Published September 3, 2025 © Apache-2.0

SkySense - The Perfect Flying Laboratory

A flying laboratory equipped with everything you need. : ESP32 Cam, BME680, and Wio Tracker L1 Series. Perfect for any occasion.

IntermediateWork in progress24 hours29

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Seeed Studio Wio Tracker L1 Series

One for the ground station and the other for the laboratory

Esp32cam

Micro SD

Seeed Studio Grove - Temperature, Humidity, Pressure and Gas Sensor (BME680)

Battery 1860 3.7V

Jumper wires (generic)

Machine Screw, M3

Machine Screw, M2

Hot Air Balloon

Rope 1m

Software apps and online services

Autodesk Fusion

Arduino IDE

Meshtastic

Fritzing.

Hand tools and fabrication machines

3D Printer (generic)

Soldering iron (generic)

Hot glue gun (generic)

Story

What is SkySense?

Everyone has found themselves staring at the sky at least once in their lives, as if completely alienated. Since I was a child, I loved observing the summer sky, especially at night. As I grew older, my interest embraced the scientific world, and at the "WOW" a child exclaims, I moved on to asking questions, but my love for the sky and space remained the same.

SkySense was born from this love. A small laboratory connected to a hot air balloon to answer some of those questions.

How is it built?

To build SkySense, I used simple components. An ESP32 CAM to take photos at different altitudes and save them to an SD card, a BME680 module that allows me to obtain temperature, humidity, and pressure data, and finally a Wio Tracker L1 Series, which, thanks to its LoRa connectivity, allows me to send the recorded data to the ground station along with the capsule's position via GPS. Finally, SkySense will be powered by a 3.7V 1860 Lipo battery that provides about 4 hours of battery life.

Observe the internal structure of SkySense thanks to this video

ESP32 CAM: It's a small card from the ESP family equipped with a small camera and an SD card reader. It allows you to take photos at regular intervals and save them directly to the SD card.
BME680: It's a simple sensor that allows you to obtain temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure data. I chose this sensor for connectivity with the Seed board thanks to the Grove connector that allows for a quick and secure connection.
WIO TRACKER L1 SERIES: This board is the true brain of SkySense. Thanks to the Grove connector, it receives data from the BME sensor and sends it to the ground via LoRa connectivity. It also features a GPS module to receive the Capsule's real-time position during ascent. The board also has a solar power connector, which could be used in future versions of SkySense.
BATTERY: To power everything I used a 3.7V 1860 LiPo battery which allows for about 4 hours of autonomy on a full charge.

I connected all the components together according to this diagram.

The Structure

To design the SkySense structure, I used Autodesk Fusion 360. The structure features a screw-on lid that houses the specially organized electronics. To connect everything I used several M2 and M3 screws.

The capsule has two holes, one for the ESP camera and the other for the downward-facing LoRa antenna. At the top and bottom, there are four connectors for attaching the balloon in various ways, or for tethering the capsule to the ground using a tether in initial tests.

You can download all the 3D models from the attachments below.

The Future Steps

To complete my project, once I have the Seed board, I will purchase a weather balloon and run some tests. An initial test will be with the Capsule connected to the ground by a 20-meter tether, followed by a final, completely untethered test. I will update this project later.

Custom parts and enclosures

Sketchfab still processing.

Schematics

Code

ESP32CAM Code

#include "esp_camera.h"
#include "FS.h"
#include "SD_MMC.h"

// ESP32-CAM AI-Thinker pin definition
#define PWDN_GPIO_NUM     -1
#define RESET_GPIO_NUM    -1
#define XCLK_GPIO_NUM      0
#define SIOD_GPIO_NUM     26
#define SIOC_GPIO_NUM     27

#define Y9_GPIO_NUM       35
#define Y8_GPIO_NUM       34
#define Y7_GPIO_NUM       39
#define Y6_GPIO_NUM       36
#define Y5_GPIO_NUM       21
#define Y4_GPIO_NUM       19
#define Y3_GPIO_NUM       18
#define Y2_GPIO_NUM        5
#define VSYNC_GPIO_NUM    25
#define HREF_GPIO_NUM     23
#define PCLK_GPIO_NUM     22

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.println("Starting ESP32-CAM...");

  // Camera configuration
  camera_config_t config;
  config.ledc_channel = LEDC_CHANNEL_0;
  config.ledc_timer   = LEDC_TIMER_0;
  config.pin_d0       = Y2_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_d1       = Y3_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_d2       = Y4_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_d3       = Y5_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_d4       = Y6_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_d5       = Y7_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_d6       = Y8_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_d7       = Y9_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_xclk     = XCLK_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_pclk     = PCLK_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_vsync    = VSYNC_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_href     = HREF_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_sscb_sda = SIOD_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_sscb_scl = SIOC_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_pwdn     = PWDN_GPIO_NUM;
  config.pin_reset    = RESET_GPIO_NUM;
  config.xclk_freq_hz = 20000000;
  config.pixel_format = PIXFORMAT_JPEG;

  // Resolution and quality
  config.frame_size = FRAMESIZE_SVGA;  // 800x600 (try UXGA, VGA, QVGA...)
  config.jpeg_quality = 12;            // 0-63 (lower = better quality)
  config.fb_count = 1;

  // Initialize camera
  if (esp_camera_init(&config) != ESP_OK) {
    Serial.println("Camera init failed!");
    return;
  }

  // Initialize SD card
  if (!SD_MMC.begin("/sdcard", true)) { // true = 1-bit mode (more stable)
    Serial.println("SD Card Mount Failed!");
    return;
  }

  if (SD_MMC.cardType() == CARD_NONE) {
    Serial.println("No SD Card detected!");
    return;
  }

  Serial.println("Initialization done!");
}

void loop() {
  // Capture photo
  camera_fb_t * fb = esp_camera_fb_get();
  if (!fb) {
    Serial.println("Camera capture failed!");
    return;
  }

  // Create unique file name
  static int photo_num = 0;
  String path = "/photo_" + String(photo_num++) + ".jpg";

  // Save to SD
  fs::FS &fs = SD_MMC;
  File file = fs.open(path.c_str(), FILE_WRITE);
  if (!file) {
    Serial.println("Failed to open file for writing!");
  } else {
    file.write(fb->buf, fb->len);
    Serial.printf("Saved file: %s (%u bytes)\n", path.c_str(), fb->len);
  }
  file.close();

  // Return the frame buffer back to the driver
  esp_camera_fb_return(fb);

  // Wait 15 seconds
  delay(15000);
}

Credits

pasquale887

4 projects • 8 followers

SkySense - The Perfect Flying Laboratory

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

What is SkySense?

How is it built?

The Structure

The Future Steps

Custom parts and enclosures

Base Capsule

Capsule Lid

Internal Structure

Schematics

Diagram

Code

ESP32CAM Code

Credits

pasquale887

Comments

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SkySense - The Perfect Flying Laboratory

SkySense - The Perfect Flying Laboratory

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

What is SkySense?

How is it built?

The Structure

The Future Steps

Custom parts and enclosures

Base Capsule

Capsule Lid

Internal Structure

Schematics

Diagram

Code

ESP32CAM Code

Credits

pasquale887

Comments

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