International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 12 Issue: 11 | Nov 2025
p-ISSN: 2395-0072
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Dual-Screen Arduino–ESP8266 Smart Mirror with Linux Terminal Control and IoT Data Integration Arnav Sharma1 1Student, B.E. – Software Engineering, Chitkara University, Punjab, India
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provide a flexible interaction model in which the user can dynamically assign different information widgets to either display via a simple Linux terminal interface. The finished prototype is shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 (front view and internal wiring respectively), and a short demonstration video is available online. [9].
implementation of a low-cost dual-screen smart mirror built around an Arduino Uno microcontroller and an ESP8266 Wi‑Fi module. Two 1.8‑inch TFT LCDs are mounted behind a partially reflective acrylic mirror and used to display time, date, weather conditions, indoor and outdoor temperature, a to‑do list and a simple news headline widget. The ESP8266 connects to the internet, obtains network time and weather data from public web APIs, formats the information as serial messages and forwards it to the Arduino over a software serial link. The Arduino is dedicated to sensor acquisition and graphics rendering, driving both TFT displays using the ST7735 controller. A PIR motion sensor enables automatic activation of the screens when the user is present, while a DHT11 sensor provides indoor temperature measurements that are combined with the outdoor temperature from the weather API. A simple Linux command‑line interface allows the user to choose, in real time, which information widget should be shown on each screen. The resulting system demonstrates how microcontroller‑class hardware can be used to prototype an IoT‑enabled smart mirror without requiring a full single‑board computer such as a Raspberry Pi.
1.1 RELATED WORK Numerous smart‑mirror implementations have been reported in both hobbyist communities and academic literature. Many designs are based on the MagicMirror² framework running on a Raspberry Pi, where a web browser renders HTML widgets showing time, weather and news feeds behind a two‑way mirror. Several research papers describe IoT‑enabled mirrors that display date, time and weather while integrating features such as voice assistants, home‑automation control or security cameras. However, these architectures usually assume the presence of an operating system and relatively high processing and memory resources. Closer to the embedded domain, there are designs that employ an Arduino Uno with a single LCD or TFT display to show basic information, but these typically treat the mirror as a single combined display surface. The design presented in this paper differs in three ways: it uses two independent TFT panels, it delegates all Internet communication to a separate ESP8266 module, and it introduces a Linux command‑line interface as a lightweight yet powerful control mechanism for selecting the content of each screen.
Key Words: Smart mirror, Internet of Things (IoT), Arduino, ESP8266, TFT display, PIR sensor, DHT11, Linux CLI.
1.INTRODUCTION Smart mirrors combine a reflective surface with an embedded electronic display to present contextual information such as time, weather, calendar events or notifications while still functioning as a regular mirror. Most published designs rely on a single large display and a single‑board computer, for example a Raspberry Pi running a web‑based smart‑mirror framework. In contrast, this project explores a different design point: a microcontroller‑based smart mirror that uses two small TFT displays driven directly by an Arduino Uno, with a separate ESP8266 NodeMCU module responsible for all networking tasks.
2. SYSTEM OVERVIEW The smart mirror system consists of four main subsystems: (1) the sensing and display controller built around an Arduino Uno, (2) the Wi‑Fi and web‑API subsystem implemented using an ESP8266 NodeMCU board, (3) the mirror assembly containing two 1.8‑inch ST7735‑based TFT displays mounted behind a reflective acrylic sheet, and (4) a Linux PC that acts as a control console via the serial port.
The primary goals of the system are: (i) to demonstrate that dual‑screen smart‑mirror functionality can be achieved using modest 8‑bit hardware, (ii) to separate network‑facing code and API keys from the display
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