Deskbuddy

Deskbuddy is a compact ESP32-based smart desk companion built around a touchscreen display. The project combines 3D printing, simple hardware, and software to turn a raw ESP32 screen into a practical mini dashboard for your workspace.

Tested Board

This fork has been tested on the ESP32-2432S028R 2.8 inch touchscreen board, also commonly sold as:

• CYD / Cheap Yellow Display
• ESP32-2432S028R ILI9341
• 240 x 320 TFT display with XPT2046 touch

The working display configuration for this board is included in User_Setup.h:

• Display driver: ILI9341_2_DRIVER
• Display SPI bus: HSPI
• TFT pins: MISO 12, MOSI 13, SCLK 14, CS 15, DC 2
• Backlight pin: 21
• Touch pins: CS 33, IRQ 36, SCK 25, MISO 39, MOSI 32

If your screen stays white, make sure the included User_Setup.h has been copied into the installed TFT_eSPI library folder, replacing the library's default setup file.

Current Features

• Touch dashboard with Home, Weather, Notes, Status, and Setup pages
• On-device Setup page for brightness, city presets, live content mode, and Wi-Fi setup portal
• Browser settings page for notes, theme, widgets, location, timers, brightness, and content mode
• Weather from Open-Meteo
• Sunrise and sunset from sunrise-sunset.org
• KP index from NOAA
• Optional quote card from Quotable
• Optional technology headline from Hacker News Algolia
• GitHub Actions firmware build
• GitHub Pages Web Serial installer

Wi-Fi Credentials

Do not hardcode Wi-Fi credentials in the sketch.

Copy the example secrets file and edit it locally:

cp arduino_secrets.example.h arduino_secrets.h

Then set:

#define DESKBUDDY_WIFI_SSID "YOUR_WIFI_SSID"
#define DESKBUDDY_WIFI_PASS "YOUR_WIFI_PASSWORD"

arduino_secrets.h is ignored by Git so your network name and password are not committed.

Arduino Setup

Use the Arduino ESP32 board package and select:

• Board: ESP32-2432S028R CYD
• Partition scheme: Huge APP (3MB No OTA/1MB SPIFFS)
• Upload speed: 115200 if higher speeds fail

Install these Arduino libraries:

• TFT_eSPI
• ArduinoJson
• XPT2046_Touchscreen
• WiFiManager

Before compiling, replace the installed TFT_eSPI setup file with this repo's User_Setup.h.

On macOS with arduino-cli, the TFT_eSPI setup file is usually:

~/Documents/Arduino/libraries/TFT_eSPI/User_Setup.h

Notes

The firmware exposes a local web interface after the ESP32 connects to Wi-Fi. Use the serial monitor at 115200 baud to inspect boot logs and find the device IP address.

If Wi-Fi is not configured, open the on-device Setup page and tap the Wi-Fi card. Deskbuddy starts a temporary access point named Deskbuddy Setup; connect from a phone or computer and choose the desired Wi-Fi network.

GitHub Pages Installer

The workflow in .github/workflows/build-and-pages.yml compiles the firmware and publishes a Web Serial installer from the web/ folder when changes land on main.

The installer expects a generated merged firmware binary at:

firmware/deskbuddy-esp32-2432s028r-cyd.bin

GitHub Actions creates that file from the Arduino CLI build output.

Portfolio / Portfólio

• Live / Ao vivo: Deskbuddy
• GitHub: fernandofatech/Deskbuddy
• Author / Autor: Fernando Francisco Azevedo · LinkedIn · GitHub

PT-BR: Public fork tracked in Fernando Moretes GitHub portfolio. Este repositório público faz parte do ecossistema de portfólio de Fernando Moretes.

EN: Public fork tracked in Fernando Moretes GitHub portfolio. This public repository is part of Fernando Moretes' portfolio ecosystem.