What are some great ESP32 DIY pojects for Xmas gifts

Question

I'm getting into electronic hobby projects. I would really like to learn how to design PCBs, and work with verilog and FPGA. For now, I've ordered a bunch of ESP32. I would like to take the Holidays as an opportunity to do a few beginner/intermediate projects using the ESP32, I would like the projects to help me learn to pinning in, soldering, using breakout boards ect ect. Are their any cool Christmas gifts I can DIY with ESP32 that would also be great learning opportunities?

Terr_ · Accepted Answer

Probably not a boxable/repeatable Christmas gift, but my own ESP32 project involves decoding CAN-bus signals from my car, with the hope of using existing buttons and steering-wheel controls to trigger actions. (Unfortunately the messages I'm interested in any appear to be exposed on the OBD-II port, so some wire-surgery is required.)
When it comes to projects you can just box and give away, I my imagination runs towards singular home automation tasks, where some kind of sensor or timer controls power to an appliance, or which collect statistics or sends notifications.
I'd like to have something that automatically opened my window blinds in the morning (I have to close them at night due to light pollution) but that's more of a motor problem than a logic one.

visarga · Answer

I wasted a whole day setting up ESP32 on MacBook M3, failed, and put the board in the garbage bin. Will never try it again!