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October 14, 2019
8:30
The MorningRod Wants Your Mornings Easier, Not Harder
» ‎ Hack a Day

Curtains are about as simple as household devices get, but they can be remarkably troublesome to automate. Everyone’s window treatments slightly different, which frustrates a standardized solution. [dfrenkel] has a passion for DIY and wanted his mornings flooded with sunlight for more peaceful awakenings, so the MorningRod Smart Curtain Rod was born.
Replacing the curtain rod with aluminum extrusion and 3D printed fixtures goes a long way towards standardizing for automation.
MorningRod’s design takes advantage of affordable hardware like aluminum extrusions and 3D printed parts to create a system that attempts to allow users to keep their existing curtains as much as possible.

The curtain rod is replaced with aluminum extrusion. MorningRod borrows ideas from CNC projects to turn the curtain rod into a kind of double-ended linear actuator, upon which the curtains are just along for the ride. An ESP32 serves as the brains while a NEMA17 stepper motor provides the brawn. The result is a motorized curtain opening and closing with a wireless interface that can be easily integrated into home automation projects.

[dfrenkel] is offering a kit, but those who would prefer to roll their own should check out the project page on Thingiverse.

Tags: home hacks
October 12, 2019
22:10
Quality Sound-Proof Cans From Personal Protective Equipment
» ‎ Hack a Day

Working in a noisy office can be distracting. To combat the problem in his workplace [Rikard Anglerud] bought himself a pair of 3M ear defenders. They were good, but not quite good enough to completely extinguish the noise, so he inserted the drivers from a pair of cheap headphones and played a low-level white noise. This prototype proved effective, so he returned to the project and produced a much nicer pair that approach much more costly cans in their execution.

[Rikard’s] first set of headphones left something to be desired in the quality department. The second set followed with a pair of better-quality drivers sourced online, and more care was taken with cable routing and in their fitting. Finally some filler was used to remove the moulded 3M branding, and make them look more hi-fi than workwear.

From an audiophile perspective these cans might not approach a very high quality pair because their drivers are unlikely to be matched to the acoustic properties of their enclosures. But it sounds as though he’s achieved an adequate result despite that, and completely satisfied his need to exclude office noise.

Tags: home entertainment hacks
13:00
The World’s Smallest Vacuum in an Altoids Tin
» ‎ Hack a Day

There’s been a lot of Altoids tin hacks over the years, but a vacuum cleaner in a tin is something new. In [Toby Bateson]’s first project on Hackaday, he used simple household items to create a functioning vacuum cleaner to use for sucking crumbs out of your keyboard or paper punch holes off your desk.

The vacuum features a retractable suction tube, a low-profile switch, and a bagless waste collection system (the waste is stored and discarded out from the tin itself). A brushed motor and impeller provide the airflow. A scrap of a beer can mounted on the shaft is used for an impeller blade, and two bolts with a thin metal sheet between them are made into a switch (the instructions recommend you finish your drink before using the scrap metal). A sponge is used for filtering the dirt from the motor while a hole is cut out of the top of the tin to provide airflow.

[Bateson] is looking to put his name in the world record book for the world’s smallest vacuum tube, as he recently created an even smaller vacuum in a 1cc tube.

“Oh dear, I’ve spilled something on my desk, whatever am I going to do? Luckily, I have my vacuum cleaner in an Altoids tin…”

The HackadayPrize2019 is Sponsored by:

Tags: home hacks
October 07, 2019
11:30
Dry Your Clothes In One Minute or Less
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’re like most people, then washing clothes is probably a huge pain for you. Figuring out the odd number of minutes necessary to run a wash and dry cycle, trying desperately not to end up with clothes that are still wet, and worst of all having to wait so long for your clothes to be clean can be a real hassle.

One team of inventors decided to build Eleven, a dryer that dries and sanitizes clothes in a minute or less. As explained in their demo video, clothes are placed around the center tube and dried by the airflow initiated by Eleven. Fragrance and ozone is injected to prevent bacteria from causing bad smells.

The team experimented with ultrasonics and microwave-vacuum system, and ultimately decided to use a method that controls the flow of air within the fabric. A steam generator sprays the clothes with a disinfectant while a filter quarantines the chemicals to a receptacle within the device.

They also installed sensors to monitor the performance of the machine remotely, allowing users to track their clothes and the health of the machine even when they aren’t home. Something we’ve previously seen done in the DIY space.

It might not be the futuristic heat-free clothes dryer we were promised, but Eleven certainly looks like a step in the right direction.
The HackadayPrize2019 is Sponsored by:

Tags: home hacks
September 21, 2019
19:00
Intelligent Control For That Cheap Diesel Heater
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you own a caravan or a boat, you’ll know that keeping it warm can present something of a struggle. Open-flame gas heaters carry a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, while solid fuel stoves are heavy and require safe flues. The prospect of a diesel heater then is enticing, bringing as they use a safer fuel and allow for easy external exhaust. Unfortunately they’ve been something of an expensive option, but the arrival of cheap imported heaters in recent years has made them an attractive choice. [Ray Jones] has improved upon their sometimes basic control electronics with the Afterburner, an intelligent controller that packs both ESP32 and HC-05 modules to both enhance the feature set and the connectivity of the devices.

The full list of capabilities is somewhat exhaustive but has a few stand-outs such as the ability to connect 1-wire temperature sensors to the system. It’s not compatible with all the heaters on the market, but there is a comprehensive guide to those models with which it can work. Meanwhile, all the code and other resources are available on GitLab should you wish to try it for yourself.

Diesel is something of a dirty word in 2019, but maybe biodiesel will save devices like this one.

Thanks [Bob] for the tip!

Tags: home hacks
September 20, 2019
11:30
A Stylish Home for your Next ESP Project
» ‎ Hack a Day

The ESP8266 and ESP32 are fast becoming the microcontroller of choice for, well, everything. But one particular area we’ve seen a lot of activity in recently is home automation; these boards make it so incredibly easy and cheap to get your projects online that putting together your own automation system is far more appealing now than it’s ever been. Capitalizing on that trend, [hwhardsoft] has been working on a ESP enclosure that’s perfect for mounting on the living room wall.

Of course, there’s more to this project than an admittedly very nice plastic box. The system also includes a ILI9341 2.4 inch touch screen LCD, an integrated voltage regulator, and even a section of “perfboard” that gives you a spot to easily wire up ad-hoc circuits and sensors. You don’t even need to switch over to the bare modules either, as the PCB is designed to accommodate common development boards such as the Wemos D1 Mini and NodeMCU.

Despite its outward appearance, this project is very much beginner friendly. Utilizing through hole components, screw down terminals, and a impeccably well-labeled silkscreen, you won’t need to be a hardware expert to produce a very slick gadget the whole family can appreciate.

Much like the HestiaPi project we covered a few months back, this project takes a cheap and readily available development board and turns it into something that has all the trappings of a commercial offering. These projects are reminders that the line between built and bought is only getting blurrier as time goes on.

The HackadayPrize2019 is Sponsored by:

Tags: home hacks
September 19, 2019
19:00
Tiny Vacuum Cleaner Sucks (In a Good Way)
» ‎ Hack a Day

Sometimes something is remarkable not for its content, but for its size. A ball of yarn isn’t exciting for example, unless it’s a giant ball of yarn. At the other end of the scale writing your name is a quotidian event, but put it on a grain of rice and that’s ten bucks at the mall. [Toby Bateson] has been making vacuum cleaners since he was 8 years old — and he looks considerably older than that now. In of itself that’s not a big deal, but his machines are tiny. In fact, he has the Guinness Book of World Records entry for the smallest vacuum cleaner. His latest exploit? A vacuum in an Altoid’s tin!

Electronically, this is just a switch, a battery, and a motor. But if you are looking for a Dremel tool project, you are in luck. Check out the video of the diminutive device, below. Besides the Altoids tin, there is a metal pipe and some bits of a cut-up soda can.

If you are in the United States, you might be unsure about one of the items in the bill of materials. A punnet is one of those little plastic baskets that things like strawberries or tomatoes are in at the grocery store.

We were trying to think of what we would add to this project, but we got nothing. It doesn’t really need any LEDs and a microcontroller with an Internet connection would be overkill. Maybe a 555 could give you a high and low setting with some PWM for the motor.

Perhaps this could be the start of a tiny robot vacuum. If you think bigger is better, there’s always this Dyson clone.

Tags: home hacks
September 13, 2019
16:00
A Professional-Level Desk In A Dorm
» ‎ Hack a Day

Heading off to college comes with its own set of challenges. Harder course material, living away from home for the first time, and dealing with roommates are common hurdles to overcome, but an oft-overlooked issue is the poor quality dorm room desks. For a place that a student is expected to spend a majority of their study time, colleges and universities don’t often provide inspiring areas in the dorm rooms for this task. With a few tools and some time, though, anyone suffering in a dorm can have a much better place to work.

This desk build comes to us from reddit user [lucas_talbert] and is noteworthy for using simple tools and materials to transform the standard, boring desk in a way which won’t upset the facilities manager in charge of the dorm furniture. The backer is a piece of plywood which was covered in bamboo flooring. It was screwed into the back of the desk and secured with L-brackets. A piece of 1×4 was attached around the edges to help hide the LED lights and cables as well.

We like this build for its impressive transformation of an otherwise drab dorm room into a place that most of us wouldn’t mind having as our main workstation, even beyond college. It also uses common materials and is easily removable, both of which are perks when living as a student. The one thing it doesn’t have, though, is the ability to exercise when using it.

Tags: home hacks
13:00
DJ Xiaomi Spins Beats And Brushes At The Same Time
» ‎ Hack a Day

Direct from the “Just Because I Can” department, this blog post by [Eddie Zhang] shows us how easy it is to get the Xiaomi robotic vacuum cleaner working as what might be the world’s most unnecessary Spotify Connect speaker. Will your home be the next to play host to an impromptu performance by DJ Xiaomi? Judging by the audio quality demonstrated in the video after the break, we doubt it. But this trick does give us a fascinating look at the current state of vacuum hacking.

For the first phase of this hack, [Eddie] makes use of Dustcloud, an ongoing project to document and reverse engineer various Xiaomi smart home gadgets. Using the information provided there you can get root-level SSH access to your vacuum cleaner and install your own software. There’s a sentence you never thought you’d read, right?

With the vacuum rooted, [Eddie] then installs a Spotify Connect client intended for the Raspberry Pi. As they’re both ARM devices, the software will run on the Xiaomi bot well enough, but the Linux environment needs a little tweaking. Namely, you need to manually create an Upstart .conf file for the service, as the vacuum doesn’t have systemd installed. There goes another one of those unexpected sentences.

We’re certainly no stranger to robotic vacuum hacking, though historically the iRobot Roomba has been the target platform for such mischief. Other players entering the field can only mean good things for those of us who get a kick out of seeing home appliances pushed outside of their comfort zones.

[Thanks to Ohmohm for the tip.]

Tags: home hacks
September 10, 2019
4:00
Detecting Cars with an ESP8266 Magnetometer
» ‎ Hack a Day

Having a motorized gate on your driveway is great, but only if there’s an easy way to trigger it. [Andrew] says the gate at his parent’s place could only be controlled by manually pushing a button on the panel or with a dinky remote that didn’t have nearly the range they wanted. So he decided to build his own magnetometer allowing the gate to automatically open when a car was trying to leave.

Naturally, there are commercial offerings that would solve this problem. But with a sticker price of more than $150 USD, [Andrew] was more than happy to spend a bit of time tinkering to get the job done for less than 1/10th the cost with an ESP8266 and a QMC5883X series magneto-resistive sensor. Of course, this is one of those projects that seems simple enough in your head, but ends up taking a bit of finesse to pull off in the real-world.

For one, [Andrew] had to figure out how to prevent false positives. Pretty much any object brought close enough to the sensor, including his hand, would cause it to react. He ended up coming up with a way to use a rolling average to prevent the gate from firing off just because a squirrel ran past. The built-in safeties are designed to ensure that the gate only opens when an actual car is sitting in the appropriate spot for long enough.

Speaking of, we love how [Andrew] deployed the QMC5883X sensor for this project. The small sensor board and a few moisture-absorbing packets were placed in a Sonoff IP66 waterproof enclosure, and buried under the rocks of the driveway. A standard CAT5 cable is used to tether it to the ESP8266, relay, and assorted other goodies that now live in the gate’s control box. In the future he says the cable will likely have to go into a conduit, but for now the system is working more or less how he expected.

If your estate isn’t quite palatial enough to have a motorized gate out front, we’ve seen plenty of projects that add some much-needed intelligence to the humble garage door opener which might be more your speed.

Tags: home hacks
August 28, 2019
22:00
How The Power Gets To The Outlet
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Practical Engineering] is ready to explain how power substations get electricity to you in his latest video, which you can see below. One of the things we always notice when talking to people either in our community or outside it is that most people have no idea how most of the modern world works.

Ask your non-technical friend to explain how a cell phone works or how a hard drive stores data and you aren’t likely to get a very good answer. However, even most of us are only focused on some particular aspect of electronics. There are a lot of people who hack on robots or radios. The AC power grid,though isn’t something a lot of people work with as a hobby. Do you know exactly what goes on in that substation you pass every day on your commute? If you don’t, you’ll learn something in the video.

Sure we know what transformers and breakers are. But do you know what a recloser is? Do you know all the different functions a substation might have? If not, the video is for you.

If you want to learn more about the kinds of wires you see overhead, we’d did that earlier. In fact, we had a whole series on the electric grid, smart and otherwise.

Tags: home hacks
11:30
Cat Litter Tray Joins The Internet of Things
» ‎ Hack a Day

Keeping a cat as a pet can be rewarding, but it’s always important to consider how to handle the mess – and we’re not just talking about the tea cups pushed off tables here. To handle just this task, [Igor] decided to hook his cat litter box up to the internet of things.

Monitoring the litter box brings several useful advantages. Load cells enable the weight of the litter tray to be monitored, allowing sand levels and the weight of the cats to be checked at regular intervals. Additionally, a door sensor keeps a record of comings and goings, giving an idea of how frequently the box has been used, and whether or not it may be time for cleaning. It’s all powered by an ESP32, hooked up to the Thingspeak platform. This allows for easy graphing and analysis of the data collected from the system. The electronics is then neatly installed in an attractive two-tone 3D printed enclosure with a pleasing cat motif.

It’s a great example of using some cheap off-the-shelf parts to ease the regular tasks of daily life. Building your own gear can be beneficial too, especially when Big Litter implements DRM on their hardware.

