About My Project

Inspiration

The idea came from a common office problem: when I sit at my desk, I often cannot notice when someone approaches from behind. I wanted to create a small device that can improve privacy and awareness without using a camera.

What I Learned

Through this project, I learned how to combine hardware and software, including microcontrollers, sensors, USB communication, Bluetooth, and Windows applications. I also learned how to design a complete system from detection to user notification.

How I Built It

The project uses an ESP32-S3 microcontroller with a mmWave radar sensor to detect people behind the user. The device connects to a Windows computer through USB and sends signals when someone is detected. A desktop application processes the signal and provides notifications or triggers a customizable shortcut key.

The detection logic can be simplified as:

[ \text{Sensor Signal} \rightarrow \text{ESP32 Processing} \rightarrow \text{Computer/Mobile Alert} ]

Challenges

The main challenges were reducing false alarms, improving detection reliability, and making the communication between hardware and software stable. Finding the right balance between sensitivity and usability required many tests and adjustments.

This project helped me understand how a simple idea can be transformed into a practical IoT device.

Built With

• privacy
• safety