Stop letting old devices rot in a drawer and bring them back to life with the help of an inexpensive microcontroller and some code.The ESP32 is perfect for this task.Though some of these projects are quite involved, you’ll learn a lot along the way and develop the confidence you need to take on even more projects in the future.
The RotaryCell desk telephone conversion More than a weekend’s work, but worth it Not everyone has an old rotary telephone lying around, but some of you reading this will.Others will be able to get their hands on one fairly easily, either from a thrift store or by scouring Facebook Marketplace or eBay.That’s where the RotaryCell project comes in, allowing you to turn a relic of the past into a self-contained and powered portable cell phone.
One of the most intriguing parts of this project is the fact that the procedure is fully reversible, so you don’t need to destroy the telephone to pull it off.The project relies on a compatible rotary phone, a LilyGO T-A7670G-S3 board with an A7670 modem, a Silvertel AC1171-S subscriber line interface, audio and carrier PCBs, an antenna, and a power source.It’s not exactly a weekend job but more of an ongoing project, but there is ample documentation to keep you motivated throughout the build.
Once finished, you can basically make calls anywhere you can get cell signal—you even get a dial tone! reSpeaker for iPod docks and other older speakers Create your own smart speakers Close iPod docks were once all the rage, but in the years since Apple retired the proprietary connector (and the world moved on from listening to music stored on portable hard drives), these docks have essentially become E-waste.At the same time, smaller micro systems and other speakers can be brought into the modern age as smart speakers for controlling your smart home.The reSpeaker Lite is a two-mic array that includes an ESP32-S3, an on-board audio processor, and audio output.
It’s a voice assistant development kit that can recognize a wake word, process incoming audio, send it back to your smart home server (running Home Assistant), and even play audio back through a connected speaker.With a bit of fiddling and know-how, you can turn virtually any speaker system into a smart speaker or Bluetooth-enabled playback device.For example, if your speaker of choice has an auxiliary port, this is as simple as using the right cable.
If you have an iPod Dock that only includes a dock connector, you could use a cheap 30-pin adapter.reSpeaker Lite Brand Seeed Studio CPU ESP32-S3R8 The reSpeaker Lite Voice Assistant Kit includes a two-mic array, a pre-soldered XIAO ESP32-S3 controller, and an XMOS XU316 audio processor with onboard natural language understanding, interference cancellation, acoustic echo cancellation, noise suppression, and automatic gain control.Hooked up a 5W speaker, you can create your own local voice assistant that you can connect to Home Assistant via ESPHome.
$70 at Amazon $30 at Seeed Studio Expand Collapse BlueRetro for using modern controllers on retro game consoles Forget sourcing period-appropriate controllers Finding vintage gaming hardware is one thing; maintaining it is another.While old consoles and home computers can require their share of attention, for the most part they don’t consist of too many moving parts.The same cannot be said for retro controllers.
While gamers now have access to almost “drift-proof” Hall effect controllers that do away with potentiometers in favor of electromagnets, the pickings are slim when it comes to native support for vintage hardware.Thanks to projects like BlueRetro, it’s possible to use modern Bluetooth controllers on older hardware for improved reliability and comfort.The project has been technically archived, but this only happened last year, and the firmware isn’t going anywhere soon.
There’s also a detailed user manual to sink your teeth into, which includes instructions for building your own BlueRetro units (both HW1 and HW2 specifications) using an ESP32—complete with wiring diagrams and firmware downloads.Head to the main BlueRetro GitHub page to find a list of companies stocking ready-to-buy BlueRetro devices, as well as a list of projects that have forked BlueRetro and continued development (like the PS1 and PS2 receiver above).SerialChiller wireless converter for RS232 interfaces Modern interfaces for old hardware SerialChiller isn’t just the best name for an ESP32 project I’ve ever heard; it’s a wireless adapter for converting RS-232 devices.
Commonly known as the serial port, RS-232 was once a common choice for hardware of all kinds, from modems and network equipment to musical instruments and peripherals.Though USB has long replaced the standard, there are plenty of devices out there in the wild that still use it.SerialChiller is basically a framework for working with these devices, complete with a full web-based interface rather than just a simple wireless bridge.
The project is intended to allow those with older hardware to make use of it again, which will naturally require some expertise.One example of a project that uses SerialChiller is the DuinoDCX, a wireless controller for the Behringer DCX2496 loudspeaker management system.ESP32 microcontrollers aren’t the only devices that are great at making old hardware work again.
Check out how the Raspberry Pi can bring retro computers and other hardware to life again.
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