smokeybandit87/universallabengine

UniversalLab Engine is a project for hobbyists who own one of the cheap 200-in-1 electronics kits and want to turn it into something closer to a real microcontroller lab. It runs on an ESP32 board and adds a menu-driven interface plus a set of built-in tools on top of the basic kit hardware. The core idea is a small operating layer, called the Engine, that handles the LCD display, button input, and menu navigation. On top of that sit individual Tools, self-contained modules for things like GPIO testing, analog to digital conversion readings, signal generation, and sensor readouts. A shared Libraries folder holds reusable code and third-party dependencies that the tools rely on. Everything is configured through a single file, config.h, where pin mappings, which sensors are attached, and which features are turned on or off are all defined in one place. The project is built so new tools can be added by registering them, without needing to change the core engine code, which keeps the codebase organized as it grows. It is designed primarily for the ESP32 Dev Module but should work with other Arduino-compatible boards with some adjustment. Supported hardware includes an I2C LCD screen, DHT11 or DHT22 temperature and humidity sensors, basic analog sensors like light-dependent resistors, and four navigation buttons for menu control. To get started, you can use either the Arduino IDE, after installing ESP32 board support and the ESP32 by Espressif Systems package, or PlatformIO in VS Code, which the README recommends for more advanced, multi-file development. Once a board and port are selected, you open one of the provided sketch files, compile it, and upload it to the ESP32. The project is written in C++ and released under the MIT License, so it is free to use, modify, and redistribute. It is aimed at electronics hobbyists and makers who already have a 200-in-1 kit and want to extend it with programmable, modular tools rather than sticking to its stock analog circuits.