ESP32 Dual OLED Motion Visualizer

“Simplicity is not the absence of complexity, but the clarity of its arrangement.”

---

Project Overview

A fully simulated embedded system built around the ESP32-C6, the MPU6050 IMU, and two SSD1306 OLED displays operating on a shared I2C bus. Developed entirely within the Wokwi simulator, this project demonstrates real-time motion tracking, sensor data visualization, and display coordination without needing any physical hardware.

---

Visual Demo

Below are snapshots of the simulation running in Wokwi, showcasing the dual OLED interface:

Figure 1: Real-time 2D joystick-like motion visualization on OLED.

Figure 2: Sensor telemetry output shown on OLED .

Key Features

• Dual Display Interface:
  • OLED 1 (Left): Visualizes orientation as a 2D joystick-like dot, representing pitch and roll.
  • OLED 2 (Right): Outputs filtered sensor telemetry — accelerometer (g), gyroscope (°/s), temperature (°C), and orientation (degrees).
• Shared I2C Line Handling: Three I2C devices (2 OLEDs + 1 MPU6050) work seamlessly using distinct I2C addresses on GPIO 21 (SDA) and GPIO 22 (SCL).
• Live Sensor Processing:
  • Raw sensor values are scaled, filtered, and formatted for readability.
  • Derived pitch and roll calculated using basic trigonometry on accelerometer values.
• Display Timing Arbitration:
  • OLED updates are intelligently paced to maintain readability.
  • Sensor data polling occurs at a faster rate, ensuring responsiveness.
• Modular, Extensible Code:
  • Clear separation between sensor logic, display rendering, and loop timing.
  • Fully customizable rendering styles and telemetry formats.

---

Technical Breakdown

➤ Sensor Input (MPU6050)

• Interface: I2C
• Functions Used:
  • getAcceleration()
  • getRotation()
  • getTemperature()
• Smoothing Technique:
  • Simple moving average over multiple reads to reduce jitter.
• Orientation Computation:
  • Pitch = atan2(Ax, sqrt(Ay² + Az²))
  • Roll = atan2(Ay, sqrt(Ax² + Az²))

➤ Display Logic

• OLED 1:
  • Maps pitch and roll angles to X,Y dot position on screen center (64x32 origin).
  • Dot reflects tilt direction and magnitude.
• OLED 2:
  • Displays:
    • Acceleration (X, Y, Z)
    • Gyro rates (X, Y, Z)
    • Pitch & Roll angles
    • Temperature
  • Uses Adafruit_SSD1306 text mode with mono 6×8 font.

➤ I2C Coordination

• Bus Lines:
  • SDA: GPIO 21
  • SCL: GPIO 22
• Addresses:
  • MPU6050: 0x68
  • OLED 1: 0x3C
  • OLED 2: 0x3D (configured in software)

➤ Timing Strategy

• Sensor Polling: Every ~50ms
• Display Updates:
  • OLED 1 (Dot visual): Every ~100ms
  • OLED 2 (Textual): Every ~250ms
• Non-blocking Loop Design: No use of delay(), instead uses millis() time checks.

---

Hardware Simulation Setup

Component	Description
ESP32-C6 DevKit	Central microcontroller (Wokwi supported)
MPU6050 IMU	6-axis motion sensor with accelerometer + gyro
SSD1306 OLED (x2)	128×64 monochrome I2C displays
Tactile Button	Connected but unused (future interaction potential)
I2C Lines	Shared SDA (GPIO 21) and SCL (GPIO 22)

---

Potential Extensions

• Gesture Recognition Engine
• Serial/Bluetooth Telemetry Streaming
• ESP-NOW or Wi-Fi Based Remote Monitoring
• Physical Deployment on Wearables or Robotics
• Tilt-Based Game Controls / UI Input
• Data Logging on SD Card or Cloud

---

Developed entirely in Wokwi — no physical hardware used.
Built with clarity, not complexity.

Created by Hariom Sharnam