The HackadayPrize2019 is Sponsored by:

Tags: home hacks
August 25, 2019
1:00
Inventor And Detective Create Range Of Snack-Hiding Devices
» ‎ Hack a Day

Anyone who has had to deal with siblings, their friends, flatmates or parents who are overly fond of snacks may know this issue: you bought some snacks for your own consumption, but before you can get to them they have vanished. Naturally, nobody knows what happened to said snacks and obviously outraged that anyone would dare to do such a dastardly thing like eating someone else’s snacks.

This is the premise behind British inventor [Colin Furze]’s new series of YouTube videos (embedded after the break). Teaming up with former Scotland Yard detective [Peter Bleksley], their goal is to find ways to hide snacks around the house where curious and peckish individuals will not find them. Though a snack-company sponsored series (Walkers) and featuring snack names that will ring no bells for anyone outside of the UK, it nevertheless shows some innovative ways to hide snacks.

The first episode shows how one can hide snacks (or something else, naturally) inside a door. The second tweaks a standing lamp to add some hidden drawers, and the third episode creates a hidden compartment behind a television. Perhaps the most intriguing part of these episodes is the way it highlights how easy it is to not just hide snacks around the house, but also devices for automation and monitoring. Just think how one could use these tricks for IoT projects and the like.

A basic DIY project aimed more at younger individuals is provided as a PDF on the Dropbox account for the episodes. This involves the decidedly less creative project of gluing a book’s pages together in order to make a solenoid-locked hiding spot out of it. Considering how common hiding things in books is, hacking up that door instead probably makes a lot more sense. Fake bottoms in a drawer is also a good alternative that requires just some basic wood-working skills.

Tags: home hacks
August 24, 2019
22:00
The Danish Internet Of Hot Tubs
» ‎ Hack a Day

Every hacker camp has its own flavor, and BornHack 2019 in the Danish countryside gave us the opportunity to sample some hacker relaxation, Scandinavian style. Among the attractions was a wood-fired hot tub of gargantuan proportions, in which the tired attendee could rejuvenate themselves at 40 Celcius in the middle of the forest. A wood-fired hot tub is not the easiest of appliances to control, so to tame it [richard42graham] and a group of Danish hackerspace friends took it upon themselves to give it an internet-connected temperature sensor.

The starting point was a TMP112 temperature sensor and an ESP8266 module, which initially exposed the temperature reading via a web interface, but then collapsed under too much load. The solution was to make the raw data available via MQTT, and from that create a web interface for the event bar, Twitter and IRC bots. There was even an interface to display hot tub temperature on the ubiquitous OHMlights dotted around the camp.

It’s more normal to control a hot tub via an electric heater, but since the wood fire on this one has to be tended by a camp volunteer it made sense to use the IRC system as an alert. It will be back at BornHack 2020, so we’ll have to do our job here at Hackaday and spend a long time lounging in the hot tub in the name of journalistic research to see how well it works.

Tags: home hacks
August 15, 2019
13:00
Home Automation At A Glance Using AI Glasses
» ‎ Hack a Day

There was a time when you had to get up from the couch to change the channel on your TV. But then came the remote control, which saved us from having to move our legs. Later still we got electronic assistants from the likes of Amazon and Google which allowed us to command our home electronics with nothing more than our voice, so now we don’t even have to pick up the remote. Ushering in the next era of consumer gelification, [Nick Bild] has created ShAIdes: a pair of AI-enabled glasses that allow you to control devices by looking at them.

Of course on a more serious note, vision-based home automation could be a hugely beneficial assistive technology for those with limited mobility. By simply looking at the device you want to control and waving in its direction, the system knows which appliance to activate. In the video after the break, you can see [Nick] control lamps and his speakers with such ease that it almost looks like magic; a defining trait of any sufficiently advanced technology.

So how does it work? A Raspberry Pi camera module mounted to a pair of sunglasses captures video which is sent down to a NVIDIA Jetson Nano. Here, two separate image classification Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models are being used to identify objects which can be controlled in the background, and hand gestures in the foreground. When there’s a match for both, the system can fire off the appropriate signal to turn the device on or off. Between the Nano, the camera, and the battery pack to make it all mobile, [Nick] says the hardware cost about $150 to put together.

But really, the hardware is only one small piece of the puzzle in a project like this. Which is why we’re happy to see [Nick] go into such detail about how the software functions, and crucially, how he trained the system. Just the gesture recognition subroutine alone went through nearly 20K images so it could reliably detect an arm extended into the frame.

If controlling your home with a glance and wave isn’t quite mystical enough, you could always add an infrared wand to the mix for that authentic Harry Potter experience.

Thanks to the many tips we got in for this one.

Tags: home hacks
July 27, 2019
10:00
Does This Timber Have The Right Timbre?
» ‎ Hack a Day

A hi-fi amplifier used to be a rite of passage for the home electronic constructor, back in the days when consumer electronics was still dominated by analogue entertainment. It’s unusual then to see [carbono.silício]’s stereo amplifier project, constructed in an open-wire circuit sculpture form on a log. You didn’t read that incorrectly, it’s built not on a breadboard but on a piece of Olea Maderensis, or Madiera Olive wood, complete with bark. This endangered tree was not felled, instead it was a piece blown down after a storm.

The circuit is slightly unusual for a project such as this, in that it uses a pair of LM386 audio amplifier chips. This isn’t an unusual component, but it’s one more commonly seen providing the amplification for a small speaker project than in a stereo hi-fi amplifier. But the construction is beautifully done, with very neatly routed wires, a single central volume knob, and a blue LED power light. A particularly nice touch are the aluminium electrolytic capacitors, we suspect having had their plastic sleeving removed.

We’ve had our share of stereo amp projects here, and some of them are surprisingly simple. We have even been known to partake of them ourselves.

Tags: home entertainment hacks
July 24, 2019
13:00
Shower Water Monitor Tracks The Dollars and Cents
» ‎ Hack a Day

There’s nothing quite as relaxing as a long, hot shower. This has the tendency of making the bather absent minded as to the amount of water being used, which can lead to excessive bills. [LiamOSM] built a device to monitor this instead, and calculate the cost, to boot.

The device consists of an Arduino hooked up to a cheap flow meter sourced from Banggood. The sensor consists of a paddle wheel that sits in the water flow, fitted with a magnet. A hall effect sensor picks up pulses as the magnet spins, and counting these allows the flow rate to be measured. An HD44780 LCD screen is used to display the readings, controlled over I²C.

To avoid issues in the bathroom environment, the enclosure was designed to be waterproof. The LCD is mounted behind a clear plastic window sourced from vegetable packaging, and the button chosen was specially selected for its sealing grommets. We’d love to see a proper submersion test, but for the most part, it appears to be doing a good job in the bathroom.

If you’re interested in monitoring your water use as a household, you might find it possible to piggy back on the municipal meter.

Tags: home hacks
July 14, 2019
10:00
Homekit Compatible Sonoff Firmware Without A Bridge
» ‎ Hack a Day

Generally speaking, home automation isn’t as cheap or as easy as most people would like. There are too many incompatible protocols, and more often than not, getting everything talking requires you to begrudgingly sign up for some “cloud” service that you didn’t ask for. If you’re an Apple aficionado, there can be even more hoops to jump through; getting your unsupported smart home devices working with that Cupertino designed ecosystem often involves running your own HomeKit bridge.

To try and simplify things, [Michele Gruppioni] has developed a firmware for the ubiquitous Sonoff WIFI Smart Switch that allows it to speak native HomeKit. No more using a Raspberry Pi to act as a mediator between your fancy Apple hardware and that stack of $4 Sonoff’s from AliExpress, they can now talk to each other directly. In the video after the break you can see that the iPad identifies the switch as unofficial device, but since it’s compliant with the HomeKit API, that doesn’t prevent them from talking to each other.

Not only will this MIT licensed firmware get your Sonoff Basic, Sonoff Slampher, or Sonoff S26 talking with your Apple gadgets, but it also provides a web interface and REST API so it retains compatibility with whatever else you might be running in your home automation setup. So while the more pedestrian users of your system might be turning the porch light on with their iPhones, you can still fire it up with a Bash script as nature intended.

Of course, if you don’t mind adding a Raspberry Pi bridge to the growing collection of devices on your network, we’ve got plenty of other HomeKit-enabled projects for you to take a look at.

Tags: home hacks
July 12, 2019
16:00
Keep Pesky Cats At Bay With A Machine-Learning Turret Gun
» ‎ Hack a Day

It doesn’t take long after getting a cat in your life to learn who’s really in charge. Cats do pretty much what they want to do, when they want to do it, and for exactly as long as it suits them. Any correlation with your wants and needs is strictly coincidental, and subject to change without notice, because cats.

[Alvaro Ferrán Cifuentes] almost learned this the hard way, when his cat developed a habit of exploring the countertops in his kitchen and nearly turned on the cooktop while he was away. To modulate this behavior, [Alvaro] built this AI Nerf turret gun. The business end of the system is just a gun mounted on a pan-tilt base made from 3D-printed parts and a pair of hobby servos. A webcam rides atop the gun and feeds into a PC running software that implements the YOLO3 localization algorithm. The program finds the cat, tracks its centroid, and swivels the gun to match it. If the cat stays in the no-go zone above the countertop for three seconds, he gets a dart in his general direction. [Alvaro] found that the noise of the gun tracking him was enough to send the cat scampering, proving that cats are capable of learning as long as it suits them.

We like this build and appreciate any attempt to bring order to the chaos a cat can bring to a household. It also puts us in mind of [Matthias Wandel]’s recent attempt to keep warm in his shop, although his detection algorithm was much simpler.

Tags: home hacks
July 07, 2019
19:01
Vintage Philco Radio Looks Stock, Contains Modern Secret: A Raspberry Pi
» ‎ Hack a Day

Antique radio receivers retain a significant charm, and though they do not carry huge value today they were often extremely high quality items that would have represented a significant investment for their original owners. [CodeMakesItGo] acquired just such a radio, a Philco 37-11 made in 1937, and since it was it a bit of a state he set about giving it some updated electronics. Vintage radio purists, look away from the video below the break.

Stripping away the original electronics, he gave it a modern amplifier with Bluetooth capabilities, and a Raspberry Pi. Vintage radio enthusiasts will wince at his treatment of those classic parts, but what else he’s put into it makes up for the laying waste to a bit of ’30s high-tech.The original tuning dial was degraded so he’s given it a reproduction version, and behind that is an optical encoder and two optical sensors. This is used to simulate “tuning” the radio between different period music “stations” being played by the PI, and for an authentic feel he’s filled the gaps with static. The result is a functional and unusual device, which is probably better suited than the original to a 2019 in which AM radio is in decline.

If you think of a high-end set like this Philco as being the ’30s equivalent of perhaps an 8K TV set, you can imagine the impact of AM radio in those early days of broadcasting. We recently took a look at some of the directional antenna tricks that made so many AM stations sharing the band a possibility.

Tags: home entertainment hacks
July 01, 2019
19:00
AI Recognizes And Locks Out Murder Cats
» ‎ Hack a Day

Anyone with a cat knows that the little purring ball of fluff in your lap is one tiny step away from turning into a bloodthirsty serial killer. Give kitty half a chance and something small and defenseless is going to meet a slow, painful end. And your little killer is as likely as not to show off its handiwork by bringing home its victim – “Look what I did for you, human! Are you not proud?”

As useful as a murder-cat can be, dragging the bodies home for you to deal with can be – inconvenient. To thwart his adorable serial killer [Metric], Amazon engineer [Ben Hamm] turned to an AI system to lock his prey-laden cat out of the house. [Metric] comes and goes as he pleases through a cat flap, which thanks to a solenoid and an Arduino is now lockable. The decision to block entrance to [Metric] is based on an Amazon AWS DeepLens AI camera, which watches the approach to the cat flap. [Ben] trained three models: one to determine if [Metric] was in the scene, one to determine whether he’s coming or going, and one to see if he’s alone or accompanied by a lifeless friend, in which case he’s locked out for 15 minutes and an automatic donation is made to the Audubon Society – that last bit is pure genius. The video below is a brief but hilarious summary of the project for an audience in Seattle that really seems quite amused by the whole thing.

So your cat isn’t quite the murder fiend that [Metric] is? An RFID-based cat door might suit your needs better.

[via r/Arduino]

Tags: home hacks
1:00
Exploring Basement Humidity With A Raspberry Pi
» ‎ Hack a Day

Sometimes a hack isn’t about building something cool. Sometimes it’s more tactical, where the right stuff is cobbled together to gather the information needed to make decisions, or just to document some interesting phenomenon.

Take this impromptu but thorough exploration of basement humidity undertaken by [Matthias Wandel]. Like most people with finished basements in their homes, [Matthias] finds the humidity objectionable enough to warrant removal. But he’s not one to just throw a dehumidifier down there and forget about it. Seeking data on how well the appliance works, [Matthias] wired a DHT22 temperature/humidity sensor to a spare Raspberry Pi to monitor room conditions, and plugged the dehumidifier into a Kill-A-Watt with a Pi camera trained on the display to capture data on electrical usage.

His results were interesting. The appliance does drop the room’s humidity while raising its temperature, a not unexpected result given the way dehumidifiers work. But there was a curious cyclical spike in humidity, corresponding to the appliance’s regular defrost cycle driving moisture back into the room. And when the dehumidifier was turned off, room humidity gradually increased, suggesting an unknown source of water. The likely culprit: moisture seeping up through the concrete slab, or at least it appeared so after a few more experiments. [Matthias] also compared three different dehumidifiers to find the best one. The video below has all the details.

We always appreciate [Matthias]’ meticulous approach to problems like these, and his field expedient instrumentation. He seems to like his creature comforts, too – remember the target-tracking space heater from a few months back?

Tags: home hacks
June 30, 2019
4:00
Turn a Ceiling Fan Into a Wind Turbine… Almost
» ‎ Hack a Day

It’s not uncommon to drive around the neighborhood on trash day and see one or two ceiling fans haphazardly strewn onto a pile of garbage bags, ready to be carted off to the town dump. It’s a shame to see something like this go to waste, and [Giesbert Nijhuis] decided he would see what he could do with one. After some painstaking work, he was able to turn a ceiling fan into a wind turbine (of sorts).

While it’s true that some generators and motors can be used interchangeably by reversing the flow of electricity (motors can be used as generators and vice-versa) this isn’t true of ceiling fans. These motors are a type called induction motors which, as a cost saving measure, have no permanent magnets and therefore can’t simply be used as a generator. If you make some modifications to them, though, like rewiring some of the windings and adding permanent magnets around them, you can get around this downside of induction motors.

