Make a Home-made Network Clock With ESP32-E

A few days ago, I heard one of my friends say that he was going to move to a new house. So, I thought about giving him some gifts. I just got a new version of the Firebeetle ESP32 controller from DFRobot. The size of the new version is smaller than the old one, and it uses a type-c port.

Then, I decided to make a network clock. This production will be very simple, getting the time from the internet via the wifi of the ESP32, and then you need to find a screen that displays the time. There are many options for the screen, LCD1602 or LED monochrome dot matrix for splicing. I accidentally saw a VFD fluorescent screen before, it was green-blue when it was lit, and it glowed with white light, which makes the whole screen a mottled beauty. So, I am going to use it here.

1. Firebeetle ESP32-E

2. VFD fluorescent screen

3. Wires

Welding the ESP32-E board and the screen together.

1. Build the shell model

2. Use 3D printing to print out the shell. The cover on the back of the shell uses a 2mm acrylic sheet.

3. Fix the VFD and ESP inside the shell with hot melt glue.

4. Apply a little glue and close the lid.

1. Download two library files here first.

Time Library: https://github.com/PaulStoffregen/Time

Timezone Library: https://github.com/JChristensen/Timezone

2. Then change the wifi and password in setup () in the code at the end of the article to your own, and click burn.

Done. Personally, I love the display effect of this VFD very much. If you use a brown acrylic for the faceplate, it will have a display effect close to white. But I like the beauty of being able to see the internal structure, which looks complicated but organized.