Embedded & IoT · Intermediate · 1–2 weeks
ESP32 Air Quality Station
A connected sensor node that measures CO₂, PM2.5, temperature, and humidity, and streams readings over MQTT to a live dashboard.
- ESP32
- C++ (ESP-IDF or PlatformIO)
- MQTT
- InfluxDB
- Grafana
Features
- Sensor drivers over I²C and UART with calibration
- Deep-sleep power management for battery use
- MQTT with reconnect and local buffering during outages
- Over-the-air firmware updates
- Dashboard with thresholds and alerts
Bonus: A custom PCB designed in KiCad and a 3D-printed enclosure, shown in photos in the README.
Embedded & IoT · Advanced · 2–3 weeks
PID Motor Controller on FreeRTOS
A closed-loop DC motor speed and position controller on an STM32, with a desktop app for live plotting and tuning.
- STM32
- C
- FreeRTOS
- Quadrature encoder
- Python (PyQt, pyqtgraph)
Features
- Encoder reading using hardware timer peripherals
- PID loop running at a fixed rate in its own RTOS task
- Serial protocol with framing and checksums
- Desktop GUI with live plots and gain sliders
- Host-side unit tests for the control logic
Bonus: An auto-tuning routine (relay or Ziegler–Nichols) with a before/after step-response plot.
Embedded & IoT · Advanced · 2–3 weeks
FPGA Game Console with VGA Output
Pong or Breakout built entirely in hardware with Verilog, driving a VGA monitor straight from an FPGA board with no CPU at all.
- Verilog or SystemVerilog
- Vivado or Quartus
- Basys 3 or DE10-Lite board
- Verilator
Features
- VGA timing generator for 640×480 at 60 Hz
- Sprite drawing and collision logic in hardware
- Debounced button input and a score on the seven-segment display
- Testbenches with automated waveform checks
- Clean module hierarchy with resource and timing reports
Bonus: Sound effects generated in hardware through PWM audio output.
Games · Advanced · 2–3 weeks
Multiplayer Arena with Real Netcode
A fast top-down browser arena game with an authoritative server, client-side prediction, and lag compensation, so it feels smooth even at 150 ms ping.
- TypeScript
- HTML Canvas or Phaser
- Node.js
- WebSockets
Features
- Authoritative server running at a fixed tick rate
- Client-side prediction with server reconciliation
- Entity interpolation for other players
- Lobby and simple matchmaking
- Built-in network simulator with latency and packet-loss sliders
Bonus: A replay system that records inputs and plays back any match deterministically.
Games · Intermediate · 2–3 weeks
Procedural Roguelike with ECS
A turn-based dungeon crawler with procedurally generated levels, built on an entity-component-system architecture.
- Rust + Bevy
- or C# + Godot
- WebAssembly build
Features
- Seeded dungeon generation using BSP or cellular automata
- Entity-component-system architecture for all game objects
- Field of view and A* pathfinding for enemies
- Items, inventory, and save/load
- A playable web build published on itch.io
Bonus: A daily seeded challenge where everyone plays the same dungeon.