[Giesbert] does note that this project isn’t a great way to build a generator. Even after making all of the changes needed to get it working, the motor just isn’t as efficient as one that was built with its own set of magnets. For all the work that went into it, it’s not that great of a time investment for a low-quality generator. However, it’s interesting to see the theory behind something like this work at all, even if the end result wasn’t a complete wind turbine. Perhaps if you have an old ceiling fan lying around, you can put it to better use.

Tags: home hacks
June 28, 2019
22:01
Electronic Candle Charges Inductively
» ‎ Hack a Day

Humans like things that look like other things. A great example are faux LED tea light candles, with a plastic “flame” and flickering orange LED to recreate the effect of their waxy brethren. [gzumwalt] wanted to take the concept a little further, however, and got down to work.

The design harvests the orange LED and flame lens from an existing LED candle, but the rest is all original. [gzumwalt] printed a full-size candle, and fitted it with inductive charging hardware and a lithium-polymer battery. A corresponding charging base is used to supply power to the candle when it’s not in use. This is all handled automatically, with neodymium magnets used to activate reed switches to turn the charger on and the LED off.

It’s a tidy build that can be easily replicated with a 3D printer and some off-the-shelf parts. It’s also less wasteful than using disposable batteries, and safer than using real candles – so if you find yourself routinely shooting candle scenes in your budget film studio, it might be worth printing up a set of these.

LED candles range from the basic to the extreme – we’ve seen builds so realistic, you can light them with a match.

Tags: home hacks
June 18, 2019
8:00
Let A Spooky Owl Tell You The Weather
» ‎ Hack a Day

There can be few readers who were young in the 1970s who did not want to share in the adventures of the fearless animated ghost-hunting young crime-fighters of Scooby-Doo. What do you remember from the series though? The Mystery Machine van? Scooby snacks? Or perhaps the improbably haunted theme parks whose owners would have got away with it if it hadn’t been for those pesky kids? For [Alex Shakespeare] it seems to have been the trope of haunted pictures whose subject’s eyes would follow the protagonists around the room, because when he made a wall-mounted weather indicator he gave it an owl with eyes doing just that.

The weather part of the device is straightforward enough, an ESP8266 board drives a set of servos that move dial indicators according to data from the Dark Sky API. The owl’s moving googly eyes are the party piece though, for them the ESP takes input from an Adafruit AMG8833 thermal sensor array and drives a servo and lever arrangement to do the moving. Finally, the thermal camera’s output is available to see on the ESP’s web server. All the details of the project can be found via a GitHub repository.

The result is shown in the video below the break, and as you might expect in the spirit of its inspiration it’s more comedic than haunting. But maybe there’s the root of the popularity of artworks that follow the viewer, of which this is merely the latest in a long line.

Tags: home hacks
June 11, 2019
11:30
HestiaPi: a Stylish Open Hardware Thermostat
» ‎ Hack a Day

A common complaint about open hardware and software is that the aesthetic aspects of the projects often leave something to be desired. This isn’t wholly surprising, as the type of hackers who are building these things tend to be more concerned with how well they work than what they look like. But there’s certainly nothing wrong with putting a little polish on a well designed system, especially if you want “normal” people to get excited about it.

For a perfect example, look no further than the HestiaPi Touch. This entry into the 2019 Hackaday Prize promises to deliver all the home automation advantages of something like Google’s Nest “smart” thermostat without running the risk of your data being sold to the highest bidder. But even if we take our tinfoil hat out of the equation, it’s a very slick piece of hardware from a functional and visual standpoint.

As you probably guessed from the name, the thermostat is powered by the Raspberry Pi Zero, which is connected to a custom PCB that includes a couple of relays and a connector for a BME280 environmental sensor. The clever design of the 3D printed case means that the 3.5 inch touch screen LCD on the front can connect directly to the Pi’s GPIO header when everything is buttoned up.

Of course, the hardware is only half the equation. To get the HestiaPi Touch talking to all the other smart gadgets in your life, it leverages the wildly popular OpenHAB platform. As demonstrated in the video after the break, this allows you to use the HestiaPi and its mobile companion application to not only control your home’s heating and air conditioning systems, but pretty much anything else you can think of.

The HestiaPi Touch has already blown past its funding goal on Crowd Supply, and the team is hard at work refining the hardware and software elements of the product; including looking at ways to utilize the unique honeycomb shape of the 3D printed enclosure to link it to other add-on modules.

The HackadayPrize2019 is Sponsored by:

Tags: home hacks
4:00
Smarten Up Your Air Conditioning with the ESP8266
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’re looking for “smart” home appliances, there’s no shortage of options on the market. Even relatively low-end gadgets are jumping on the Internet of Things bandwagon these days (for better or for worse). But what if you’re not looking to purchase a brand new major appliance right now? In that case, you might be interested in seeing how [Giulio Pons] added some high-tech features to his existing air conditioner on the cheap.

Since his AC unit had an infrared remote control, the first thing [Giulio] needed to do was come up with a way to emulate it. An easy enough project using the ESP8266 and an IR LED, especially when he found that somebody had already written a IR communications library for his particular brand of AC. From there, he could start tacking on sensors and functionality.

With the addition of a DHT11 sensor, [Giulio] can have the AC turn on and off based on the current room temperature. It also gives him an easy way to verify the AC is actually on and operating. By checking to see if the room starts cooling off after sending the IR command to start the AC, his software can determine whether it should try resending the code, or maybe send a notification to alert him that something doesn’t seem right. Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper ESP8266 project without some Internet connectivity, so he’s also created a smartphone application that lets him control the system while away from home.

Now admittedly nothing in this project is exactly new, we’ve seen plenty of hackers switch on their AC with the ESP8266 at this point. But what we particularly liked was how well thought out and documented the whole process was. The rationale behind each decision is explained, and he even documented things like his network topology to help illustrate how the whole system comes together. Even if the techniques are well known by many of us, this is the kind of project documentation that makes it accessible to newcomers. Our hats off to [Giulio] for going the extra mile.

In the past we’ve seen a similar project that allowed you to control your AC from Slack, and our very own [Maya Posch] took us on a whirlwind tour of the very impressive ESP8266-powered environmental monitoring system she helped develop.

Tags: home hacks
June 09, 2019
4:00
Protect Your Coffee Machine With A Filter Monitor
» ‎ Hack a Day

Coffee machines are delicate instruments, likely to be damaged by limescale. Thus they will often have a filter present, but filters have a limited capacity of water upon which they can be effective. At Make Bournemouth, they have approached the problem of when to change filters on their coffee machine by applying a bit of high-tech.

The water passing through the filter is monitored by a couple of DFRobot TDS modules, a flow meter, and a DS18B20 temperature sensor. The data from these is fed into an ESP32 dev board, which makes it available by a web interface for handy accessibility through a smartphone. It can then be used to work out how much of the filter’s capacity has been used, and indicate when a replacement is needed. All the code is available in a GitHub repository, and with luck now Bournemouth’s hackerspace will never see the coffee machine succumb to limescale.

Of course, this isn’t the first coffee maker water hack we’ve brought you. A year or two ago we told you about somebody making their pod coffee maker auto-fill too.

Tags: home hacks
May 25, 2019
1:00
A Sonoff Switch Repurposed As A Thermostat
» ‎ Hack a Day

Underfloor heating is a wonderfully luxurious touch for a bedroom and en-suite bathroom, and [Andy] had it fitted so that he could experience the joy of walking on a toasty-warm floor in the morning. Unfortunately after about a year it stopped working and the culprit proved to be its thermostat. A replacement was eye-wateringly expensive, so he produced his own using an ESP8266-powered Sonoff wireless switch.

The thermostat has a thermistor as its temperature sensor, embedded in the floor itself. This could be brought to the ESP’s solitary ADC pin, but not without a few challenges along the way. The Sonoff doesn’t expose the pin, so some very fine soldering was the first requirement. A simple voltage divider allowed the pin to be fed, but through it he made the unfortunate discovery that the ESP’s analogue input has a surprisingly low voltage range. A new divider tying it to ground solved the problem, and he was good to go.

Rather than using an off-the-shelf firmware he created his own, and with a bit of board hacking he was able to hard wire the mains cabling and use one set of Sonoff terminals as a sensor connector. The whole fit neatly inside an electrical fitting box, so he’s back once more to toasty-warm feet.

This isn’t the first ESP thermostat we’ve featured, nor will it be the last. Here’s a particularly nice build from 2017.

Tags: home hacks
May 19, 2019
1:00
Not Happy with Smart Bulbs? Make Your Own
» ‎ Hack a Day

The idea of the so-called “smart bulb” sounds good; who wouldn’t want to be able to verify the porch light is on if you’re out of town for the night, or check to see if you left the bathroom lights on in your rush out the door in the morning? But in practice, it can be a nightmare. Each brand wants to push their own protocol. Even worse, it seems you can’t get anything done without signing up for three different services, each with its own application that needs to be installed on your phone. It’s a frustrating and often expensive mire to find yourself in.

[Dom Gregori] liked the Hue bulbs offered by Philips, but didn’t want to buy into the whole ecosystem of phone apps and hardware hubs they require. So he decided to create his own open source version that would do everything he wanted, without any of the seemingly unavoidable baggage of the commercial offerings. The final result is a professional looking ESP8266 controlled RGB bulb that hooks into Home Assistant via MQTT.

Looking at his Bill of Materials, it’s actually pretty amazing to see how little it really takes to pull a project like this off. Outside of the Wemos D1 Mini board, [Dom] just needed a few concentric WS2812 rings, and a USB charger small enough to fit into the base of his 3D printed enclosure.

We especially like how he handled the socket-side of the bulb, as that’s the part that would have left us scratching our heads. Rather than trying to salvage the base from an existing bulb, or come up with his own printed piece to stick in the socket, he just used a cheap and readily available light socket adapter. The solution might be a little bulky, but we like how he’s deftly avoided having to handle any AC voltages in this project.

Over the last couple years, we’ve seen more and more smart bulb related content come our way. From the ever popular teardown of a new entry into the market to the sobering realization that your light bulbs might provide the key attackers need to access your network, it’s been fascinating to see the transformation of these once simple pieces of hardware into something far more complex.

Tags: home hacks
May 18, 2019
22:00
A DIY Sprinkler Controller Using An ESP8266
» ‎ Hack a Day

There is something strangely amusing about the idea of a sprinkler system relying on a cloud. But it was this limitation in some commercial offerings that led [Zack Lalanne] to create his own controller when it was time to upgrade his aging irrigator.

It’s a straightforward enough device, he’s taken an ESP8266 on the ubiquitous NodeMCU board, and added a shift register for some output line expansion to drive a set of relays. The interest here lies with the software, in which he’s used the ESPHome firmware and added his own custom part for the shift register. This change alone should be useful for many other experimenters with the ‘8266 and ESPHome combination.

The ESP8266 end of the device ties in with his instance of the Home Assistant home automation hub software. On this he’s been able to tie in all his various sprinkler outputs he added, and apply whatever automation scripts he chooses. The result is a freshly watered lawn, with not a cloud in the sky (or backend).

The value of this project lies only partly in its use for sprinkler owners, for us it also lies in the clear write-up showing the way for others with similar home automation tasks. It’s not the only way to make an ESP sprinkler controller, you should also see this one from 2017.

Tags: home hacks
May 17, 2019
16:00
Yet Another Concrete Speaker Build
» ‎ Hack a Day

Concrete is great if you feel like making something heavy on the cheap. [Marek Unger] decided to have a go, using the material to cast speaker cabinets for a home hi-fi rig (Youtube link, embedded below).

Initial attempts involved creating a laser-cut MDF outer mold, with a styrofoam core inside to be removed later. This was unsuccessful, and [Marek] developed the design further. The second revision used an inner core also made from lasercut MDF, designed to be left inside after casting. This inner mold already includes the mounting holes for the speaker drivers, making assembly easier too.

Once cast, the enclosures were fitted with Tang-Band W4-1320SIF drivers. These are a full-range driver, meaning they can be used without needing crossovers or other speakers to fill in the frequency range. Each cabinet weighs just over 10kg, and they’re ported for extra response in the lower frequency bands. Sound tests are impressive, and the rough-finished aesthetic of the final product looks great in [Marek]’s living room.

We’ve seen concrete used for all manner of projects, from furnaces to USB hubs. Video after the break.

Tags: home entertainment hacks
May 16, 2019
19:00
Reupholstering A Couch, With No Prior Experience
» ‎ Hack a Day

Upholstery is a craft that dates back far longer than many we feature on Hackaday. It requires patience, attention to detail, and a series of specialised skills. If you fancy yourself to be like a young Jack White, you might have considered trying your hand at a piece or two. [darkpine] did just that, and the results are impressive.

The couch was sourced from an online bartering platform, and was in a sad and sorry state after years of use. According to the original owner, the couch was over 100 years old and had been passed down through several generations. Last reupholstered in the 1970s, it was in dire need of repair. Wooden trim was falling off, fabric was fading, and resident cats had been sure to leave their mark.

[darkpine] set about things the right way, stripping the couch back to its bare bones. Taking careful note of the original construction, diagrams were made to ensure the springs could be retied in the correct fashion. Fresh burlap was installed, followed by foam and a layer of cotton batting. Careful attention was then paid to the fabric covering, with hand stitching used along the arms to get an absolutely perfect pattern match along the seams. With the hard part done, the wood was then restored and waxed to a glorious shine.

The final results are astounding, especially when noting that this was [darkpine]’s first ever upholstery project. We don’t see a lot of this kind of thing around here, but it’s not completely unknown.

[via Reddit]

Tags: home hacks
May 14, 2019
1:00
In This Aussie’s Back Yard, No Cat Is Safe From An Automated Soaking!
» ‎ Hack a Day

Some of us here at Hackaday are cat lovers, but we also understand that a plethora of unwanted cats using a suburban back garden can be bothersome, and a few years ago we featured a project from Aussie YouTuber [Craig Turner], in which he created a motion-detecting water spray for use as a relatively harmless cat repellent. Now he’s back with an updated version which is a little slicker and easier to make.

At its heart is the same PIR-turns-on-water operation, but this time there is a solenoid valve and purpose-built nozzle instead of a car central locking actuator and a lawn sprayer. Doing the electronic work is an off-the-shelf PIR module, so there is no longer any need to hack a security PIR detector. Add in some pipe sections and PTFE tape with a bit of hot glue, and the result is a far more professional and streamlined device. The video gives a full run-down on construction, though we notice he neglected to emphasise the polarity of his protection diode so keep an eye out if you follow his example.

