Today, I’m sharing one of my favorite ESP32 projects — a GPS-powered weather station. It’s perfect if you’ve got an ESP32 lying around, a little 1.8″ ST7735 TFT screen, and a NEO-6M GPS module. We’ll use your real-time coordinates to fetch live weather data from the free Open-Meteo API, then display it in full color on the LCD. No need to hard-code your city — the GPS does all the work!
This is a fun, real-world IoT project that combines a handful of technologies — GPS, Wi-Fi, APIs, JSON parsing, and good old Arduino code.
What You’ll Need
Hardware:
- ESP32 Dev Board (I used a generic one)
- NEO-6M GPS Module
- ST7735 1.8″ SPI TFT LCD
- Breadboard and jumper wires
- Power source (USB cable or battery)
Software:
- Arduino IDE
- Required libraries (we’ll get to that in a sec)
Wiring It Up
Let’s hook up everything. Here’s the connection table:
| Module | ESP32 Pin |
|---|---|
| NEO-6M GPS | |
| TX | GPIO 16 |
| RX | GPIO 17 |
| VCC | 3.3V or 5V |
| GND | GND |
| ST7735 LCD | |
| CS | GPIO 5 |
| DC | GPIO 2 |
| RST | GPIO 4 |
| MOSI | GPIO 23 |
| SCLK | GPIO 18 |
| VCC | 3.3V |
| GND | GND |
📝 Note: The GPS module works best outdoors or near a window. It needs a GPS fix before it can provide coordinates.
The Code
Here’s the full code for this project:
#include <WiFi.h>
#include <HTTPClient.h>
#include <TinyGPSPlus.h>
#include <HardwareSerial.h>
#include <Adafruit_GFX.h>
#include <Adafruit_ST7735.h>
#include <SPI.h>
#include <ArduinoJson.h>
// ========== WiFi Credentials ==========
const char* ssid = "YOUR_SSID";
const char* password = "YOUR_PASSWORD";
// ========== GPS Setup ==========
HardwareSerial GPSserial(2); // UART2
TinyGPSPlus gps;
// ========== LCD Setup ==========
#define TFT_CS 5
#define TFT_RST 4
#define TFT_DC 2
#define TFT_SCLK 18
#define TFT_MOSI 23
Adafruit_ST7735 tft = Adafruit_ST7735(TFT_CS, TFT_DC, TFT_RST);
// ========== Timing ==========
unsigned long lastUpdate = 0;
const unsigned long updateInterval = 60000; // 60 sec
void setup() {
Serial.begin(115200);
GPSserial.begin(9600, SERIAL_8N1, 16, 17); // RX=16, TX=17
tft.initR(INITR_BLACKTAB);
tft.fillScreen(ST77XX_BLACK);
tft.setRotation(1);
tft.setTextWrap(false);
tft.setTextColor(ST77XX_WHITE);
tft.setTextSize(1);
tft.setCursor(0, 0);
tft.println("Connecting to WiFi...");
WiFi.begin(ssid, password);
while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
delay(500);
tft.print(".");
}
tft.println("\nWiFi connected!");
}
void loop() {
// Continuously read GPS data
while (GPSserial.available() > 0) {
gps.encode(GPSserial.read());
}
// Check if valid GPS data is available
if (gps.location.isValid() && millis() - lastUpdate > updateInterval) {
lastUpdate = millis();
float latitude = gps.location.lat();
float longitude = gps.location.lng();
Serial.printf("GPS: %.6f, %.6f\n", latitude, longitude);
fetchAndDisplayWeather(latitude, longitude);
}
}
void fetchAndDisplayWeather(float lat, float lon) {
if (WiFi.status() == WL_CONNECTED) {
HTTPClient http;
String url = "https://api.open-meteo.com/v1/forecast?latitude=" +
String(lat, 6) + "&longitude=" + String(lon, 6) +
"¤t_weather=true";
http.begin(url);
int httpCode = http.GET();
if (httpCode > 0) {
String payload = http.getString();
Serial.println(payload);
DynamicJsonDocument doc(1024);
DeserializationError error = deserializeJson(doc, payload);
if (!error) {
float temperature = doc["current_weather"]["temperature"];
float windspeed = doc["current_weather"]["windspeed"];
int weathercode = doc["current_weather"]["weathercode"];
tft.fillScreen(ST77XX_BLACK);
tft.setCursor(0, 0);
tft.setTextColor(ST77XX_WHITE);
tft.setTextSize(1);
tft.printf("Lat: %.2f\n", lat);
tft.printf("Lon: %.2f\n", lon);
tft.printf("Temp: %.1f C\n", temperature);
tft.printf("Wind: %.1f km/h\n", windspeed);
tft.printf("Code: %d\n", weathercode);
displayWeatherIcon(weathercode);
} else {
Serial.println("JSON parse failed!");
}
} else {
Serial.println("HTTP request failed.");
}
http.end();
}
}
void displayWeatherIcon(int code) {
tft.setTextSize(1);
tft.setTextColor(ST77XX_CYAN);
tft.setCursor(0, 70);
// Simplified icon logic
if (code == 0) {
tft.println("Clear");
} else if (code <= 3) {
tft.println("Partly Cloudy");
} else if (code <= 45) {
tft.println("Cloudy");
} else if (code <= 67) {
tft.println("Rain");
} else if (code <= 86) {
tft.println("Snow");
} else {
tft.println("Fog");
}
}
1. Install Required Libraries
In Arduino IDE, go to Library Manager and install the following:
- TinyGPSPlus by Mikal Hart
- Adafruit GFX and Adafruit ST7735
- ArduinoJson by Benoit Blanchon
- HTTPClient (included with ESP32)
2. Setup Wi-Fi
Replace this with your actual credentials:
const char* ssid = "YOUR_SSID";
const char* password = "YOUR_PASSWORD";3. Upload and Run!
Upload the sketch to your ESP32. Open the Serial Monitor at 115200 baud, and give it a minute or two to get GPS data.
What You’ll See on the LCD
- Your real-time GPS coordinates
- Current temperature
- Wind speed
- A simple weather message (Clear, Rainy, etc.)
All this on a colorful, 1.8″ TFT screen! Perfect for a portable gadget or even mounting to a bike or backpack.
How It Works
- GPS Module gives real-time latitude and longitude.
- ESP32 connects to Wi-Fi.
- It builds a request to the Open-Meteo API using your location.
- Parses the JSON response using
ArduinoJson. - Displays the info on the ST7735 LCD.
Why Use GPS?
Because it makes this project location-agnostic — you can carry the device anywhere, and it’ll always show the weather for your exact location.
No need to enter a city, zip code, or country. Let the satellites handle it 😄
Possible Upgrades
- Add a battery and enclosure to make it portable.
- Add alerts or buzzers for extreme weather.
- Store weather logs on an SD card.
- Switch to ePaper if you want ultra-low power.
Final Thoughts
This project is a great intro to integrating hardware with cloud APIs. I loved seeing live GPS data triggering real-time weather updates. It’s magical how much you can do with just a few modules!
If you build this, I’d love to hear about it. Got stuck somewhere? Just ask!
