ESP32 Inventory Manager ,wot i did in 5 Days

Day 1 — inspiration

I started this project because I was getting tired of forgetting where I kept my electronic components. I have around 230 modules and sensors, and searching through all those pouches every time I need something is honestly annoying.

So I decided to build an inventory manager using an ESP32 and an OLED display. The idea was to search for a component and get its exact location instead of digging through everything manually.

I also wanted to add a few things I’d actually use at my electronics bench, like timers, Pomodoro sessions and a clock. What started as a simple inventory tracker was already turning into something bigger.

Day 2 — Getting the keypad and RTC working

I worked on the keypad interface and RTC integration. For text input, I wanted something similar to the old Nokia phones, where pressing a key multiple times lets you enter different letters. It makes searching through hundreds of components much easier without needing a full keyboard.

The RTC was a different story. Initially, the ESP32 couldn’t communicate with it, and I thought the module might be faulty. Turns out, I’d swapped the SDA and SCL connections. After fixing that, I got it working, but the time was still incorrect. I had to set it properly and replace the nearly dead coin cell.

At least it wasn’t a dead module. Just my wiring.

Day 3 — Making the battery last longer

Once the main hardware was working, I started looking at power consumption. The ESP32 was constantly running its main loop, updating things even when I wasn’t interacting with the device. Not ideal for something powered by a 2,200 mAh battery.

I started optimizing the loop and implementing light sleep so the ESP32 could spend less time actively processing when idle. The RTC handles timekeeping independently, which helps avoid keeping the ESP32 awake just for the clock.

There’s still room for improvement, but getting the power management sorted out was an important step.

Day 4 — Organizing the inventory

I worked on the inventory system using LittleFS for local storage. This means the component data stays on the ESP32 itself instead of depending on an internet connection or an external database.

The plan is to keep track of component names, locations, quantities and lending status. With around 230 components to manage, having everything searchable in one place makes a real difference.

I also wanted the device to be more than just a storage database. Having inventory search, timers, Pomodoro sessions and a clock together makes it much more useful on my electronics bench.

Day 5 — What’s next?

Looking at the current build, there are still plenty of things I want to improve. The SSD1306 OLED works fine, but its small size is becoming a limitation. A TFT display would give me more space for a better interface.

The bigger idea, though, is voice control. I’m planning to experiment with an INMP441 microphone so I can eventually give commands like asking the device to locate an OLED or update the inventory when I borrow a component.

Of course, plugging in a microphone won’t magically turn the ESP32 into Jarvis. Wake-word detection, speech recognition and command processing will all need work.

For now, I’m happy with how far the project has come. It’s still a work in progress, and every new feature seems to introduce another problem to solve. That’s pretty much how my electronics projects go.