Build a Smart Study Environment System: Create Your Intelligent Study Space With ESP32

Ever struggled to stay focused during study periods? Tired of manually tracking your study time? Want to create the perfect study environment automatically? This Smart Study Environment System is your solution!

Using an ESP32 microcontroller connected to various sensors and actuators, this system creates an intelligent study space that adapts to your presence and environmental conditions. It enhances productivity and comfort by automating various aspects of your study routine.

What This System Does:

1. Automatic Study Tracking: Detects when you're at your desk and logs study periods automatically—no manual input needed
2. Environmental Control: Monitors and adjusts room temperature with automatic air conditioning
3. Motivational Audio: Plays music when a study period begins to get you in the zone
4. Smart Drink Monitoring: Counts drink consumption to encourage healthy hydration habits
5. Dashboard Visualization: Provides real-time feedback through an Adafruit IO dashboard
6. Progress Notifications: Sends messages about your study progress

Watch the video below to see the system in action:

Click here to watch the video

Let's build your own intelligent study environment!

Hardware:

1. ESP32 Microcontroller
2. DHT22 temperature and humidity sensor
3. Ultrasonic sensor
4. IR LED and transistor (for AC control)
5. Light sensor
6. Blue LED
7. Breadboard and jumper wires
8. Mp3 Player
9. Speaker
10. Power supply (USB cable and wall adapter)

Software/Accounts:

1. Arduino IDE
2. Adafruit IO account (free tier works fine)
3. Required libraries:
4. PubSubClient
5. DHT sensor library by Adafruit
6. Adafruit Unified Sensor
7. IRremoteESP8266
8. ESP8266Audio
9. AudioFileSourceLittleFS
10. LittleFS

Before we dive into building, let's understand how the system works:

1. Presence Detection: The ultrasonic sensor monitors if you're at your desk. When you sit down and you are in study mode, the system automatically starts tracking study time.
2. Environmental Monitoring: The DHT22 sensor continuously monitors temperature and humidity. The system automatically controls your AC using IR commands when the temperature rises above a threshold.
3. Study periods Management: By monitoring your presence, the system differentiates between active study time and breaks. When you leave your desk, it automatically starts tracking break time.
4. Smart Drink Monitoring: A light sensor placed under your drink detects when you take a sip, encouraging regular hydration during study periods.
5. Cloud Integration: All data is sent to Adafruit IO via MQTT protocol, creating a dashboard to visualize your study habits.
6. Notifications: The system can send messages about your study progress.

Connect the components to your ESP32 according to the diagram.

Pin Connections:

1. Ultrasonic Sensor:
2. VCC → 5V
3. GND → GND
4. Trigger Pin → GPIO 16
5. Echo Pin → GPIO 17
6. DHT22 Temperature/Humidity Sensor:
7. GND → GND
8. Data Pin → GPIO 15
9. Blue LED (Study Mode Indicator):
10. Anode (+) → GPIO 18 (through a 220Ω resistor)
11. Cathode (-) → GND
12. Drink Sensor (Light sensor):
13. Connect one end to 3.3V
14. Connect the other end to GPIO 34 and to GND through a 10kΩ resistor (voltage divider configuration)
15. IR LED (for AC control):
16. Connect a 220Ω resistor to GPIO 32
17. Connect the resistor to the base of an NPN transistor (2N2222 or similar)
18. Connect the collector to 3.3V through a 100Ω resistor
19. Connect the IR LED between the emitter and ground (observe polarity)
20. Audio Output (I2S for MP3 player):
21. BCLK → GPIO 26
22. LRCLK (WS) → GPIO 25
23. DATA → GPIO 22
24. Connect the amplifier and speaker as per the ESP32 audio setup

Place your ESP32 on the breadboard.

Connect all sensors according to the pin layout above.

Create an account on Adafruit IO if you don't have one already.

Create the following feeds:

1. study-mode
2. study-timer
3. break-timer
4. drink-counter
5. temperature
6. humidity
7. air-conditioner
8. break-mode

Create a new dashboard and add:

1. Toggle switches for study-mode, break-mode, and air-conditioner
2. Gauge displays for:
3. Study timer (with max value of 600 minutes)
4. Break timer (with max value of 500 minutes)
5. Drink counter (with max value of 100)
6. Temperature (with max value of 100°C)
7. Humidity (with max value of 100%)

Your dashboard should look similar to the one shown above.

Make note of your Adafruit IO username and key, as you'll need them for the code.

