PCB map – A new PCB art piece turns the California East Bay into a glowing, interactive map. Roads and layers are built into the board, while a 64 x 32 RGB LED array—driven by an ESP32—lights family members’ locations captured from their mobile devices over MQTT.
A home project that looks like wall art, but behaves like a live tracker, is drawing attention for the way it makes location data visible.
The centerpiece is a custom printed circuit board designed as a map of the California East Bay area. The layout is split by function: roads are laid out as the top-side copper layer. Land and roads are used for the top solder mask layer. while the flipped land and roads area makes up the solder mask on the bottom side.
The map itself starts with data. That data was cribbed from Snazzy Maps, then turned into a PCB design by [Jonathan]. Behind the board, he mounted a 64 x 32 RGB LED array so the lights can glow through from behind the material. The effect is simple to understand in the room: the map isn’t just printed—it’s illuminated.
What turns the display into something more personal is how the LEDs know where to shine. The LEDs are controlled by an ESP32. That ESP32 grabs location data from [Jonathan’s] family member’s mobile devices over MQTT, then uses it to light their positions on the map.
The project is shared for anyone who wants to recreate it, with files available on GitHub for the curious.
There’s a clear catch baked into the build: it assumes a family member’s mobile devices are open to location tracking. and it requires the money to commission a custom PCB. For those who have both. the project suggests a path—one that sits at the intersection of electronics art and real-world tracking. The maker also points to other PCB map builds, including a metro tracker.
For viewers looking for how the LEDs animate over the finished board, there are videos embedded after the break.
PCB map RGB LED array ESP32 MQTT Snazzy Maps location tracking electronics art GitHub
So it’s basically a glowing spy board? Cool but also yikes.
How do they get the locations tho like Bluetooth or GPS? MQTT sounds like something for servers, not people, lol. Also who would leave location on for this.
Wait I thought MQTT was like a camera app or something. So the ESP32 is just reading phones and then lighting up dots on a map? That’s kinda dystopian for wall art. And isn’t Snazzy Maps copyrighted or whatever.
The LEDs lighting family positions sounds neat until you realize it’s still real-time tracking. Like what if someone’s phone updates wrong and now you’re staring at the wrong street for hours. Also $ for a custom PCB commission?? My neighbor makes those on a breadboard, so idk. I’m not trusting this at all, especially if it needs location tracking from “mobile devices” (aka always listening).