So if the thought of a continuous supply of free feline company courtesy of your neighbours is not for you then now you are equipped to send them packing. The latest video incarnation of the project is below the break, but if you are in search of the original then you can go back to our coverage at the time.

Tags: home hacks
May 04, 2019
22:00
Finally, A TV For Portrait Videos
» ‎ Hack a Day

Vertical video is bad, or so we’re told, and you shouldn’t shoot a video with your phone in a vertical position. Why? Because all monitors are wider than they are tall. This conventional wisdom is being challenged by none other than Samsung. There is now a vertical TV (Korean, Google Translate link) , engineered specifically videos shot on mobile phones.

“Samsung Electronics analyzed the characteristics of the Millennial generation, which is familiar with mobile content, and presented a new concept TV ‘The Sero’ (loosely translated as ‘The Vertical’), which is based on the vertical screen, unlike the conventional TV,” so goes the press release.

Features of The Sero TV include synchronization between the screen and a mobile device, and mirroring functions based on NFC. This display is no slouch in the audio department, either: it features a 4.1 channel, 60-watt high-end speaker. A built-in microphone and support for Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant means artificial intelligence can easily control various functions of the display.

The Sero will be released in Korea at the end of May, with a reported price tag of 18,900,000 South Korean Won. A quick Google search tells us that converts to an implausible-sounding $16,295 USD, but it’s not as if you were going to buy one anyway.

Nevertheless, there actually is a market for ‘vertical’ or portrait displays; thanks to the ever-widening of aspect ratios by LCD manufacturers, it makes sense to edit documents with a vertically-oriented monitor. You can fit more code on the screen if you just rotate your monitor. Apple was one of the first companies to realize this with the release of the Macintosh Portrait Display in 1989, providing a wondrous 640×870 grayscale resolution display for desktop publishing. Of course, the Radius full page display was released a few years earlier and the Xerox Alto had a vertically oriented screen. But wait a minute, can’t you just rotate your monitor and save $16k?

Tags: home entertainment hacks
April 27, 2019
19:00
This Owner Took Control Of Their Proprietary Alarm System
» ‎ Hack a Day

When a tip comes in and the tipster feels they have to reassure us that despite appearances their subject is not facilitating crime, it certainly gets our attention. [Flam2006] has a Brinks home security system which can only be configured using a special device only available to installers, and though they managed to secure one through an eBay sale they went to the trouble of reverse engineering its protocol and writing a software emulator in Python. When an owner hacks their own security system to gain full control of something they own, that’s right up our street.

The communication is via an RS485 serial line, and follows a packetised structure with binary rather than ASCII data. There is an almost plug-and-play system for identifying devices connected to a controller, though it is restricted to those devices which the controller already knows about. There is a video of the official method of programming the controller, as well as one of the software in action. We’ve posted them below the break for your delectation.

The ability to perform these tasks on your own property is an important right that has at times been placed under threat by legislation such as the DMCA. We’ve touched upon it countless times, but probably the most high-profile example that we and the wider media have covered are those stories concerning the parts lockdown on John Deere tractors.

Tags: home hacks
13:00
Magnets Versus Laundry Detergent
» ‎ Hack a Day

Soap cleans clothes better than magnets. There, we are spoiling the ending so don’t accuse us of clickbaiting. The funny thing is that folks believe this is plausible enough to ask magnets experts so often that they dedicate a blog entry to comparing magnets and soap. Since you already know how this ends, let’s talk about why this is important. Science. Even though some magnet retailers, herein referred to as [the experts] can easily dismiss this question as fanciful or ridiculous, they apply the scientific method to show that their reasoning is sound and clean evidence is on their side. [The experts] detail the materials and techniques in their experiment so peers may replicate the tests and come to the same results themselves. We do not doubt that the outcome would be equally conclusive.

The experiment includes a control group which processes dirty clothes without detergent or magnets, one group with only magnets, one group with only detergent, and one group with both. White clothing was soiled with four well known garment killers and manually agitated in a bin of warm water. We guessed that magnets would be on par with the control group, and we were pleased to be right. [The experts] now have a body of work to reference the next time someone comes at them with this line. The only question now is if tricky spouses used science to get nerds to do the laundry.

In this age of spin, keeping facts straight instead of jumping to heartfelt conclusions is more vital than ever. We are all potentially citizen scientists so testing a conspiracy is within everyone’s grasp.

Tags: home hacks
April 26, 2019
13:00
A Chandelier Guaranteed To Make Some Retro Game Hardware Collectors Wince
» ‎ Hack a Day

If there’s one thing our community is good at, it’s re-imagining redundant old hardware, particularly in the field of classic gaming consoles and their peripherals. Dead consoles have become new ones, Powergloves have ventured into virtual reality, and light guns, well, they’ve become novelty light fittings.

The [JJGames] Nintendo light gun chandelier will probably make collectors wince who prefer their retro hardware pristine, but it’s certainly an eye-catching conversation piece. The twelve guns are carefully disassembled and the Nintendo electronics removed, before a bulb holder and teardrop lamp is installed. Wiring is completed with twist caps, the guns are joined at the grip with some metal strips and glue, and a chain for ceiling attachment completes the ensemble. A dozen pieces of ireplacable retro hardware sacrificed for a novelty, or a masterpiece of interior decoration? You decide, though we’d opt for the latter in the context of the retro games based business in which it sits.

Our favourite NES lightgun hack ever has to be [Seb Lee-Delisle]’s one that fires a real laser. Meanwhile [JJGames] have made it here before in a similarly wanton use of classic Nintendo plastic, with their urinal made from SNES cartridges.

Tags: home hacks
April 17, 2019
19:00
Cocktail Barbot Takes Things Up A Level
» ‎ Hack a Day

Mixing a cocktail is considered as much an art as a science. The practice is studied dilligently by bartenders the world over. Of course, for any given human task, there’s always another human building a robot to automate it. [CamdenS5] is one such human, with a cocktail mixing barbot with a few tricks up its sleeve.

As you’d expect, there’s a smattering of the usual alcoholic liquids and mixers, along with a battery of pumps for fluid delivery. The fun doesn’t end there, though. There’s a linear actuator capable of putting out 500 N for slicing limes, and a mint and sugar dispenser as well. If that wasn’t enough, there’s even a muddling station to help bring out the flavours just right.

This is a machine that takes a broader look at the process behind making a good cocktail. It’s not just about lumping ingredients into a glass – it takes finesse and care to get the best results. It’s not the first barbot we’ve seen – this one is built in a grandfather clock.

Tags: home hacks
April 11, 2019
22:00
A Simple Programmable Light Controller
» ‎ Hack a Day

Everything’s internet connected these days, garage doors, baby monitors, and the kitchen sink are all hooked up. There are benefits to having everything online, but also several pitfalls. Maintaining security on a home network is an ongoing job, made more difficult by the number of devices that must be kept track of. Sometimes all the hassle isn’t worth it, and you just want a non-connected solution. [Dilshan] found himself in just that camp, and built a simple programmable light controller that doesn’t connect to the Internet.

At the core of the project is an ATMEGA8 microcontroller, which is cheap, readily available, and can do the job. It’s combined with a DS1307 real time clock IC to keep track of time. The circuit is designed for 24V power, to allow it to be run from the same supply as the LED light modules it is designed to control.

The design was initially prototyped with through-hole parts on the breadboard, with the final design being built with surface mount parts on a custom PCB. Light is courtesy of a 7W warm white LED module. 3 push buttons and a 4-digit, 7-segment display act as the user interface, with an LDR to allow the light to also react to its surroundings.

It’s a build that goes against current trends, lacking WiFi connectivity, Twitter functionality, or cloud-based logging. It goes to show that the right solution isn’t always putting everything online. Sometimes the old methods are enough to do the job, and do it well.

Of course, if you’re still itching for a packet data fix, here’s how to blink an LED over the Internet.

Tags: home hacks
April 07, 2019
10:01
DIY Air Conditioner Built From Weird Donor Appliance
» ‎ Hack a Day

There are some parts of the world where living without air conditioning borders on unthinkable. But in more moderate climates, it isn’t all that unusual. [Josh’s] apartment doesn’t have central air conditioning — the kind that connects to a forced-air heating/cooling system. It does, though, have a water circuit for …read more

Tags: home hacks
1:01
A Contact Lens Launcher that Knows the Weather
» ‎ Hack a Day

They say that necessity is the “Mother of Invention”, but over the years we’ve started to suspect that her cousin might be an underutilized microcontroller. How else can you explain projects like the latest from [MN Maker], which takes the relatively simple concept of a contact lens holder and manages …read more

Tags: home hacks
March 31, 2019
1:00
Ikea Furniture Hacks Make Accessibility More Accessible
» ‎ Hack a Day

The ThisAbles project is a series of 3D-printed IKEA furniture hacks making life easier for those without full use of their bodies. Since IKEA furniture is affordable and available across most of the planet, it’s the ideal target for a project that aims to make 3D-printed improvements accessible to everyone. …read more

Tags: home hacks
March 21, 2019
13:00
Old Wireless Switches Join The Internet of Things
» ‎ Hack a Day

Just about any appliance comes in an internet enabled version nowadays. However, even the oldest gear can be switched on and off with an Internet connected power socket. [Bill] is in the process of automating his home, and found some old radio controlled power sockets that badly needed to join …read more

Tags: home hacks
March 08, 2019
1:00
The Heat is on with this ESP8266 Controlled Sauna
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’ll be perfectly honest: sitting inside a heated box sounds just a bit too much like torture for our tastes. But if we did somehow find ourselves in possession of a fancy new sauna, we’d more than likely follow in the footsteps of [Al Betschart] and make the thing controllable …read more

Tags: home hacks
February 27, 2019
7:01
Hack My House: Raspberry Pi as a Touchscreen Thermostat
» ‎ Hack a Day

Your thermostat is some of the oldest and simplest automation in your home. For years these were one-temperature setting and nothing more. Programmable thermostats brought more control; they’re alarm clocks attached to your furnace. Then Nest came along and added beautiful design and “learning features” that felt like magic compared …read more

Tags: home hacks
February 20, 2019
22:00
A Modern Solution To Tea Bag Inventory Management
» ‎ Hack a Day

Britain is famously known as a land of manners and hospitality. Few situations could make an Englishman’s stiff upper lip quiver, short of running out of tea bags while entertaining house guests. Thankfully, [The Gentleman Maker] is here and living up to his name – with a helpful tea monitor …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 30, 2019
4:00
Infrared Brute Force Attack Unlocks TiVo
» ‎ Hack a Day

While the era of the TiVo (and frankly, the idea of recording TV broadcasts) has largely come to a close, there are still dedicated users out there who aren’t quite ready to give up on the world’s best known digital video recorder. One such TiVo fanatic is [Gavan McGregor], who recently tried to put a TiVo Series 3 recorder into service, only to find the device was stuck in the family-friendly “KidZone” mode.

Without the code to get it out of this mode, and with TiVo dropping support for this particular recorder years ago, he had to hack his way …read more

Tags: home entertainment hacks
January 29, 2019
16:00
Don’t Toss That Bulb, It Knows Your Password
» ‎ Hack a Day

Whether it was here on Hackaday or elsewhere on the Internet, you’ve surely heard more than a few cautionary tales about the “Internet of Things” by now. As it turns out, giving every gadget you own access to your personal information and Internet connection can lead to unintended consequences. Who knew, right? But if you need yet another example of why trusting your home appliances with your secrets is potentially a bad idea, [Limited Results] is here to make sure you spend the next few hours doubting your recent tech purchases.

In a series of posts on the [Limited Results] …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 26, 2019
19:00
WiFi Controlled Finger Dims Lights over UDP
» ‎ Hack a Day

While WiFi controlled lights are readily available, replacing your lighting fixtures or switches isn’t always an option. [Thomas] ran into this issue with his office lights. For the developers in the office, these lights always seemed to run a little too bright. The solution? A 3D printed, WiFi controlled finger to poke the dimmer switch.

This little hack consists of a servo, a 3D printed arm and finger assembly, and a Wemos D1 Mini development board. The Wemos is a low cost, Arduino compatible development board based on the ESP8266. We’ve seen it used for a wide variety of hacks …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 19, 2019
19:00
Always Have A Square to Spare
» ‎ Hack a Day

Some aspects of humanity affect all of us at some point in our lives. Whether it’s getting caught in the rain without an umbrella, getting a flat tire on the way to work, or upgrading a Linux package which somehow breaks the entire installation, some experiences are truly universal. Among these is pulling a few squares of toilet paper off the roll, only to have the entire roll unravel with an overly aggressive pull. It’s possible to employ a little technology so that none of us have to go through this hassle again, though.

[William Holden] and [Eric Strebel] have …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 18, 2019
8:30
DIY Clapper is 1980s Style With Raspberry Pi Twist
» ‎ Hack a Day

Home automation isn’t all that new. It is just more evolved. Many years ago, a TV product appeared called the Clapper. If you haven’t heard of it, it was basically a sound-operated AC switch. You plug, say, a lamp into the device and the clapper into the wall and you can then turn the lamp on or off by clapping. If you somehow missed these — and you can still get them, apparently — have a look at the 1984 commercial in the video below. [Ash] decided to forego ordering one on Amazon and instead built her own using a …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 17, 2019
19:00
Designing A Toilet Roll Holder
» ‎ Hack a Day

Everything needs to be designed, at one point or another. There are jobs for those who design kitchens, and stadiums, and interplanetary spacecraft. However, there are also jobs for those who design cutlery, hose fittings, and even toilet roll holders. [Eric Strebel] is here to share just such a story.

[Eric] covers the whole process from start to finish. In the beginning, a wide variety of concepts are drawn up and explored on paper. Various ideas are evaluated against each other and whittled down to a small handful. Then, cardboard models are created and the concepts further refined. This continues …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 11, 2019
13:00
ESP8266 AC Controller Shows Whats Possible
» ‎ Hack a Day

People often get the impression that home built hardware is destined to have a certain amateurish look or feel to it. It’s as though just because you didn’t buy it in a store, it will look cheap or thrown together. While it’s true a hacked together device could look like it was built from the parts bin (and to be fair, sometimes it is), there are plenty of examples of DIY hardware that could give commercial offerings a run for their money.

A case in point is this fantastic ESP8266 air conditioner controller created by [Sitinut Waisara] (Google Translate). Between …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 10, 2019
8:30
State Machine Controls Garage Door Over The Internet
» ‎ Hack a Day

Home automation has been a hot-button topic time and again since the dawn of the personal computer age. These days, thanks to modern communications technology, it’s possible to do some pretty cool stuff. [Brad Harbert] decided to automate his garage door, controlling it over the Internet.

