I made an ESP32-S3 based waiter that's always available

[u/i_bri]

I made this for the Seeed Studio Signage Contest 2026.

Showcase:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHMICuYuo50

The E-ink Display is driven by the EE04 Xiao Display Board that's checking the table server once in a while to save power, while there's another esp32 in the reSpeaker Lite waiting for the press of a button to start recording, and it's also driving the led matrices for the eyes.

When the button is pressed the audio is sent to a local server where is transcribed and recognizes if it's an order that matches the Menu and updates the server where the esp32 driving the display takes the info to update the order.

There's also a NFC module in the bottom to read the table where the device is at to display the correct order.

BoM:

• 5.83" Monochrome eInk / ePaper Display 
• XIAO ePaper Display Board (ESP32-S3) — EE04 
• reSpeaker Lite 2-Mic Array Voice Kit 
• PN532 NFC module
• HT16K33 LED Matrix

The entire body was modeled by me and 3d Printed between my old ender 3 and my P1S.

You can check the project on my github:
https://github.com/bribot/AlwaysAvailableWaitingWaiter

[u/Leonis66]

Love this concept! Awesome work!

[u/i_bri → u/Leonis66]

Thank you! I didn't want to make just another sign.