The planchette is a magnet moved by a servo arm sweeping across letters on a ~180 degree arc. Take your ESP32, a servomotor, cardboard, some magnets, and the spirits do the rest.


I am sharing this project I did some time ago for a custom escape room with friends at a Halloween party. I recently refreshed the code so that the server runs on the ESP32 only and becomes compatible with home automation, instead of using an intermediate computer. Now it is easier to gift it to my co-organizer :)

This project is perfect for beginners. You will need an ESP32, a servomotor, and some misc like wires, glue, cardboard, etc. I designed the board on Inkscape and I printed it in A3-ish and laminated it at a shop. With a portable phone external battery the project may be used with no wires out, so it is perfect to surprise friends during a game night.

Videos (gif) can be found on the github page with the code and an example board to print. Hope you enjoy !