An ultra-low-cost, edge-only acoustic drone detector on ESP32-S3 with encrypted LoRa alerting.
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"Built for defense, hoping it becomes unnecessary. We believe in a world where no one needs to fear the sky."
Batear is officially fiscally hosted by the Open Source Collective (OSC). Your contribution directly supports the deployment of civil defense technology where it is needed most.
- 🇺🇦 Field Testing in Ukraine: We are partnering with local experts to verify Batear in active EW (Electronic Warfare) environments.
- 🔬 Hardware R&D: Funding allows us to procure high-precision sensors (ICS-43434) and PoE-capable hardware for professional-grade reliability.
- 🏢 Corporate Matching: Since we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit project, check if your employer matches your donation!
- 💎 100% Transparent: View every single receipt and transaction on our Public Ledger.
💖 Become a Sponsor on Open Collective
Drones are an increasing threat to homes, farms, and communities — and effective detection has traditionally required expensive radar or camera systems. Batear changes that.
For ultra-low-cost hardware, Batear turns a tiny ESP32-S3 microcontroller and a MEMS microphone into an always-on acoustic drone detector. It runs entirely at the edge — no cloud subscription, no internet connection, no ongoing cost. Deploy one at a window, a fence line, or a rooftop and it will alert you the moment drone rotor harmonics are detected nearby.
The same codebase builds as a Detector (mic + LoRa TX) or a Gateway (LoRa RX + OLED + LED + MQTT), selectable at build time. The gateway forwards alerts to Home Assistant via MQTT with automatic device discovery.
Flash firmware directly from your browser — no toolchain needed:
Requires Chrome or Edge on desktop. Just connect your Heltec V3 or V4 via USB-C and click Install.
Stop checking serial monitors. Batear brings drone detection directly to your dashboard.
- Plug & Play: Auto-Discovery via MQTT.
- Rich Diagnostics: Monitor signal strength (RSSI/SNR) in real-time.
- Automations Ready: Trigger your smart lights, alarms, or notifications when a drone is detected.
- Historical Logs: Analyze drone activity patterns in your area.
"Batear bridges the gap between complex signal processing and simple home automation."
Full documentation is available at batear.io.
| Getting Started | Prerequisites and supported boards |
| Hardware | Parts list, wiring diagrams, pin map |
| Build & Flash | Compile and flash the firmware |
| Configuration | Encryption keys, frequencies, MQTT, device IDs |
| How It Works | FFT harmonic detection algorithm |
| Calibration | Tuning detection thresholds |
| Adding a Board | Porting to new hardware |
┌──────────────────────┐ LoRa 915 MHz ┌──────────────────────┐
│ DETECTOR (×N) │ ───────────────────────────► │ GATEWAY (×1) │
│ │ AES-128-GCM encrypted │ │
│ ICS-43434 mic │ 28-byte packets │ SSD1306 OLED display│
│ FFT harmonic detect │ │ LED alarm indicator │
│ SX1262 LoRa TX │ │ SX1262 LoRa RX │
└──────────────────────┘ │ WiFi + MQTT TX │
Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V3/V4 └──────────┬───────────┘
Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V3/V4
│ MQTT
▼
┌──────────────────────┐
│ HOME ASSISTANT │
│ (auto-discovery) │
└──────────────────────┘
# Clone
git clone https://github.com/batear-io/batear.git && cd batear
# Build detector
idf.py -B build_detector \
-DSDKCONFIG=build_detector/sdkconfig \
-DSDKCONFIG_DEFAULTS="sdkconfig.defaults;sdkconfig.detector" \
set-target esp32s3
idf.py -B build_detector -DSDKCONFIG=build_detector/sdkconfig build
# Flash (replace PORT)
idf.py -B build_detector -DSDKCONFIG=build_detector/sdkconfig -p PORT flash monitorSee the full build guide for gateway setup and detailed instructions.
Batear is a community-driven project. We welcome contributions, whether through code, field data, or financial sponsorship.
