You, too, can build this ESP32 e-ink display that shows the planes flying over your home

Credit: xDaftTurtle Published Oct 22, 2026, 2:24 AM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. Sign in to your XDA account Summary The Overhead Tesserae module draws live nearby flights on e-ink dashboards. Illustrations are painted from credited photos; pick from 26 drawing styles or show photos. Plane icons scale by wingspan; the larger the wings, the bigger the icon. The tinkering community has been very interested in what's in the skies around them lately. We've seen plenty of airplane trackers, and we've seen lovely e-ink displays that draw any birds in the vicinity. But what if you combined the two? Well, that's exactly what one person did, and you can download it for yourself if you like. Never miss a flight again Over on the ESP32 subreddit, user xDaftTurtle is back with another project. The last time we checked in on them, they got the Inky Impression running off a Pi Pico Plus 2 W on battery power, which was really impressive. This time around, they've made a module for their e-ink dashboard software, Tesserae, and this combines those cool bird picture frames with the planespotting projects that have been popping up. This one grabs public flight data for planes flying by a set distance from your home, then generates a little image of it on the display. The size of the plane image relates to the wingspan; the bigger the wings, the larger the image. Best of all, you can tweak how the planes appear: "The illustrations are painted once per airframe from a credited planespotters.net photo, then kept. You can pick from 26 styles (vintage airline poster, engraving, woodblock, risograph, pixel art and more) or write your own prompt. This one's watercolour, which is my favourite. There's also a mode that shows the photos themselves." If you'd like to learn more, check out the Overhead Tesserae GitHub page for all the details and instructions on how to set it up.