1. Install Arduino IDE from arduino.cc
2. Add ESP32 board support:
3. Open Arduino IDE
4. Go to File → Preferences
5. Add https://dl.espressif.com/dl/package_esp32_index.json to the "Additional Boards Manager URLs" field
6. Go to Tools → Board → Boards Manager
7. Search for ESP32 and install
8. Install required libraries via Library Manager (Tools → Manage Libraries):
9. PubSubClient
10. DHT sensor library by Adafruit
11. Adafruit Unified Sensor
12. IRremoteESP8266
13. ESP8266Audio (for MP3 playback)
14. AudioFileSourceLittleFS (part of ESP8266Audio)
15. LittleFS (for file system)

The complete code is provided below. You'll need to customize a few parameters:

1. WiFi credentials:

const char* WIFI_SSID = "YourWiFiName";

const char* WIFI_PASSWORD = "YourWiFiPassword";

1. Adafruit IO credentials:

#define MQTT_USER "your_adafruit_username"

#define MQTT_PASSWORD "your_adafruit_io_key"

1. IR Remote Codes: The provided code includes sample IR codes for an AC unit. You may need to capture the specific codes for your AC unit:

const uint16_t acOnRaw[] = { /* your AC ON code */ };

const uint16_t acOffRaw[] = { /* your AC OFF code */ };

1. Create/Add the following additional files in your Arduino project:
2. sendMessage.h
3. AudioPlayer.hpp
4. AudioPlayer.cpp
5. The main code

Link to GitHub repository with all the files:

https://github.com/AvitalAmikam/Smart-Study-Environment

Setting Up Audio Files:

1. Create a "data" folder in your Arduino project directory
2. Find a motivational music track and save it as "study_music.mp3" in the data folder
3. Install the ESP32 Sketch Data Upload tool:
4. Go to https://github.com/me-no-dev/arduino-esp32fs-plugin and follow the installation instructions
5. Typically, you'll download the ZIP and extract it to the Arduino IDE's "tools" folder
6. With your project open in Arduino IDE, go to Tools → ESP32 Sketch Data Upload
7. This will upload all contents of the "data" folder to the ESP32's LittleFS storage

Setting Up Telegram Notifications with make.com:

1. Create a free account on make.com
2. Create a new scenario with these modules:
3. Trigger: Webhook (copy the webhook URL for use in the SendMessage class)
4. Tool: Set variable
5. Action: Telegram bot
6. Configure the scenario:

In the webhook module:

1. Create a webhook, and copy it to be the url.
2. This will be the URL used by the ClientSecure, with the string ?massege= appended to it.

In the Tool module:

1. Create a connection:
2. From the webhook to the tool.
3. Then from the tool module to the Telegram module.
4. Give the variable a name.
5. In its value, set up two message templates:
6. When message = 0: Study mode activated
7. When message > 0: Study mode ended, you studied for {{message}} minutes. Well done!

In the Telegram module:

1. First, you will need to create a new bot:
2. Go to Telegram BotFather and follow its instructions.
3. At the end, it will show you a message with a token.
4. Copy the token and paste it in the "Connection > New Connection > Token" field.
5. Then, copy the chat ID from the chat where the bot will send messages.
6. If you want to use it in a group, add it as an administrator to the group.
7. Paste the chat ID under the Chat ID field.
8. As the text, use the variable from the Tool module.

4.Save and activate your scenario.

5.Update the webHook URL in the SendMessage class with your make.com webhook URL.

1. Power up your ESP32 using a USB cable.
2. Open the Serial Monitor in Arduino IDE (set baud rate to 115200).
3. Verify that the ESP32 connects to WiFi and the MQTT broker.
4. Check your Adafruit IO dashboard to ensure data is being received.
5. Test each feature:
6. Sit at your desk and verify that study mode activates.
7. Move away from your desk and verify that break mode activates.
8. Check that temperature and humidity readings appear on the dashboard.
9. Test the AC control by changing the temperature threshold or using the dashboard toggle.
10. Test the drink sensor by placing and removing a cup.

Daily Usage:

1. Simply sit at your desk to start a study period
2. The system will automatically:
3. Track your study time
4. Monitor breaks when you leave
5. Control room temperature
6. Count your drink consumption
7. Play motivational audio when you begin
8. Monitor your progress on the Adafruit IO dashboard
9. Use the dashboard toggles to override automatic controls if needed

Customization Options:

1. Adjust threshold values in the code to match your preferences:
2. PRESENCE_THRESHOLD: Distance to detect presence
3. TEMP_HIGH_THRESHOLD and TEMP_LOW_THRESHOLD: Temperature range for AC control
4. Modify the study music to your preference
5. Add additional sensors or outputs:
6. Light level sensor to control desk lamp
7. Noise level sensor to detect distractions
8. Additional LEDs for visual feedback

Congratulations! You've built a Smart Study Environment System that automates your study space and helps you maintain productive study habits. This project brings together presence detection, environmental control, and data visualization to create a truly personalized and intelligent study environment.