The Simplest ESP32 Flight Radar

Flight tracking projects are often built around a Raspberry Pi, SDR receiver, and external antenna. While those setups are powerful, they can also be expensive and intimidating for beginners.

For this project, I wanted to see how much could be done using only an ESP32-S3 and a small round display.

The radar connects to the OpenSky Network API over Wi-Fi and downloads aircraft positions around a configurable location. Aircraft are displayed on a smooth animated radar interface, complete with heading indicators, flight selection, and a dedicated details screen.

A rotary encoder makes it easy to browse nearby aircraft and inspect additional information such as altitude, speed, heading, and callsign.

The result is a compact desktop gadget that delivers the experience of a flight radar while using inexpensive and widely available hardware.

Features

• Live aircraft tracking using OpenSky Network
• Runs entirely on an ESP32-S3
• 240×240 round radar display
• Smooth radar sweep animation
• Aircraft movement prediction between API updates
• Aircraft selection using a rotary encoder
• Detailed aircraft information screen
• Wi-Fi configuration portal
• Affordable hardware with minimal wiring

See more details about the flights:

Acknowledgements

This project is based on the excellent Micro Radar project by Anthony Sturdy and adapts the concept to a simpler and more affordable ESP32-based hardware platform.

Micro Radar Project