based on an ESP32-S3 board with a 1.69" LCD, physical buttons and battery power. In my case, the firmware works as a knitting row counter, but the enclosure can be reused for other small wearable electronics projects.

The full enclosure was designed in Fusion 360. The model includes a front case with a screen opening, back cover, button pushers, strap holder, strap fastener and the internal ESP32-S3 board placement.

I tried to make the device easy to assemble and modify. The enclosure is split into separate printable parts, so the design can be adapted for other boards, sensors or small wearable projects by changing the internal layout and firmware.

The strap is designed as a soft silicone part, not as a rigid printed part. I used Shore 40A silicone because I wanted the device to feel more like a wearable product rather than just a 3D-printed electronics box.

One of the most interesting parts was designing a mold for casting the silicone strap. The mold itself is intended to be 3D-printed and then used for silicone casting. It worked for this prototype, but I don’t think the mold design is very successful for repeated reuse yet, so I would really appreciate critique and ideas on how to improve it.

Although KAST is currently a knitting assistant, the same enclosure concept could be used for other wearable ESP32 projects: counters, timers, small remotes, BLE devices, sensor modules or custom handheld/wrist-mounted tools.

Thingiverse:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7372245

GitHub with CAD files, firmware, BOM and assembly notes:
https://github.com/Nikolay-Tyulkin/KAST

I would appreciate feedback on the enclosure design, strap attachment, silicone casting approach and 3D-printable mold design.

I made KAST — a small wearable knitting assistant for my wife.

It is based on a Waveshare ESP32-S3-LCD-1.69 board and uses ESP-IDF + LVGL. I wanted to make something more tactile and personal than a phone app: a small standalone device with a screen, physical buttons, battery power and a soft strap.

Main features:

• ESP32-S3 + 1.69" LCD
• ESP-IDF firmware
• LVGL UI
• physical + / - buttons for row counting
• universal button for start / pause / resume / finish
• battery percentage on screen
• 3D-printed enclosure
• silicone strap cast in a 3D-printed mold

The main challenge was making the UX simple enough for non-technical use: no menus, no Wi-Fi, no setup — just power on, start a session and count rows.

For future revisions, I’m planning to add detachable strap connectors so different straps can be swapped more easily. I also want to improve battery life with smarter power management, better sleep modes, display/backlight control, and more accurate battery calibration.

I’m also considering a simple statistics screen, better low-battery warnings, prebuilt firmware binaries for easier flashing, improved enclosure ergonomics, more strap options, and a cleaner internal wiring layout. BLE may be added later, but only if it does not make the device harder to use.

GitHub with firmware, CAD files, BOM and assembly notes:
https://github.com/Nikolay-Tyulkin/KAST

Thingiverse:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7372245

Demo video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uReX32vW19Y

I would appreciate feedback on the firmware structure, button UX and power-management ideas.