The build relies on a Particle Photon to do the heavy lifting of connecting the door to the Internet. Particle offer a cloud service that makes setting up such a project easy for the first timer, and [Brad] was able to get things working quickly. A relay is used to activate the garage door …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 08, 2019
8:30
An Electronic Love Letter to the Wind
» ‎ Hack a Day

Home weather stations are a great way for hackers and makers to put their skills to practical use. After all, who wants to hear the current conditions for the whole city when they could setup their own station which drills that information down to their very own street? Such a setup doesn’t need to be any more complex than a temperature sensor wired up to a microcontroller, but then not all of us are quite the weather fanatic that [Richard] clearly is.

The system he’s built to monitor the wind over his home is, to put it mildly, incredible. We …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 07, 2019
16:00
Building An ESP8266 Doorbell On Hard Mode
» ‎ Hack a Day

It certainly seems as though it should be an easy enough project; all [Miguel De Andrade] wanted was to receive a notification when somebody was pressing his doorbell, and thought it would be a good project to get his feet wet in the wonderful world of ESP8266 hacking. But as fate would have it, not everything went according to plan. In the end he got it sorted out, but it’s an interesting look at how even the “easy” projects can call the gremlins out of hiding.

Arguably, the problems started when [Miguel] picked up an ESP-01 module from a local …read more

Tags: home hacks
8:30
Controlling Non-Googley Devices With Google Assistant
» ‎ Hack a Day

In the near future of the Smart Home, you will be able to control anything with your voice. Assuming that everything supports the Smart Home standard you chose, that is. If you have a device that supports one of the other standards, you’ll end up uselessly yelling at it. Unless you use gBridge. As the name suggests, gBridge is a bridge between Google Assistant devices and the rest of the smart home universe. It’s an open source project that is available as a Docker image can be run on a low power device in the home, or on a hosted …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 05, 2019
10:00
Build A Home Automation Hub For $20
» ‎ Hack a Day

With so many WiFi home automation devices on the market, you might want to take advantage of these low cost products without having to send your data to third-party servers. This can be accomplished by running your own home automation hub on your home network.

If you don’t want to use a full computer for this purpose, [Albert] has you covered. He recently wrote a guide on running Domoticz on the $20 GL-MT300Nv2 pocket router.

The setup is rather simple: just perform a firmware update on your router using the provided image and a full home automation stack is installed. …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 04, 2019
8:30
The Mystery of the Clacking Clanking Scraping Sound
» ‎ Hack a Day

Hackers tend to face household problems a little differently than ordinary folk. Where the average person sees a painful repair bill or a replacement appliance, the hacker sees a difficult troubleshooting job and the opportunity to save some cash. [trochilidae] was woken one day by the dreaded Clacking Clanking Scraping Sound, or CCSS, and knew that something had to be done.

[trochilidae] reports that usually, the CCSS is due to the child of the house destroying his lodgings, but in this case, the source was laundry based. The Miele tumble dryer was acting up, and in need of some attention. …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 03, 2019
11:30
Reset Your Router The Modern Way
» ‎ Hack a Day

Many Hackaday readers will be settling back into their lives after a holiday period crammed into some family matriarch’s house along with too many assorted relatives, having given up their speedy internet connection for whatever passes for broadband wherever Granny lives. The bargain-basement router supplied by the telephone company will have spent the period wilting under the pressure of a hoard of teenagers watching other teenagers inanities on YouTube, and the Christmas ritual of Resetting The Router will have been performed multiple times.

Wouldn’t it be nice if your router simply reset itself every time it crashed or the Internet …read more

Tags: home hacks
December 22, 2018
13:00
Refurbishing A Classic Electrostatic Speaker PSU
» ‎ Hack a Day

Sometimes a project takes longer than it should to land in the Hackaday in-tray, but when we read about it there’s such gold to be found that it’s worth sharing with you our readers despite its slight lack of freshness. So it is with [Andrew Back]’s refurbishment of his Quad electrostatic speaker system power supply, it may have been published back in August but the glimpse it gives us into these legendary audio components is fascinating.

An electrostatic speaker is in effect a capacitor with a very large surface area, of which one plate is a flexible membrane suspended between …read more

Tags: home entertainment hacks
December 21, 2018
1:00
Neural Network Knows When Cat Wants To Go Outside
» ‎ Hack a Day

Neural networks are computer systems that are vaguely inspired by the construction of animal brains, and much like human brains, can be trained to obey the whims of the almighty domestic cat. [EdjeElectronics] has built just such a system, and his cat is better off for it.

The build uses a Raspberry Pi, fitted with the Pi Camera board, to image the area around the back door of the house. A Python script regularly captures images and passes them to a TensorFlow neural network for object recognition. The TensorFlow network returns object type and positions to the Python script. This …read more

Tags: home hacks
December 12, 2018
22:00
Stovetop Milk Steamer Is Beautiful, Effective
» ‎ Hack a Day

The Moka pot is an industrial design classic, hailing from Italy in the early part of the 20th century. To this day, it remains an excellent way to brew top quality coffee at home with affordable equipment. However, if your tastes for coffee lie more towards lattes than espresso, you’re out of luck – unless you’ve got one of these.

[Create] started with a classic Moka pot for this project, and set out to build a stovetop milk steamer. The top reservoir is quickly cut away, and a tap fitted atop the lower water reservoir. This allows the flow of …read more

Tags: home hacks
December 10, 2018
22:00
Interfacing Phillips Hue Lights With Everything
» ‎ Hack a Day

The Internet of Things is eating the world alive, and we can’t buy incandescent light bulbs anymore. This means the Internet is now in light bulbs, and with that comes some special powers. You can turn lights on and off from a botnet. You can change the colors. This is the idea for the Philips Hue system, which is well respected among people who like putting their lights on the Internet. There are other brands — and you can make your own — but the Hue system does work pretty well.

This is what led [Marius] to create software to …read more

Tags: home hacks
December 02, 2018
13:00
A Raspberry Pi Has This Pool Covered
» ‎ Hack a Day

Far from being a tiled hole in the ground with a bit of water in it, a modern swimming pool boasts a complex array of subsystems designed to ensure your morning dip is as perfect as that you’d find on the sun-kissed beaches of your dream tropical isle. And as you might expect with such complex pieces of equipment in a domestic setting, they grow old, go wrong, and are expensive to fix.

[DrewBeer]’s pool had just such a problem. A decades-oldwired controller had failed, so rather than stump up a fortune for a refit, he created his own pool …read more

Tags: home hacks
December 01, 2018
19:01
Connect Your Electric Heater To The Internet (Easily and Cheaply)!
» ‎ Hack a Day

Winter has arrived, and by now most households should have moved on from incandescent bulbs, so we can’t heat ourselves that way. Avoiding the chill led [edent] to invest in an electric blanket. This isn’t any ordinary electric blanket — no, this is one connected to the Internet, powered by Alexa.

This is a project for [edent] and his wife, which complicates matters slightly due to the need for dual heating zones. Yes, dual-zone electric heating blankets exist (as do two electric blankets and sewing machines), but the real problem was finding a blanket that turned on when it was …read more

Tags: home hacks
November 25, 2018
4:00
DIY Ovalia Chair Serves Your Futuristic Fantasies
» ‎ Hack a Day

The 1960s were a heady time, with both society and the language of design undergoing rapid changes over a short period. Back in 1968, Henrik Thor-Larsen exhibited his Ovalia egg chair for the first time, at the Scandinavian Furniture Fair. With original examples now antiques, and with even replicas being prohibitively expensive, it might just be worth considering building your own if you need to have one. Thankfully, [Talon Pascal] leads the way.

It’s a replica that’s built with accessible DIY tools and techniques. The frame is built up from plywood parts, cut out with a jigsaw. These are then …read more

Tags: home hacks
November 22, 2018
1:00
Beautiful Moving Origami Light Made from Scrap
» ‎ Hack a Day

Whenever [MakerMan] hits our tip line with one of his creations, we know it’s going to be something special. His projects are almost exclusively built using scrap and salvaged components, and really serve as a reminder of what’s possible if you’re willing to open your mind a bit. Whether done out of thrift or necessity, he proves the old adage that one man’s trash is often another’s treasure.

We’ve come to expect mainly practical builds from [MakerMan], so the beautiful ceiling light which he refers to as a “Kinetic Chandelier”, is something of a change of pace. The computer controlled …read more

Tags: home hacks
November 20, 2018
16:00
Retro Wall Phone Becomes A Doorbell, And So Much More
» ‎ Hack a Day

We have to admit that this retasked retro phone wins on style points alone. The fact that it’s filled with so much functionality is icing on the cake.

The way [SuperKris] describes his build sounds like a classic case of feature creep. Version 1 was to be a simple doorbell, but [SuperKris] would soon learn that one does not simply replace an existing bell with a phone and get results. He did some research and found that the ringer inside the bakelite beauty needs much more voltage than the standard doorbell transformer supplies, so he designed a little H-bridge circuit …read more

Tags: home hacks
November 18, 2018
19:00
The Lost Art Of Steam Heating
» ‎ Hack a Day

We got pointed by [packrat] to a 2015 presentation by [Dan Holohan] on the history and art of steam heating systems. At the advent of central heating systems for entire buildings, steam was used instead of water or air for the transport medium. These systems were installed in landmark buildings including the Empire State Building, which still use them to this day.

A major advantage of steam-based heating system is that no pump is required: the steam will naturally rise up through the piping, condenses and returns to the origin. This can be implemented as a single pipe where condensation …read more

Tags: home hacks
November 08, 2018
19:00
Pringles Can Turned Vaporwave Lamp
» ‎ Hack a Day

We play host to a lot of incredibly complex projects here at Hackaday; take a look at some of the entries in the Hackaday Prize for some real world-class engineering. But the hacks you can knock out in an afternoon are often just as compelling as the flagship projects. After all, not everyone is looking to devote years of their lives into building some complex machine.

Case in point, this very slick lamp built by [mytzusky]. Made of nothing more exotic than an old Pringles can and an RGB LED strip, this is something that can potentially be built with …read more

Tags: home hacks
November 07, 2018
1:00
Bill’s 100 Year-Old Smart Home
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Bill] purchased a house in Central Florida, and like any good hacker, he started renovating, pulling Ethernet cables, and automating things. Lucky for us, he decided to write up his experiences and lessons learned. He found a few problems along the way, like old renovations that compromised the structure of the pool house. After getting the structural problems sorted, he started installing Insteon smart switches. If automated lighting is of interest, and you don’t want to wire up relays yourself, Insteon might be the way to go.

He linked the buildings together with a wireless bridge, and then worked out …read more

Tags: home hacks
November 06, 2018
16:00
Add Nest Functionality to your Thermostat for $5
» ‎ Hack a Day

The Nest Thermostat revolutionized the way that people control the climate in their homes. It has features more features than even the best programmable thermostats. But, all of the premium features also come at a premium price. On the other hand, for only $5, a little coding, and the realization that thermostats are glorified switches, you can easily have your own thermostat that can do everything a Nest can do.

[Mat’s] solution uses a Sonoff WiFi switch that he ties directly into the thermostat’s control wiring. That’s really the easy part, since most thermostats have a ground or common wire, …read more

Tags: home hacks
November 03, 2018
10:00
Adding Energy Use and Cost to “Laundry Done” Notifications
» ‎ Hack a Day

Some time ago [Xose Pérez] got interested in generating a notification when his washer had completed a cycle, and now with added features like reporting power usage and cost, he’s put it all together into a Node-Red node that makes it easy to modify or integrate with other projects.

[Xose] started this journey with a Laundry Monitor he created that effectively used cheap hardware (and his own firmware) to monitor his washing machine’s current usage. That sensor was used as the basis for sending notifications informing him whenever the appliance’s cycle was done. Since then, he has continued to take …read more

Tags: home hacks
October 23, 2018
16:00
One Man’s Quest to Build His Own Speakers
» ‎ Hack a Day

Why build your own stereo speakers? Some people like to work on cars in their garage. Some people build fast computers. Others seek the perfect audio setup. The problem for a newcomer is the signal to noise ratio among audiophile experts. Forums are generally filled with a vocal group of extremists obsessing on that last tiny improvement in some spec. It can be hard for a beginner to jump in and learn the ropes.

[Ynze] had this problem. He’d finished a custom amplifier and decided to build his own speakers. He found a lot of spirited debates about what was …read more

Tags: home entertainment hacks
October 22, 2018
8:30
Vibrosight Hears When You are Sleeping. It Knows When You’re Awake.
» ‎ Hack a Day

No matter how excited you are to dive headfirst into the “Internet of Things”, you’ve got to admit that the effort and expense of going full-on Jetsons is a bit off-putting. To smarten up your home you’ve generally got to buy all new products (and hope they’re all compatible) or stick janky after-market sensors on the gear you’ve already got (and still hope they’re all compatible). But what if there was a cheap and easy way to keep tabs on all your existing stuff? The answer may lie in Cold War era surveillance technology.

As if the IoT wasn’t already …read more

Tags: home hacks
October 12, 2018
8:00
Down the DIY Rabbit Hole with a Shop AC Installation
» ‎ Hack a Day

There’s a fine line between a successful DIY project and one that ends in heartbreak. It’s subjective too; aside from projects that end up with fire trucks or ambulances in the driveway, what one DIYer would consider a disaster might be considered a great learning opportunity to someone else.

We’re pretty sure [Cressel] looks at his recent DIY mini-split AC installation for his shop as a series of teachable moments. Most folks leave HVAC work to the pros, but when you run a popular YouTube channel where you make your own lathe from scratch, you might be persuaded to give …read more

Tags: home hacks
October 11, 2018
13:00
Trashed TV Gets RGB LED Backlight
» ‎ Hack a Day

It might not be obvious unless you’ve taken one apart, but most of the TVs and monitors listed as “LED” are simply LCD panels that use a bank of LEDs to illuminate them from behind. Similarly, what are generally referred to as “LCDs” are LCD panels that use fluorescent tubes for illumination. To get a true LED display with no separate backlight, you need OLED. Confused? Welcome to the world of consumer technology.

