Retro Smart Digital E-ink Alarm Clock

Retro Desk Clock

A retro-inspired desk clock. The clock combines a 3.7" e-paper display, addressable RGB LED strip, WiFi-synced time, live weather forecast, and a fully functional alarm system, all driven by an ESP32 microcontroller.

• E-paper display, 3.7" black and white WeAct Studio panel (GDEY037T03). Hour/minute layout on the left, 4-day weather forecast on the right.
• NTP time sync, connects to WiFi on startup and syncs time automatically via pool.ntp.org. No RTC module needed
• 4-day weather forecast, fetched from the Open-Meteo API. Shows day, max temperature, and weather condition. Refreshes every hour
• WS2812B LED strip, 10 addressable LEDs. Toggle on/off with the light button
• Alarm system, set alarm hour via potentiometer dial (fully left = off, right = hours 1–12). Toggle AM/PM with the snooze button while the alarm popup is visible. Small indicator LED lights up when alarm is active
• Snooze/dismiss button, press once to dismiss the alarm, or press during alarm setup to toggle AM/PM

Hardware:

Component	Notes
ESP32-WROOM-32 dev board (38-pin) (Mine: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006490116433.html)	Get one with a screw terminal breakout board; makes wiring much easier
WeAct Studio 3.7" e-paper B&W (GDEY037T03) (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009712001279.html)	Specifically the black/white version
WS2812B LED strip, 10 LEDs	Any density works
2x 12x12mm tactile buttons (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003727192340.html)
Passive piezo buzzer (12mm) (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005010400627387.html)	Must be passive, not active
Standard 5mm LED + 220Ω resistor	For alarm indicator
B20K potentiometer (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005723920782.html)	For alarm dial
USB-C 5V power supply
Jumper wires

Feel free to use any other components; those are just the ones I used.

Wiring

E-paper Display

Display Pin	ESP32 Pin
VCC	3V3
GND	GND
DIN	D23
CLK	D18
CS	D5
DC	D26
RST (RES)	D27
BUSY	D4

LED Strip

Pin	ESP32
VCC	VIN (5V)
GND	GND
DIN	D13

Other Components

Component	ESP32 Pin	Notes
Light button	D14 + GND	Diagonal pins
Snooze button	D33 + GND	Diagonal pins
Buzzer +	D25	Long leg
Buzzer −	GND	Short leg
Alarm LED +	D32	Via 220Ω resistor
Alarm LED −	GND
Pot left pin	GND
Pot middle pin	D34	Analog input
Pot right pin	3V3

Software Setup

Code: https://github.com/TaminoDesign/clock01

Libraries (install via Arduino IDE Library Manager)

• GxEPD2 by ZinggJM
• Adafruit GFX (installed automatically as GxEPD2 dependency)
• FastLED by FastLED
• ArduinoJson by Benoit Blanchon

Board Setup

1. Add to Arduino IDE > Preferences > Additional Board Manager URLs: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json
2. Install esp32 by Espressif Systems via Tools > Boards Manager
3. Select ESP32 Dev Module
4. Set Partition Scheme to Huge APP (3MB No OTA/1MB SPIFFS)

Before Uploading

Edit the top of index.ino:

 

cpp

const char* ssid     = "YOUR_WIFI_NAME"; const char* password = "YOUR_WIFI_PASSWORD";

Update coordinates in weatherURL for your location:

 

cpp

“?latitude=-36.4&longitude=174.7”

 

 

Let me know if you have any questions

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