Pawcast: Cat-Themed E-Ink Weather Display

Are you tired of your partner asking you what the weather is going to be today so she knows what to wear?

This ESP32-powered project fixes that for you! By fetching weather forecast data from OpenWeatherMap and displaying the maximum temperature and conditions using a fun cat vibe illustration on a Crowpanel 4.2-inch E-Ink screen, all your partner has to do is look at the funny little cat box!

What's special? The device determines whether it's sunny, cold, rainy, or hot, and shows a matching kitty to reflect the clothes you should wear today!

Features:

• 🐱 Cat visual changes based on weather
• 📡 Uses OpenWeatherMap forecast API
• 🔋 Battery-friendly with deep sleep
• 🧠 Works fully offline once weather is fetched
• 🖼️ Uses GxEPD2 and custom fonts for high-quality rendering

How It Works:

1. Connects to Wi-Fi using stored credentials
2. Fetches 3-hourly forecast data for the configured city
3. Calculates:
   • Max temperature
   • Most frequent condition
   • Local time of city from weather timestamp 
4. Classifies weather into one of 5 moods:
   • hot / warm / cold / freezing / raining
5. Renders:
   • Mood-based cat image
   • Temperature + weather icon
   • Update time based on city's local time
6. Goes to deep sleep until next scheduled refresh (e.g., 5AM, 12PM, 5PM)

Bill of Materials (BOM):

Libraries Required (Install in Arduino IDE):

• GxEPD2 (for E-Ink)
• ArduinoJson (v6+)
• WiFi (default for ESP32)
• HTTPClient (default)
• Adafruit GFX (installed with GxEPD2)

Setup Instructions:

✅ Step 1: Download the Zip and Prepare the Code

1. In the setup, replace your Wi-Fi SSID and password
2. Replace the city name and OpenWeatherMap API key
3. Potentially change the time zone information, I haven't tested the code that chooses its last updated time thoroughly enough to know if it works 100% of the time.

You can get a free API key here: https://openweathermap.org/api

✅ Step 2: Flash the Code

• Choose the correct board: ESP32S3 Dev Module
• In tools set PSRAM → OPI PSRAM and Partition Scheme → Huge App (I don't know why, I got this from a tutorial for the crowpanel and if I don't do it then it doesn't work.)
• Upload via USB-C using Arduino IDE (if you get an upload error at the last second lower the upload speed in tools until it works, even if it's agonizingly slow)

✅ Step 3: Power & Run

• On boot, the device will:
  • Connect to Wi-Fi
  • Fetch forecast
  • Display cat + weather 
  • Sleep until the next refresh window

🧷 Assembly Details – No Extra Screws Needed! 🔩

The custom back panel is designed to attach directly to the CrowPanel using the existing screws on the device — no need to source extra hardware!

Once the back is mounted, the front and back snap together with a satisfying, secure click, holding everything neatly in place without wobbles or adhesives. 

🛠️ Customization Ideas I haven't gotten around to:

Feel free to modify the code or the model based on your own needs. Make your own fun little weather station! Have fun with it! Here are some ideas I had but didn't get around to.

• Add WiFiManager to allow Wi-Fi + city config via browser
• Show multiple-day forecast using different pages or rotation (I can't test this, I broke the buttons on my crowpanel…)
• Replace cat images with other designs or weather-specific memes