With those distinctions in mind, the hack that [Zenodilodon] recently performed on a broken “LED TV” is really rather brilliant. By removing the dead white LED backlights …read more

Tags: home entertainment hacks
September 27, 2018
13:00
RTL-SDR Paves Way To Alexa Controlled Blinds
» ‎ Hack a Day

You’d be forgiven for occasionally looking at a project, especially one that involves reverse engineering an unknown communication protocol, and thinking it might be out of your league. We’ve all been there. But as more and more of the devices that we use are becoming wireless black boxes, we’re all going to have to get a bit more comfortable with jumping into the deep end from time to time. Luckily, there are no shortage of success stories out there that we can look at for inspiration.

A case in point are the wireless blinds that [Stuart Hinson] decided would be …read more

Tags: home hacks
September 07, 2018
1:00
Photon Door Lock Swaps Keys for a POST Request
» ‎ Hack a Day

At this point we’re all well aware of the fact that there is some inherent danger involved when bringing “things” onto the Internet. Nobody wants to come home to a smoldering pile of ruble because their Internet connected toaster oven decided to get stuck on “Hades.” But even with the risks, occasionally we see projects that prove at least some intrepid hackers are managing to navigate the Internet of Things to solve real-world problems.

[Daniel Andrade] writes in to tell us about the Internet controlled entry system he’s setup at his new apartment, and while we imagine it’s not for …read more

Tags: home hacks
September 05, 2018
1:00
Monitoring Power By Counting Blinks
» ‎ Hack a Day

What do you do when you want to add a new feature to some electronics but you can’t or don’t want to tear into the guts? You look for something external with which you can interface. We like these hacks because they take some thinking outside the box, literally and figuratively, and often involve an Aha! moment.

[Simon Aubury’s] big household load was electric heating and his ancient heaters didn’t provide any way to monitor their usage. His power meters weren’t smart meters and he didn’t want to open them up. But the power meters did have an external LED …read more

Tags: home hacks
September 01, 2018
16:00
Talk To The Faucet
» ‎ Hack a Day

Your hands are filthy from working on your latest project and you need to run the water to wash them. But you don’t want to get the taps filthy too. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just tell them to turn on hot, or cold? Or if the water’s too cold, you could tell them to make it warmer. [Vije Miller] did just that, he added servo motors to his kitchen tap and enlisted an AI to interpret his voice commands.

Look closely at the photo and you can guess that he started with a single-lever type of tap, …read more

Tags: home hacks
August 29, 2018
1:00
Raspberry Pi as 433 MHz to MQTT Gateway
» ‎ Hack a Day

Many low-cost wireless temperature and humidity sensors use a 433 MHz transmitter to send data back to their base stations. This is a great choice for the manufacturer of said devices because it’s simple and the radios are cheap, but it does limit what we as the consumer can do with it a bit. Generally speaking, you won’t be reading data from these sensors on your computer unless you’ve got an SDR device and some experience with GNU Radio and reading the Nexus protocol.

But [Aquaticus] has developed a very comprehensive piece of software that should make integrating these type …read more

Tags: home hacks
August 25, 2018
19:01
Air Conditioner Remote Reverse Engineered Despite Esoteric Protocol
» ‎ Hack a Day

Infra-red remote control is something of a Done Deal when it comes to hardware hacking, it has been comprehensively reverse engineered, and there exist libraries and software packages to seamlessly take care of all its quirks. Just occasionally though, along comes an IR remote whose protocol doesn’t follow that well-worn path

[William Dudley] found himself in this position with an air-conditioning unit remote control. He found it sent a stream of data with all settings of the machine rather than the single command codes you might expect from a familiar TV remote. The solution was to reverse engineer and reimplement …read more

Tags: home hacks
August 20, 2018
1:00
An Upcycled Speaker Box with Hidden Features
» ‎ Hack a Day

At first glance, this fire engine red speaker box built by [NoshBar] looks straightforward enough. Just an MDF case and couple of drivers recovered from a trashed stereo. But the array of controls and connectors on the front, and a peek on the inside, shows there’s more to this particular project than meets the eye.

Built almost entirely from parts [NoshBar] found in the trash, construction started with some salvaged MDF IKEA shelves and their corresponding twist lock cam fittings. We don’t usually see those style cam fittings used to build DIY enclosures, but if it works for all those …read more

Tags: home entertainment hacks
August 17, 2018
4:00
What’s Behind the Door? An IoT Light Switch
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’re not sure who designed [Max Glenister]’s place, but they had some strange ideas about interior door positioning. The door to his office is right next to a corner, yet it opens into the room instead of toward the wall. Well, that issue’s been taken care of. But the architect and the electrician got the last laugh, because now the light switch is blocked by the open door.

Folks, this is the stuff that IoT is made for. [Max] here solved one problem, and another sprang up in its place. What better reason for your maiden voyage into the cloud …read more

Tags: home hacks
July 27, 2018
1:00
ESP8266 Internet Controlled LED Dimmer
» ‎ Hack a Day

There’s no shortage of debate about the “Internet of Things”, largely centered on security and questions about how much anyone really needs to be able to turn on their porch light from the other side of the planet. But while many of us are still wrestling with the realistic application of IoT gadgets, there’s undoubtedly those among us who have found ways to put this technology to work for them.

One such IoT devotee is [Sasa Karanovic], who writes in to tell us about his very impressive custom IoT LED dimmer based on the ESP8266. Rather than rely on a …read more

Tags: home hacks
July 14, 2018
19:00
IoT Solar Pool Heating
» ‎ Hack a Day

A backyard swimming pool can be a great place to take a refreshing dip on a summer’s day. It can also be a place to freeze your giblets off if the sun has been hiding for even a few hours. That can make pools an iffy proposition unless they’re heated, and that starts to get really expensive in terms of upfront costs and ongoing charges for fuel or power. Unless you put the sun and the IoT to work for pool-heating needs.

Preferences vary, of course, but [Martin Harizanov] and his family clearly like their swims on the warm side. …read more

Tags: home hacks
July 13, 2018
1:00
Give the Clapper a Hand
» ‎ Hack a Day

While “The Clapper” probably first conjures images of low-budget commercials, it was still a useful way to remotely switch lights and other things around the house. But if the lights you want to switch weren’t plugged into the wall, like a ceiling fan, for example, The Clapper was not going to help you. To add some functionality to this infamous device, [Robin] built one from scratch that has all the extra features built in that you could ever want.

First, the new Clapper attaches to the light switch directly, favoring mechanical action of the switch itself rather than an electromechanical …read more

Tags: home hacks
July 12, 2018
13:00
Hacked LCD Shutter Glasses See The Light
» ‎ Hack a Day

It’s always a little sad to see a big consumer technology fail. But of course, the upside for us hacker types is that the resulting fire sale is often an excellent source for hardware that might otherwise be difficult to come by. The most recent arrival to the Island of Unwanted Consumer Tech is 3D TV. There was a brief period of time when the TV manufacturers had nearly convinced people that sitting in their living room wearing big dorky electronic glasses was a workable solution, but in the end we know how it really turned out.

Those same dorky …read more

Tags: home entertainment hacks
June 27, 2018
19:00
Literary Camouflage For Your Router
» ‎ Hack a Day

What is suspicious about the books in the image above? Is it that there is no bookend? How about the radio waves pouring out of them? [Clay Weiland] does not like the way a bare router looks in the living room, but he appreciates the coverage gained by putting it in the middle of his house. He added a layer of home decorating camouflage in the form of some second-hand book covers to hide the unsightly bit of tech.

There isn’t a blog post or video about this particular build anywhere. The photos were submitted to our tip line as-is …read more

Tags: home hacks
June 26, 2018
22:00
Never Go To The Office Breakroom Again
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’re tired of having to make small talk with random people in the office break room every time you need a cup of coffee, or simply don’t have the time to get up to pour yourself some more, it would be nice if there was a way you could have your cup filled for you, right at your desk. With this new drink dispenser, you won’t have to get up or even pour your drinks yourself!

We’ve certainly seen plenty of automatic drink makers, but those are more suited to parties and complicated drink mixing. This beverage dispenser is …read more

Tags: home hacks
June 08, 2018
16:00
A Tinfoil-Free Internet Of Ceiling Fans
» ‎ Hack a Day

Putting everything on the Internet is getting easier and easier, what with the profusion of Internet-ready appliances as well as cheap and plentiful IoT modules to integrate legacy devices. Think IoT light bulbs, refrigerators and dishwashers that can be controlled from a smartphone, and the ubiquitous Sonoff modules. But once these things are on the net, what are they talking about? Are they saying things behind your back? Are they shipping data about your fridge contents off to some foreign land, to be monetized against your will?

Maybe, maybe not, but short of a tinfoil helmet the only way to …read more

Tags: home hacks
May 26, 2018
4:00
Their Battery is Full of Air
» ‎ Hack a Day

Storing electrical energy is a huge problem. A lot of gear we use every day use some form of battery and despite a few false starts at fuel cells, that isn’t likely to change any time soon. However, batteries or other forms of storage are important in many alternate energy schemes. Solar cells don’t produce when it is dark. Windmills only produce when the wind blows. So you need a way to store excess energy to use for the periods when you aren’t creating electricity. [Kris De Decker] has an interesting proposal: store energy using compressed air.

Compressed air storage …read more

Tags: home hacks
May 06, 2018
7:00
A Home Network, Security System, And A Hidden Room Behind A Bookcase
» ‎ Hack a Day

Ok, now this is something special. This is a home network and security system that would make just about anyone stop, and with jaw hanging agape, stare, impressed at the “several months of effort” it took [timekillerjay] to install their dream setup. Just. Wow.

Want a brief rundown of the diverse skill set needed to pull this off? Networking, home security, home automation, woodworking, running two thousand feet(!) of cat 6a cable, a fair hand at drywall work for the dozens upon dozens of patches, painting, staining, and — while not a skill, but is definitely necessary — an amazingly …read more

Tags: home hacks
May 02, 2018
1:00
Tron Inspired LED Desk Lighting
» ‎ Hack a Day

Enclosure: [download]

Reddit user [barbarisch] thought his computer desk was a bit boring, so he came up with a cool project to spice it up: A Tron-inspired computer desk with embedded LED strips!

[Barbarisch] took a basic desk and replaced the tops with ¾” oak plywood. The LED routes were planned out on the computer first and then marked out on the plywood. Using straightedges, [barbarisch] carefully used a router to create the straight grooves and then he created a jig for doing the circles. A bit of trimming and sanding and the three pieces of the desk match up.

After painting …read more

Tags: home hacks
April 25, 2018
1:00
Smart Outlet Cover Offers Lessons on Going from Project to Product
» ‎ Hack a Day

Going from idea to one-off widget is one thing; engineering the widget into a marketable product is quite another. So sometimes it’s instructive to take an in-depth look at a project that was designed from the get-go to be a consumer product, like this power indicating wall outlet cover plate. The fact that it’s a pretty cool project helps too.

Although [Vitaliy] has been working on this project for a while, he only recently tipped us off to it, and we’re glad he did because there’s a lot to learn here. His goal was to build a replacement cover for …read more

Tags: home hacks
April 23, 2018
9:00
Bargain Bin Barcode Scanner Keeps Track Of Shopping Needs
» ‎ Hack a Day

For most people, a Post-It note or dry-erase board suffices to ensure that household consumables are replenished when they’re used up. But hackers aren’t like most people, so this surplus barcode scanner turned kitchen inventory manager comes as little surprise. After all, if something is worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.

[Brian Carrigan]’s project began with a chance discovery of an old barcode scanner in his local scrap store. Questions as to why we can never find bargains like a $500 scanner for six bucks aside, [Brian] took the scanner home for a bit of reverse engineering. He knew it used …read more

Tags: home hacks
April 09, 2018
19:00
Social Networking Robot Actually Respects Privacy
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Fribo] the robot is a research project in the form of an adorable unit that hears and speaks, but doesn’t move. Moving isn’t necessary for it to do its job, which is helping people who live alone feel more connected with their friends. What’s more interesting (and we daresay, unusual) is that it does this in a way that respects and maintains individuals’ feelings of privacy. To be a sort of “social connector and trigger” between friends where every interaction is optional and opt-in was the design intent behind [Fribo].

The device works by passively monitoring one’s home and understands …read more

Tags: home hacks
March 29, 2018
4:00
Dumb Down Your Xiaomi Smart Lamp With A Custom Firmware
» ‎ Hack a Day

Undoubtedly, the ESP8266’s biggest selling point is its WiFi capability for a ridiculously low price. Paranoid folks probably await the day its closed-source firmware bits will turn against humanity in a giant botnet, but until then, hobbyists and commercial vendors alike will proceed putting them in their IoT projects and devices. One of those devices is the Yeelight desk lamp that lets you set its color temperature and brightness via mobile app.

[fvollmer] acquired such a lamp, and while he appreciated its design and general concept, he wasn’t happy that it communicates with external servers. So he did the only …read more

Tags: home hacks
March 23, 2018
19:00
Ground-Effect Lighting For Your Bed.
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’ve ever disturbed your partner by getting up during the night and flicking on the bathroom light — or tripping over something and startling them awake completely in the ensuing catastrophe — [Kristjan Berce]’s idea to install motion-activated ground-effect lighting on his girlfriend’s bed might hold your attention.

