Subject
19 entries
IoT
Bookmarks
zclaw: ESP32-resident AI assistant
zclaw is an AI assistant that runs on an ESP32 microcontroller within a strict 888 KiB firmware budget. Handles natural language scheduling, GPIO control, memory, and tool calling — written in C with ESP-IDF.
Wiredoor: Self-Hosted Ingress with SSL and VPN
Wiredoor is a self-hosted ingress-as-a-service platform that exposes private services over the internet via a WireGuard-powered reverse VPN — SSL included. It's a self-hostable Ngrok/Cloudflare Tunnel alternative with IoT and Kubernetes support.
ESP32 WiFi Superstitions
Three practical workarounds for ESP32 WiFi disconnection problems: disable power saving mode, limit 2.4GHz channels to 20MHz width, and pin devices to specific access points. Admitted to be 'superstitions' without rigorous basis, but proven effective in practice.
Rhasspy — Offline Private Voice Assistant
Rhasspy is a fully offline, privacy-first voice assistant framework supporting many human languages — no cloud required. Designed for Home Assistant integration and runs entirely on local hardware like a Raspberry Pi.
MachineFi: Machine Economy at Consensus 2022
Rex St. John's thread on MachineFi (Machine Economy) from Consensus 2022 — IoT devices participating in crypto economic systems, earning tokens and staking autonomously. The concept later resurfaced as DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks).
Smart Home Components: A Systems Engineer's Setup
Michael Stapelberg's deep-dive into his home automation setup — a systems engineer's perspective on choosing components for a local-first, open smart home without cloud dependencies. Covers protocols, hubs, and the tradeoffs between ecosystems.
Inkplate 6PLUS: E-ink Display Development Board
Inkplate 6PLUS is an ESP32-powered e-ink display board designed for maker projects — a 6-inch 1024x758 touchscreen e-paper display with WiFi, built-in battery management, and an Arduino/MicroPython SDK. One of the easiest ways to build custom e-ink devices.
My Smart Home 2021
A detailed writeup of a production Home Assistant smart home setup in 2021 — covering hardware choices, integrations, automations, and lessons learned. A useful reference for anyone building a serious self-hosted home automation system.
Portable Python Projects: Home Automation on Raspberry Pi
A Pragmatic Programmers book teaching home automation with Raspberry Pi and Python — projects like smart lighting, temperature monitoring, and voice control, most completable in an hour. Bridges the gap between Python programming and physical home control without requiring electronics expertise.
Internet of Food: Arduino-Based Urban Aquaponics in Oakland
YouTube video documenting an Arduino-based urban aquaponics system in Oakland — combining IoT sensor monitoring with a closed-loop fish-and-plant growing system. Sits at the intersection of hardware hacking and urban food production.
Whistle: Fitbit for Dogs
Whistle launched a fitness tracker for dogs — a clip-on activity monitor that tracks steps, rest, and calories for pets. An early example of quantified-self thinking applied to pets, presaging the explosion of IoT and connected health devices.
Wallet TrackR — Bluetooth Item Tracker
Mashable's 2012 coverage of Wallet TrackR — a Bluetooth-enabled credit-card-sized tracker for finding lost wallets. One of the earliest consumer Bluetooth item trackers, predating the Tile (2013) and Apple AirTag (2021) by years.
NodeBots: The Rise of JS Robotics
Chris Williams argues that Node.js and JavaScript's event-driven model make it a surprisingly natural fit for physical computing and robotics. A 2012 manifesto for what became the Johnny-Five ecosystem.
Internet of Food: Arduino-Based Urban Aquaponics in Oakland
A video profile of Kijani Grows in Oakland, using Arduino-based sensors to automate an urban aquaponics system — an early 2012 example of IoT applied to food production and urban agriculture, before 'IoT' was common vocabulary.
DIY Home Automation Using Twilio, PowerSwitch, Arduino, and Pusher
A 2012 Twilio blog post showing how to build DIY home automation using Twilio for SMS control, an Arduino with PowerSwitch Tail relay for electrical switching, and Pusher for real-time status updates. An early blueprint for the hacker home automation pattern.
Cosm: Internet of Things Platform
Cosm (formerly Pachube, later renamed Xively) was a cloud platform for connecting and sharing real-time sensor data from physical devices — one of the earliest Internet of Things platforms. It predated AWS IoT by years and pioneered the model of device-to-cloud data streams with public APIs.
Bitponics: Automated Gardening for Brown-Thumbed Plant Killers
Bitponics was an Arduino-based automated gardening system that monitored pH, temperature, light, and humidity and sent alerts when plants needed attention. An early consumer IoT product applying sensor networks to home horticulture.
UC Berkeley Shuts Down Student's Ridiculously Automated Dorm Room
A UC Berkeley student wired his dorm room with automated lighting, temperature, music, and door controls — then got investigated by university officials and told to remove it. An early 2012 story of institutional friction with maker/hacker ingenuity in residential spaces.
Hack Your Housing: Berkeley Freshman's Ridiculously Automated Dorm Room
TechCrunch profile of a UC Berkeley freshman who wired his dorm room with sensors and scripts — including an 'Emergency Party' button — as an early consumer IoT project. A 2012 maker-culture story about students treating their environment as a hackable system.