About batear

● batear — Ultra-low-cost, off-grid acoustic drone detector. Edge computing. Protect your airspace with a microphone.

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Batear

An ultra-low-cost, edge-only acoustic drone detector on ESP32-S3 with encrypted LoRa or wired Ethernet/PoE alerting.

"Built for defense, hoping it becomes unnecessary. We believe in a world where no one needs to fear the sky."

🛡️ Support the Mission (501(c)(3) Tax Deductible)

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

▶️ Click to watch the bench test demo

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), a Gateway (LoRa RX + OLED + LED + MQTT), or a Wired Detector (mic + Ethernet/PoE + MQTT), selectable at build time. The gateway forwards alerts to Home Assistant via MQTT with automatic device discovery; the wired detector publishes directly over Ethernet — no LoRa or gateway required, ideal for permanent installations.

🌐 Web Flasher — Zero Install

Flash firmware directly from your browser — no toolchain needed:

Open Web Flasher

Requires Chrome or Edge on desktop. Connect a Heltec V3/V4 (Detector or Gateway) or a LILYGO T-ETH-Lite S3 (Wired Detector) via USB-C and click Install.

🏠 Smart Home Integration (Home Assistant)

Stop checking serial monitors. Batear brings drone detection directly to your dashboard.

Features:

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."

📖 Documentation

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

🏗️ System Architecture

Batear supports two deployment models — pick whichever fits the site:

Wireless (LoRa Detector → Gateway → MQTT)

┌──────────────────────┐        LoRa 915 MHz          ┌──────────────────────┐
│    DETECTOR (×N)     │ ───────────────────────────► │     GATEWAY (×1)     │
│                      │  AES-128-GCM encrypted       │                      │
│  ICS-43434 mic       │  36-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)   │
                                                      └──────────────────────┘

Wired (Ethernet/PoE Detector → MQTT, no gateway)

┌──────────────────────┐
│  WIRED DETECTOR (×N) │       Ethernet (PoE)
│                      │ ───────────────────────────► ┌──────────────────────┐
│  ICS-43434 mic       │       MQTT / JSON            │   HOME ASSISTANT     │
│  FFT harmonic detect │       + REST API / OTA       │   (auto-discovery)   │
│  W5500 Ethernet      │                              └──────────────────────┘
└──────────────────────┘
   LILYGO T-ETH-Lite S3

⚡ Quick Start (Build from Source)

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/batear-io/batear.git && cd batear

# Build detector  (swap sdkconfig.detector → sdkconfig.gateway or
# sdkconfig.wired_detector for the other roles)
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 monitor

See the full build guide for gateway and wired-detector setup and detailed instructions.

👤 Maintainers

Batear is a community-driven project. We welcome contributions, whether through code, field data, or financial sponsorship.

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