[Berce] is using an Arduino Nano for the project’s brain, a PIR sensor from Adafruit, and an L7805 voltage regulator to handle load spikes. He doesn’t specify the type of LED strip he’s using, but Neopixels might be a safe bet here. Soldering issues over with, he …read more

Tags: home hacks
January 03, 2013
9:01
Sump pump monitor emails and raises alarm if water rises
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Matt] literally finds himself in a sticky situation. There’s an oil slick in his sump well. These wells work in conjunction with drain tiles to pump water away from the foundation of a house. Unfortunately the tar that was used to waterproof the outside of his foundation is also washing into the sump and gumming [...]
Tags: foundation sump water matt drain-tiles sticky-situation conjunction home hacks
January 02, 2013
6:24
Frankenstein, an all-tube home theater amplifier
» ‎ Hack a Day

Here’s an exercise in excess if we’ve ever seen one. While working on his undergrad at Michigan State, [Gregory] thought it would be a great idea to build an all-tube home theater system. He calls his seven-foot tall rack of amplifiers ‘Frankenstein,’ and we’ve got to agree this build is an impressive monstrosity of engineering prowess. [Gregory]‘s [...]
Tags: theater frankenstein home gregory michigan home-theater-system monstrosity prowess classic hacks
December 25, 2012
13:01
Magnets keep the shower curtain from groping you
» ‎ Hack a Day

We guess we’re glad to hear that other also suffer from the phantom shower curtain liner. On occasion the shower curtain will start closing in on us around the bottom of the shower. We’re not certain of the phenomenon that causes it. Perhaps it’s static electricity like when a comb repels a stream of water. [...]
Tags: curtain liner magnets shower-curtain static-electricity comb home hacks
December 23, 2012
7:40
Log coasters made with just two tools
» ‎ Hack a Day

Still looking for that perfect gift? [Joel Witwer] shows us how to make a log coaster set and holder on the cheap. He figures he spent just $5 on the project and from what we can tell that all went to some polyurethane which he used to finish the wood pieces. It started with an interesting-looking and [...]
Tags: coaster log gift joel-witwer coaster-set wood-pieces witwer home hacks
December 20, 2012
11:15
Scavenged tube television makes a nice fish tank
» ‎ Hack a Day

[McCaulsey] found an old TV waiting for garbage pick-up on the side of the curb. He brought it home and gave it a new life as an aquarium. His technique is a little rough, but the finished look is exactly what he was going for. He picked up the cheapest aquarium set he could find [...]
Tags: aquarium tube scavenged fish-tank old-tv home hacks
December 19, 2012
14:01
Comprehensive home PCB fabrication tutorial
» ‎ Hack a Day

From what we’ve seen we’d say [Jianyi Liu] is really good at etching PCBs at home. Now you can learn from his experience. He just published a mammoth guide to fabricating your own PCBs at home. That link goes to his index page which leads to all eight parts of the guide. He starts off by [...]
Tags: pcb home guide liu etching-pcbs index-page chemistry hacks
December 14, 2012
13:06
Webmote: control anything with web-based remote
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’ve seen a lot of projects that let you control all of your devices from a smartphone. But this universal web-based remote control system looks like the most versatile we’ve seen yet. The project is called Webmote as the controls are served up as a web interface so that you’re not limited to say an [...]
Tags: webmote anything control web-based-remote-control universal-web web-interface home entertainment hacks
December 11, 2012
15:01
Garage door opener using Siri and Raspberry Pi
» ‎ Hack a Day

[DarkTherapy] wrote in to tell us about his garage door opener that works with Siri and a Raspberry Pi. It’s pretty hard to find a picture that tells the story of the hack, but here you can see the PCB inside the housing of the garage door opener. He patched the grey wires into the [...]
Tags: door garage opener raspberry siri garage-door-opener home hacks
9:01
Rolling your own furnace controller
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Viktor's] found an opportunity to put his embedded design skills to use when the furnace controller in his building went out. He admits it would have been much easier to just purchase a replacement, but not nearly as fun. Instead he built this furnace controller based on a PIC 18F4550. First off, you may find [...]
Tags: controller rolling furnace 18f4550 design-skills home hacks
5:01
Beautiful table made from a bowling alley
» ‎ Hack a Day

For a workbench, desk, or even a dining room table, there’s nothing quite like a massive piece of laminated maple put to use as the surface of a table. Whether in the form of butcher block, a shop class table, or in [Dillon]‘s case, a reclaimed bowling lane, laminated maple provides one of the best possible table surfaces. [...]
Tags: maple bowling table dillon table-surfaces bowling-lane butcher-block home hacks
5:01
Beautiful table made from a bowling alley
» ‎ Hack a Day

For a workbench, desk, or even a dining room table, there’s nothing quite like a massive piece of laminated maple put to use as the surface of a table. Whether in the form of butcher block, a shop class table, or in [Dillon]‘s case, a reclaimed bowling lane, laminated maple provides one of the best possible table surfaces. [...]
Tags: maple bowling table dillon table-surfaces bowling-lane butcher-block home hacks
December 10, 2012
3:01
10 ways to etch PCBs at home
» ‎ Hack a Day

There are a ton of benefits for etching your own circuit boards at home, chief among them the ability to design a circuit in the morning and have a prototype in your hand by lunch. There’s always the question of how to etch the board, but [NurdRage] over on Youtube has all the chemistry covered on [...]
Tags: circuit home etch pcbs youtube prototype chemistry hacks
December 02, 2012
9:01
Hiding an inductive charging station inside furniture
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Tony] wanted to clean up his bedside table by getting rid of the cables used for charging his devices. He accomplished his goal by integrating an inductive charging station inside his furniture. He chose to go with a product called Powermat. The base station for the device includes two inductive charging areas. [Tony] started by [...]
Tags: furniture charging station tony charging-station inductive bedside-table home hacks
December 01, 2012
7:43
Getting rid of a tangled web of phone chargers
» ‎ Hack a Day

Every night, [Roberto]‘s kitchen counter is cluttered with three cell phones, three different cell phone chargers and a mess of wires until morning comes and the chargers are moved to a drawer for the following night. For [Roberto] this is a bit of a pain – a much easier solution would be to have a [...]
Tags: night cell phone roberto cell-phone-chargers kitchen-counter tangled-web home hacks
November 29, 2012
13:01
Through hole plating and milling at home
» ‎ Hack a Day

Here’s a PCB fabrication process that makes us envious. It’s pretty darn close to fab-house quality at home. [Cpirius] is using a CNC mill and through hole plating technique to produce his double-sided circuit boards. The video embedded after the break shows one board from start to finish. It begins with the mill drilling holes [...]
Tags: hole mill home pcb-fabrication-process drilling-holes cnc-mill cnc hacks
November 26, 2012
13:01
A folded horn enclosure to make the most out of a subwoofer
» ‎ Hack a Day

To make the most out of his home theater sound system [Baccula] built this folded horn enclosure for as much bass sound as possible. The design was conceived by [Bill Fitzmaurice] who thought there needed to be a better way to use the subwoofers which are typically used in home systems. His design is called [...]
Tags: horn sound enclosure bill-fitzmaurice folded-horn bass-sound home entertainment hacks
November 23, 2012
13:01
Simple hack plays any sound as your door chime
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Jim's] technique for turning a wireless doorbell into a custom ringtone player is so simple. He manages to get the entire thing done using only a screwdriver and wire clippers as tools. But if you’re looking to use this over the long-term we’d recommend soldering the connections rather than relying only on the twisted wires. [...]
Tags: door sound simple jim wire-clippers wireless-doorbell screwdriver home hacks
November 22, 2012
13:01
Beefing up a smoke alarm system with video, temperature, and connectivity
» ‎ Hack a Day

Here’s a little smoke detector hack which [Ivan] has been working on. He wanted to extend the functionality of a standard detector and we’re happy to see that he’s doing it with as little alteration to the original equipment as possible (this is a life-saving device after all). He sent all the build images for [...]
Tags: detector smoke beefing ivan little-smoke smoke-alarm smoke-detector home hacks
November 21, 2012
10:01
Giving Siri control of some smart bulbs
» ‎ Hack a Day

After getting his hands on the Philips Hue smart lightbulb [Brandon Evans] cracked open some of the hardware to see what is inside. He also spent time working out the software tricks necessary to use Siri to control light bulbs from iOS. If you haven’t heard of the Hue product before it’s an LED bulb [...]
Tags: philips lightbulb control siri hue brandon-evans light-bulbs led-bulb home hacks
November 20, 2012
10:01
Dimming the living room lights using your TV remote
» ‎ Hack a Day

As part of a complete home theater setup [Andy] wanted to be able to control the lights from his couch. He started thinking about the best way to do this when he realized that his TV remote has buttons on it which he never uses. Those controls are meant for other components made by the [...]
Tags: room part dimming andy home-theater-setup living-room couch home entertainment hacks
November 19, 2012
15:01
Bathroom fan that switches itself on when it gets steamy or smelly
» ‎ Hack a Day

At first we thought that [Brandon Dunson] was writing in to tell us he’s too lazy to fix his bathroom fan. What he really meant is that simply replacing the unit isn’t nearly enough fun. Instead, he developed his own bathroom fan trigger based on stinky or humid air conditions. He didn’t publish a post about [...]
Tags: bathroom fan steamy brandon-dunson bathroom-fan air-conditions home hacks
14:01
Raspberry Pi reaches critical mass as XBMC hardware
» ‎ Hack a Day

For years I’ve been dreaming of a streaming media device that could just be stuck to the back of a television. Since XBMC has been far and away my favorite set-top box software, I’ve closely monitored hardware developments that can run that package. Now I think it’s time to declare that the Raspberry Pi has achieved the [...]
Tags: raspberry xbmc Hardware hardware-developments box-software critical-mass home entertainment hacks
November 12, 2012
11:05
Developing a thermostat for a heat pump that only has a timer
» ‎ Hack a Day

The heat pump which cools [Chris LeBlanc's] home lacks the sort of control he was looking for. It’s just got a timer, which switches it off automatically. He wanted to the ability to schedule the cooling cycle like you would with a thermostat-driven arrangement. He ended up build his own controller to automate the cooling [...]
Tags: heat pump timer chris-leblanc heat-pump thermostat home hacks
November 07, 2012
10:01
Measuring SMD parts with a home brew version of Smart Tweezers
» ‎ Hack a Day

SMD parts are great; they allow you to pack more parts on a board, do away with drilling dozens of PCBs, and when done correctly can produce a factory-quality board made in a home lab. There’s one problem with SMD parts; troubleshooting and measuring them. The ideal solution would be something akin to the Smart [...]
Tags: smd board home smart-tweezers factory-quality quality-board tool hacks
9:01
Nyan Cat built into the wall of a house
» ‎ Hack a Day

You’re going to need your best negotiating skills if you want to convince your significant other to let you add your own Nyan Cat to the kids’ room. This goes a bit deeper than just mounting something on the wall. The LEDs which light up this Nyan Cat installation are actually in the wallboard itself. [...]
Tags: wall house nyan cat negotiating-skills wallboard leds home hacks
November 06, 2012
9:01
Ikea provides a great UV exposure box
» ‎ Hack a Day

Making your own boards at home is among the heights of achievement for home tinkerers, and one fraught with frustration. The toner transfer process requires carefully peeling away layers of photo paper, and milling your own circuit boards is an exercise in complexity. One of the best options is using photosensitive copper boards, but this requires exposing the masked-off [...]
Tags: ikea home exposure uv-exposure photo-paper frustration tool hacks

November 02, 2012
18:33
One In Seven North American Home Networks Full Of Malware
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Headlines

One In Seven North American Home Networks Full Of Malware
Tags: networks american home home-networks

November 01, 2012
11:31
Controlling Google TV from a Raspberry Pi (or other networked devices)
» ‎ Hack a Day

Google TV is a network connected television. It does what you would think: plays television programs, streams media from the internet, and allows you to open URLs on your TV. But one nice feature is that it can also be controlled over the network rather than just via an IR remote. Google publishes apps which [...]
Tags: network google television networked-devices television-programs home entertainment hacks
October 30, 2012
8:01
Bluetooth control for your DSLR or just about any other IR operated device
» ‎ Hack a Day

Just the other day we were reading a Reddit thread asking about how to control a television with a smartphone. The conversation started by talking about adding an IR LED to the phone. Then it was suggested that there should be standalone Bluetooth devices that convert commands to IR, and came around to the ideas [...]
Tags: bluetooth control dslr bluetooth-devices smartphone home entertainment hacks
October 25, 2012
8:27
Rooting a NeoTV set top box from the couch
» ‎ Hack a Day

The NeoTV is a set top box built by Netgear to compete with the likes of Roku. It streams video from the usual Internet sources like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and YouTube. [Craig] recently cracked his unit open, and in the process discovered that the NeoTV can be rooted using nothing but the remote control. He starts [...]
Tags: rooting box neotv craig youtube hulu home entertainment hacks
October 17, 2012
14:01
GD-ROM drive emulated to use SD cards instead
» ‎ Hack a Day

This board is the prototype which [Deunan] has been working on in order to use an SD card in place of a GD-ROM drive. The idea is to fully implement the hardware protocol used by a GD-ROM drive so that it can be completely replaced. The end goal is to do away with the optical [...]
Tags: board gd-rom drive sd-cards sd-card prototype home entertainment hacks
October 16, 2012
11:01
Directing an alarm system straight to the Internet
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Scott] has a pretty nice alarm system at his house – it will give the operator at his alarm company enough information to determine if it’s a fire alarm, burglary, or just a cat walking in front of a sensor. [Scott] wanted to cut out the middle man and receive notifications from his alarm system [...]
Tags: directing system alarm scott middle-man alarm-system burglary home hacks
October 05, 2012
15:01
Getting a Nest thermostat to work in Europe
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Julian] was really excited to get his hands on a Nest learning thermostat. It’s round, modern design will make it a showpiece in his home, but he knew there would be a few hiccups when trying to take advantage of its online features. That’s because [Julian] lives in Spain, and Nest is only configured to [...]
Tags: design round thermostat nest julian europe spain showpiece hiccups home hacks
October 03, 2012
11:01
How TO dim EL wire: Current limiting the oscillator!
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Ch00f] finally made a breakthrough with his efforts dimming EL wire. He’s been at it for months and the last we heard his TRIAC idea had sputtered out. Not to be discouraged and with an determination we have to admire he has been hard at work reverse engineering others’ and developing his own methods. He [...]
Tags: oscillator wire dim triac reverse-engineering home entertainment hacks
9:01
Through-hole electroplating in your home lab
» ‎ Hack a Day

For the few double-sided PCBs we’ve actually etched at home we simply soldered a piece of wire to either side of a via and clipped off the excess. But if you want to go the extra mile you can’t beat electroplated through holes. The setup seen above is an electroplating tank build from simple materials which [...]
Tags: through-hole lab home electroplating extra-mile pcbs chemistry hacks
October 02, 2012
6:21
Escape from New York: Hackaday edition
» ‎ Hack a Day

Woo we’re home from Maker Faire! The Hackaday boss man [Caleb] and [Scott], [Phil], and [Andrew] from Squidfoo are back in Springfield, Missouri. I’m safely back in the bosom of Appalachia in Pensyltucky, and we hope every one else at Maker Faire NYC 2012 made it back home safely. Don’t think this is the end of our coverage of [...]
Tags: maker hackaday home scott andrew don phil caleb springfield missouri new-york
September 28, 2012
13:01
How to build a foam machine for your next party
» ‎ Hack a Day

Your neighbors are going to love you if you start filling up the back yard with foam at your next party. It’s an easy enough build, but depending on your ability to source the major components it could cost a pretty penny to use it at your next rager. [Species287] used a big fan and [...]
Tags: foam machine party foam-machine pretty-penny rager home entertainment hacks
10:01
Never pay more than $10 for a projector mount
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Lou] needed to mount his projector to finish up his home theater. But he was rather put off by the cost of commercial solutions. He ended up building his own projector mount for about ten bucks. The technique reuses some scrap metal and sources connectors from the hardware store. If your projector will be mounted [...]
Tags: theater home projector lou projector-mount commercial-solutions scrap-metal entertainment hacks
5:01
Doorbell to Internet bridge also useful for other home automation
» ‎ Hack a Day

