n8n matrix display with Beetle ESP32C3

Hardware

2 x WS2812B 16x16

1 x Beetle ESP32 C3

1 x Power Supply 5V 3A

3d Parts

I designed a frame for the LED panels, connectors, and an ESP32 enclosure using Fusion 360, and printed them on a Bambu Lab A1 Mini with PLA. The files are available on Cults3D. Use six 3 mm screws to connect both panels and attach the back cover.

Circuit

The circuit couldn’t be simpler: link the two panels using the connector included with the WS2812B. Power the first panel from the 5V external supply and connect it to the ESP32 through a single data pin.

Workflow
You can start using n8n with a free 15-day trial at n8n.cloud, or by hosting a pre-installed version on Railway, Hostgator or any other service. Self-hosting works too.

The ESP32 calls a Webhook node in n8n, which replies with the text to display. Between these two nodes lies the logic — a small AI agent with access to several tools. Adding new info to the display is as simple as adding a new tool and describing how to use it in plain language. n8n offers tool nodes for virtually every use case, and you can always build your own.

If you want to use my example workflow, just import it, set up your credentials for Gmail, Gemini, Market Stack, etc., and change the agent’s language prompts. You’ll also need to set the URLs for the parking-lot camera images (more about this below)

Beetle ESP32 Code

Before uploading the sketch to your ESP32, configure the webhook URL — you can find it by opening the starting Webhook node in your workflow. Also set your Wi-Fi SSID and password.

See also the IDE settings

Retro Gaming Animations

To make the display more fun, I also added some retro game animations: Pong, Pac-Man, and Space Invaders.

Final notes

Whether you want a live-updating stock ticker straight out of Wall Street, public transit info, local weather, work-related alerts, AI-interpreted database reports, or a digest of the latest maker projects from Hackster — combining these affordable LED panels with n8n lets you design your own custom data feed without wrestling with dozens of APIs. The results can be surprisingly powerful.

Source code

https://github.com/ronibandini/n8nMatrixDisplay