Physical computing – wireless tutorial

Decibel monitor/VU-meter with ESP32, FastLED and Adafruit IO

You’ll learn how to easily TX with Arduino. Monitor noisy location dB with peak hold and decay, display on a NeoPixel RGB LED ring with FastLED, and transmit to Adafruit IO. The peak hold and decay code logic also very much suits PPM or VU audio meter builds.

While the electronic circuit is usually very straightforward, the “magic” in physical computing projects happens always in the code. So, please see the GitHub link to the BOM, the schematic, and extensively commented code that you can easily adapt and recycle in your own projects. Often, there’s a useful code concept or code snippet that you can use for an entirely different design, because it’s a fundamental principle.

If you want to learn about good soldering, this seven minute vintage video is still the best of them all.