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Piko - Your ESP32 Powered Fitness Buddy

Meet Piko! A wrist-worn pixel fitness buddy powered by ESP32, uses accelerometer to track steps and animates real-time movements

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Meet Piko, a wrist‐worn fitness buddy built around an ESP32 Beetle C6 that reads data from an onboard accelerometer to count steps and identify your current activity. Hand‐drawn animations (idle, walk, jog, sprint, sleep) are rendered on a compact LCD screen in real time as Piko detects motion using simple thresholding. All the electronics are housed inside a two‐piece, 3D-printed PLA enclosure, which includes cutouts for the display, switch, and USB charging port.
A standard watch strap attaches to the case, making Piko fully wearable.

Designed collaboratively by Iloke Alusala, Lulama Lingela, and Rafael Cardoso. Piko tracks your movement, animates a pixel character that mirrors your activity, and encourages you to meet daily step goals.

Meet Piko — your tiny, pixelated fitness companion who lives on your wrist and cheers you on throughout the day. He’s not just cute — he’s reactive, responsive, and full of personality!

Piko can detect your activity in real-time, whether you’re resting, walking, jogging, or sprinting. Every time you move, he moves too. He’ll bounce, march, or hustle right alongside you — turning your steps into animation. But don’t get too lazy… if Piko doesn’t hit his daily step goal, he shuts down. And if he falls asleep, well… he might not wake up again.

So, ready to build your own pixel-powered accountability buddy?

Let’s bring him to life!

Supplies

So right now I’m stuck in a digital world, but I think I know just what we can use to bring me to life. Let me think here, in terms of what we’ll need:

Software:

  1. Ultimaker Cura (Or any other slicer)
  2. Fusion 360 (Eligible students, educators, and qualifying educational institutions should have free access to it) (optional)
  3. Procreate or Pixsquare (Free iPad Alternative)

Equipment:

  1. Access to a 3D printer (If you don’t have your own, check with your local library, or college. I used one at a makerspace at my University)
  2. PLA Filament (Any colour is fine, I chose white)

Supplies:

  1. Soldering Iron
  2. Soldering Wire
  3. Wire Strippers
  4. Electrical Wires (Male - Male)
  5. Multimeter (One that has a continuity tester on it)
  6. Hot Glue Gun
  7. Hot Glue Gun Sticks


The components sourced from DFRobot worked really well when it came to the integration of the parts

Piko_Base.step

The base of the smartwatch

step - 278.03 kB - 06/01/2025 at 05:53

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Piko_Cover.step

The cover of the smartwatch

step - 82.17 kB - 06/01/2025 at 05:53

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View all 6 components

  • 1
    The Idea

    Dude, I was just getting to that…

    Piko tracks your movement using an onboard accelerometer, applying a bit of clever math and physics to estimate how fast, and how often, you’re taking steps. We’ll dive into the technical details later, but in short, by analysing changes in acceleration, Piko figures out what you’re doing.

    Once he detects a shift in your motion, like switching from walking to running, the ESP32 kicks in, choosing the right animation to match your activity. That’s how you know Piko’s keeping up: his display changes as you do.

  • 2
    Design Inspiration

    Design Inspiration

    Piko’s design draws inspiration from the nostalgic charm of Tamagotchi characters and the clean aesthetic of minimalist pixel art. The goal was to create a companion that felt familiar, comforting, and visually timeless.

    He was intentionally designed to be:

    • Instantly lovable with a hint of deadpan personality
    • Approachable and non-intimidating
    • Visually simple, using only black and white for maximum clarity and charm
  • 3
    Sketching & Choosing the Final Design

    Sketching & Choosing the Final Design

    After a whole lot of sketching and back-and-forth of ideas, four character designs made the final shortlist, each with its own unique charm. Some were expressive, some more peace-loving, but in the end, there was one clear winner…

    Piko! 🎉

    Minimal, deadpan, and just the right amount of cute — think Baymax meets pixel art.

    When finalising his design, 3 things mattered most:

    • A clean black-and-white colour palette for that crisp pixel feel
    • A neutral expression that users could project their own emotions onto
    • Soft, rounded features to keep him friendly, familiar, and wearable

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