ZeroTrace - CyberSecurity Audit & Multipurpose Device
Hardware Security•2026
Overview
ZeroTrace is an advanced, standalone embedded hardware companion engineered from the ground up on the ESP32-S3 dual-core microcontroller. Equipped with an onboard ST7735 128x160 full-color TFT display, an ergonomic analog 5-way joystick navigation array, and a high-efficiency power management circuit, ZeroTrace provides cybersecurity researchers and IoT auditors with an agile, pocket-sized auditing toolkit.
📷 Fig 1: Front display view showcasing the ST7735 128x160 color TFT screen, 5-way analog joystick, and ESP32-S3 microcontroller board.
Video 1: Hardware Live Demonstration
Demo Video 1: Refined live demonstration showcasing real-time RF spectrum analysis & UI menu navigation
Core Hardware Architecture & Multi-Mode Firmware
ZeroTrace runs a custom, multi-threaded FreeRTOS C++ firmware architecture featuring deterministic state switching between specialized security modules:
• 2.4 GHz RF Spectrum Scanner: Analyzes raw 802.11 channel noise, packet traffic density, and carrier interference in real time.
• Wi-Fi Network Auditor & RSSI Foxhunter: Maps beacon frames, probes AP signal attenuation, and tracks physical emitter proximity through dynamic RSSI logarithmic audio-visual bars.
• Native USB-HID Automation Engine: Leverages ESP32-S3's hardware USB OTG controller to deliver deterministic keystroke injection payloads for automated vulnerability assessment.
• Wireless MJPEG Screen Mirroring: Live-streams real-time telemetry and framebuffers over an ad-hoc Wi-Fi access point via WebSockets.
• 2.4 GHz RF Spectrum Scanner: Analyzes raw 802.11 channel noise, packet traffic density, and carrier interference in real time.
• Wi-Fi Network Auditor & RSSI Foxhunter: Maps beacon frames, probes AP signal attenuation, and tracks physical emitter proximity through dynamic RSSI logarithmic audio-visual bars.
• Native USB-HID Automation Engine: Leverages ESP32-S3's hardware USB OTG controller to deliver deterministic keystroke injection payloads for automated vulnerability assessment.
• Wireless MJPEG Screen Mirroring: Live-streams real-time telemetry and framebuffers over an ad-hoc Wi-Fi access point via WebSockets.
📷 Fig 2: Active firmware lock & telemetry screen showing ST7735 graphical UI rendering and status indicators.
Video 2: 3D Mechanical Enclosure & Component Layout
Demo Video 2: 3D enclosure and physical component integration render
Hardware Prototyping & Driver Integration
Every subsystem was rigorously prototyped on custom perfboard layouts with dedicated high-speed SPI busses for the ST7735 display, ADC filtering for the analog thumbstick inputs, and ESD-protected USB power rails. The firmware integrates low-level register manipulation for non-blocking UI rendering at 60 FPS.
📷 Fig 3: Wi-Fi beacon scanning and RSSI packet inspection screen displaying real-time access point metadata.
Firmware State Machine & Telemetry Engine
ZeroTrace_Main.cpp
1// ZeroTrace FreeRTOS Main Task & Mode Dispatcher
2void app_main() {
3 initHardwareBus(); // Initialize SPI, I2C, ADC & ST7735
4 initUSBHIDStack(); // Initialize USB OTG peripheral in HID mode
5
6 xTaskCreatePinnedToCore(
7 taskDisplayTelemetry,
8 "DisplayTask",
9 4096,
10 NULL,
11 2,
12 &displayTaskHandle,
13 1
14 );
15
16 xTaskCreatePinnedToCore(
17 taskRFScannerAuditor,
18 "RFScanTask",
19 8192,
20 NULL,
21 3,
22 &rfTaskHandle,
23 0
24 );
25}
📷 Fig 4: Close-up view of the analog 5-way joystick navigation array and solder-bridge bus wiring.