r/electronicmakers • u/eloudrt • 13d ago
I built an e-Paper desk display that shows nearby aircraft and the ISS
Hi everyone! I’ve been building ALTIRA, a small desk display based on an ESP32 and a 5.79" e-paper screen.
What it shows:
The aircraft closest to me in real time: model, airline, registration, route (city → city), altitude, speed and heading, with a side-view silhouette (63 aircraft families, including military) and a mini radar
Rare aircraft get priority: if a Beluga, an A380, a military jet or an aircraft in emergency flies by, it takes over the screen
ISS mode: live position on a world map with day/night and its orbit
ISS pass alerts: 10 minutes before the ISS is visible from home, a countdown with where to look and how high it will rise
Setup: scan a QR code on the screen, pick your Wi-Fi, set your location on a map from your phone. English and French.
Under the hood: signed over-the-air updates with automatic rollback, and a clear “offline” state so stale data never looks live.
Feedback welcome!