Elecrow Companion Cube

A DIY smart desk clock built on the Elecrow CrowPanel ESP32 1.28" Round Display, inspired by Huy Vector's Smart Cyber Clock V2 and shaped like a Portal Companion Cube.

Displays real-time clock, temperature, humidity, air quality (eCO2/TVOC), with an onboard buzzer alert for dangerous CO2 levels. Time is maintained by a hardware RTC (BM8563) with battery backup — no network required after initial sync.

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Features

• Real-time clock via BM8563 RTC (coin cell backup, survives power loss)
• NTP sync on first boot to set the RTC (France / GMT+2 CEST)
• Air quality monitoring: temperature, humidity, eCO2, TVOC via ENS160 + AHT sensor
• CO2 danger alert via onboard buzzer
• Round 240×240 IPS display with clean sensor dashboard
• Fully offline after initial WiFi sync

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Hardware

Component	Details
Main board	Elecrow CrowPanel ESP32-C3 1.28" Round Display
Air quality sensor	ENS160 + AHT21 combo module
Display	GC9A01 round IPS 240×240 (onboard)
RTC	BM8563 with CR927 coin cell (onboard)
Buzzer	Passive buzzer (onboard, IO3)

See BOM.md for full bill of materials with links.

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Wiring

The ENS160+AHT sensor connects directly to the BM8563 RTC pads on the back of the board:

Sensor pin	Board pad
SDA	BM8563 SDA (IO4)
SCL	BM8563 SCL (IO5)
VCC	3.3V
GND	GND

All three devices (BM8563, ENS160, AHT) share the same I2C bus.
See wiring.md for detailed soldering instructions and I2C addresses.

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Software

Requirements

• Arduino IDE 2.x
• Board: ESP32C3 Dev Module (esp32 by Espressif Systems 2.0.14+)
• USB CDC On Boot: Enabled (required for Serial Monitor)

Libraries

Install via Arduino Library Manager:

Library	Purpose
Arduino_GFX_Library	GC9A01 display driver
I2C BM8563	RTC chip
Adafruit AHTX0	Temperature & humidity
ScioSense ENS160	eCO2 & TVOC
Adafruit BusIO	I2C/SPI dependency

Configuration

In Arduino/CompanionCube.ino, set your WiFi credentials before uploading:

const char* ssid     = "your_wifi_name";
const char* password = "your_wifi_password";

The timezone is set to France (GMT+2 CEST):

configTime(2 * 3600, 0, ntpServer);

Adjust the multiplier if needed (e.g. 1 * 3600 for winter CET).

Once the RTC is synced from NTP on first boot, WiFi is disconnected and the clock runs fully offline.

ENS160 status

The ENS160+AHT sensor is enabled via a #define flag at the top of the sketch:

#define ENS160_READY false  // set to true once sensor is soldered

When false, the display shows simulated sensor values labeled (fake).

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Project Structure

Elecrow-Companion-Cube/
|   .gitignore
|   BOM.md
|   LICENSE
|   README.md
|   wiring.md
|
+---3DModels
|       Angle.stl
|       Body_plate.stl
|       CrowPanel ESP32 Display1.28_asm.stl
|       CrowPanel ESP32 Display1.28_asm.stp
|       Edge.stl
|       Heart_insert.stl
|       Heart_medal.stl
|       Weighted_Companion_Cube.stl
|
+---Arduino
|       CompanionCube.ino
|
\---Docs
        CrowPanel ESP32 Display 1.28(R) Inch_V1.0_240507.brd
        CrowPanel ESP32 Display 1.28(R) Inch_V1.0_240507.pdf
        PCB_BM8563.png
        PCB_BM8563_pinout.png

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License

MIT — see LICENSE

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Credits

Original design concept by Huy Vector. Original Companion Cube by Poh Remixed Companion Cube by Nuk1591