This wireless doorbell hack can send a text message when someone rings. Adding the hardware to the chime unit turned out to be quite simple. It shows potential for a slew of other applications. [Martin] started the project with a breakout board he had designed for an RFM12B wireless transceiver board. This board is popular [...]
Tags: internet doorbell board martin wireless-doorbell wireless-transceiver internet-bridge home hacks
September 25, 2012
9:01
Another great backyard observatory build
» ‎ Hack a Day

With a little help from their friends [Jeff Fisher] and his dad built this observatory in their back yard. Their use of simple building materials and techniques show that you can create a respectable home observatory without breaking the bank. It starts with a footing for the telescope mount. This is completely separated from the [...]
Tags: backyard observatory help jeff-fisher backyard-observatory home-observatory home hacks
September 24, 2012
10:01
Garage door opener used to automatically lower a game table top
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Lou] is at it again, and this time he wrote in to let us know about his automated ping pong table topper. With no good spot to stash an entire extra table [Lou] decided to take a two in one game table approach and fit the top of the ping pong table to his pool [...]
Tags: game table pong lou ping-pong-table table-topper garage-door-opener home entertainment hacks
September 21, 2012
15:01
Transit pass controls this home security system
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Folkert van Heusden] installed a bunch of cameras in and around his home. Ostensibly this is for watching the kitties from work, but we’re sure the more accepted purpose is for security. He and his wife don’t really want the cameras rolling when they’re at home. So he added a system by the front door [...]
Tags: security system home home-security-system van-heusden kitties hacks
September 20, 2012
13:01
Key code door lock won’t endanger your security deposit
» ‎ Hack a Day

College students have returned in droves to dorms and apartments at campuses everywhere. So this is the time of year we usually start seeing some coded entry hacks. [Charmonkey] recently took on the challenge at his new apartment. There were some caveats though. He needed to ensure the Landlord could still enter using a key, [...]
Tags: code door lock new-apartment key-code droves home hacks
September 19, 2012
14:01
Home automation hack controls lights based on head count
» ‎ Hack a Day

This home automation hardware turns on and off the lights based on room occupancy. The hack is an extension of an earlier version that was only a proof of concept. [RPisces] took the idea and made it into reality by mounting the sensor hardware in a doorway. He prototyped the device using the MSP430 launchpad. [...]
Tags: automation Hardware home home-automation-hardware proof-of-concept msp430 hacks
September 18, 2012
7:39
Self monitoring a home alarm system
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Lior] wanted to cancel the monitoring system for his home’s alarm, but he didn’t want to stop using the alarm all together. The trick is to rig up some way to monitor it himself. It would have been simple to have it just call him instead of the alarm company since the system just uses [...]
Tags: system alarm home lior home-alarm-system monitoring-system hacks
4:01
Giving the iPod Nano a home on a Honda dashboard
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Hyeinkali's] iPod Nano looks right at home on the dashboard of his 2001 Honda Accord. He got rid of the simple LCD clock and the buttons that were used to set it. The hack holds the iPod securely in place, but it remains easy to remove and take with you. He started by popping out [...]
Tags: honda ipod home nano lcd-clock honda-accord ipod-nano hacks
September 16, 2012
7:00
Etching brass and copper with The Etchinator
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’re in to making your own PCBs at home, you know the trials of etching copper clad boards. It’s slow, even if you’re gently rocking your etch tank or even using an aquarium pump to agitate your etching solution. [cunning_fellow] over on Instructables has the solution to your etching problems, and can even produce [...]
Tags: solution copper home aquarium-pump pcbs tool hacks
September 14, 2012
4:48
Making plastic filament at home
» ‎ Hack a Day

There’s one problem with the popularity of plastic-extruding 3D printers such as the RepRap and Makerbot; since they’ve become so popular, the price of plastic filament has skyrocketed over the past few years. Without a way to produce filament at a hackerspace or home lab, the price of 3D printed objects will remain fairly high. [...]
Tags: filament plastic home reprap printers cnc hacks

September 13, 2012
18:59
Sitecom Home Storage Center Command Injection
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Advisories

Sitecom Home Storage Center suffers from a remote command injection vulnerability.
Tags: home storage sitecom storage-center home-storage vulnerability

18:59
Sitecom Home Storage Center Command Injection
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Recent Files

Sitecom Home Storage Center suffers from a remote command injection vulnerability.
Tags: home storage sitecom storage-center home-storage vulnerability

18:59
Sitecom Home Storage Center Command Injection
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Misc. Files

Sitecom Home Storage Center suffers from a remote command injection vulnerability.
Tags: home storage sitecom storage-center home-storage vulnerability

18:58
Sitecom Home Storage Center Arbitrary File Upload
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Advisories

Sitecom Home Storage Center suffers from a remote shell upload vulnerability.
Tags: home storage sitecom storage-center remote-shell home-storage

18:58
Sitecom Home Storage Center Arbitrary File Upload
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Recent Files

Sitecom Home Storage Center suffers from a remote shell upload vulnerability.
Tags: home storage sitecom storage-center remote-shell home-storage

18:58
Sitecom Home Storage Center Arbitrary File Upload
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Misc. Files

Sitecom Home Storage Center suffers from a remote shell upload vulnerability.
Tags: home storage sitecom storage-center remote-shell home-storage

11:01
Building a passive 3D projection system in your attic
» ‎ Hack a Day

While the whole 3d movie/game craze seems to be ramping up, it really isn’t a new thing. We all recall those fancy red-blue glasses that were popular in theaters for a while, but I’m not talking about that. Passive 3d projection (using polarized glasses) has been around for a while too. Many people have figured [...]
Tags: while projection system blue-glasses 3d-projection game-craze home entertainment hacks

0:00
Vuln: Sitecom Home Storage Center Multiple Security Vulnerabilities
» ‎ SecurityFocus Vulnerabilities

Sitecom Home Storage Center Multiple Security Vulnerabilities
Tags: home storage sitecom storage-center home-storage security-vulnerabilities

September 11, 2012
14:01
Hackaday links: September 11, 2012
» ‎ Hack a Day

Xbee sensors at Lowe’s? Lowe’s, the home improvement big box store, is selling some home automation items which might be Xbee compatible. They’re being sold under the brand name Iris. There is some debate as to whether they’re Xbee, or just 802.15.4 hardware. Either way they might be worth checking out for your wireless projects. Father [...]
Tags: xbee hackaday home lowe iris wireless-projects home-automation hackaday links
14:01
Hackaday links: September 11, 2012
» ‎ Hack a Day

Xbee sensors at Lowe’s? Lowe’s, the home improvement big box store, is selling some home automation items which might be Xbee compatible. They’re being sold under the brand name Iris. There is some debate as to whether they’re Xbee, or just 802.15.4 hardware. Either way they might be worth checking out for your wireless projects. Father [...]
Tags: xbee hackaday home lowe iris wireless-projects home-automation hackaday links
10:01
Robot bar tender records wedding guests getting drunk
» ‎ Hack a Day

Having an open bar usually means hiring at least one bar tender. But this hack does away with those labor costs (and someone to make sure your teenage cousins aren’t drinking) by putting a robot in charge of things. But the fun doesn’t stop there. One of the features of this bartender is that it [...]
Tags: bar tender robot teenage-cousins bar-tender wedding-guests home hacks
September 08, 2012
8:01
A fifty-dollar project screen you can be proud of
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Lou] wrote in to share the fifty-dollar projection screen he built in his home. We’ve seen several of these projects lately. Unlike the one used at a lake cabin, or the other that fills an awkward alcove, this version doesn’t use fabric for the screen. He actually painted it right on the wall. The key [...]
Tags: projection project screen lou dollar-project projection-screen alcove home entertainment hacks

September 07, 2012
14:00
[webapps / 0day] - Sitecom Home Storage Center Authorization Bypass
» ‎ 0day.today (was: 1337day, Inj3ct0r, 1337db)

[webapps / 0day] - Sitecom Home Storage Center Authorization Bypass
Tags: day home sitecom storage-center home-storage
14:00
[web applications] - Sitecom Home Storage Center Authorization Bypass
» ‎ 0day.today (was: 1337day, Inj3ct0r, 1337db)

[web applications] - Sitecom Home Storage Center Authorization Bypass
Tags: web home sitecom storage-center home-storage web-applications

September 06, 2012
16:44
Sitecom Home Storage Center Authorization Bypass
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Exploits

Sitecom Home Storage Center suffers from an authorization bypass vulnerability.
Tags: home storage sitecom storage-center home-storage vulnerability

16:44
Sitecom Home Storage Center Authorization Bypass
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Recent Files

Sitecom Home Storage Center suffers from an authorization bypass vulnerability.
Tags: home storage sitecom storage-center home-storage vulnerability

16:44
Sitecom Home Storage Center Authorization Bypass
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Misc. Files

Sitecom Home Storage Center suffers from an authorization bypass vulnerability.
Tags: home storage sitecom storage-center home-storage vulnerability

7:57
5-keg tap system treats your home brew right
» ‎ Hack a Day

One of the biggest expenses when moving to a kegging system for your homebrew beer is finding a way to keep it cold. [Sanchmo] took a traditional route of using a chest freezer, but a bit of extra effort made the ordinary looking appliance into a 5 tap showpiece in his livingroom. Home brewing is [...]
Tags: keg home system homebrew-beer chest-freezer kegging-system beer hacks
7:00
Hacking dog collars to save money on batteries.
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Lou] sent in this amazingly simple hack that has been saving him money on special batteries for his dog collar. He uses an invisible fence system which gives the dog a shock if it passes beyond certain markers in his yard. The collars use special batteries so you’re not strapping multiple full sized cells to [...]
Tags: dog money hacking lou fence-system invisible-fence dog-collars home hacks
September 05, 2012
4:01
Wireless stereo add-on turns on receiver and pipes in some music
» ‎ Hack a Day

[PC486] wanted to add Bluetooth to a simple shelf stereo system. But if you’re going to go wireless, why not develop an all-in-one solution. His adapter turns on the stereo and feeds it audio all from a smart phone. This is his roommate’s hardware so cracking it open and grabbing an iron wasn’t really an option. He [...]
Tags: shelf-stereo-system smart-phone roommate home entertainment hacks
September 04, 2012
13:01
Movie night at the lake cabin
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Andrew's] family has a rustic lake cabin. There is a lot to do during the day, but since there’s no electricity your options are limited when the sun goes down. Sure there’s the traditional campfire, but lately they’ve been spicing things up with an outdoor movie viewing. To get this up and running they needed to [...]
Tags: campfire electricity sun home entertainment hacks

September 03, 2012
16:55
Sitecom Home Storage Center Directory Traversal
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Exploits

Sitecom Home Storage Center suffers from a directory traversal vulnerability.
Tags: home storage sitecom directory-traversal-vulnerability storage-center home-storage

16:55
Sitecom Home Storage Center Directory Traversal
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Recent Files

Sitecom Home Storage Center suffers from a directory traversal vulnerability.
Tags: home storage sitecom directory-traversal-vulnerability storage-center home-storage

16:55
Sitecom Home Storage Center Directory Traversal
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Misc. Files

Sitecom Home Storage Center suffers from a directory traversal vulnerability.
Tags: home storage sitecom directory-traversal-vulnerability storage-center home-storage

15:01
Building your own LED-based home lighting
» ‎ Hack a Day

We see LEDs used in all kinds of projects but rarely does someone build a home lighting system from scratch with them. [Paulo Oliveira] decided to give the idea a try, included a fading power supply for the LEDs which he built himself. Here you can see the installation at full brightness, but his controller also [...]
Tags: leds lighting home paulo home-lighting paulo-oliveira lighting-system hacks

14:00
[webapps / 0day] - Sitecom Home Storage Center Directory Traversal
» ‎ 0day.today (was: 1337day, Inj3ct0r, 1337db)

[webapps / 0day] - Sitecom Home Storage Center Directory Traversal
Tags: day home sitecom storage-center home-storage center-directory
14:00
[web applications] - Sitecom Home Storage Center Directory Traversal
» ‎ 0day.today (was: 1337day, Inj3ct0r, 1337db)

[web applications] - Sitecom Home Storage Center Directory Traversal
Tags: web home sitecom storage-center home-storage center-directory

9:01
Hacking your grill for performance and features
» ‎ Hack a Day

Summer is winding down, which means that sales will be beginning on grills at stores all over the place. For those that enjoy the outdoor cooking experience, a nice new grill is always tempting. If you’re anything like me though, it can be hard to justify the expense. All you need is some fire right? [...]
Tags: place hacking performance summer outdoor-cooking grills home hacks
August 30, 2012
4:30
Etching your own PCBs at home
» ‎ Hack a Day

Etching your own PCBs from copper clad board is nothing new, but the ability to make your own circuit boards at home is so useful it should be part of every maker’s repertoire of skills. The folks over at Hub City Labs in Moncton, NB, Canada put together a workshop covering the basics of home PCB manufacturing, [...]
Tags: etching copper home canada hub-city moncton moncton-nb-canada copper-clad-board tool hacks
August 29, 2012
9:01
What does the government think about that drone in your home?
» ‎ Hack a Day

The world is buzzing about drones right now. Even we’re joining in the fun with some antics of our own. Right now, it is basically a legal free-for all since no one is enforcing regulation, but is that about to change? Should it? Lets start off by establishing the definition of a “drone”. For this [...]
Tags: government drone home drones antics news
August 28, 2012
11:15
Bluetooth control in a power strip
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Mansour] had a ceramic space heater mounted near the ceiling of his room. Since heat rises this is not the best design. He upgraded to an infrared heater which works a lot better, but lacks the timer function he used on the old unit. His solution wasn’t just to add a timer. He ended up [...]
Tags: heater timer bluetooth timer-function infrared-heater space-heater home hacks
August 21, 2012
10:30
128-inch silver screen for your viewing room
» ‎ Hack a Day

This huge projection screen fills an odd alcove in [Dodge Boy's] screening room. He built it himself for under $200. The materials, tools, and techniques make this a possibility for anyone who wants their own projection setup. The frame is made of pine 1×3 dimensional lumber. To keep the fabric from touching the supports in the [...]
Tags: room projection screen dodge-boy dimensional-lumber projection-screen screening-room home entertainment hacks
August 16, 2012
15:01
Washing machines that do it without electricity
» ‎ Hack a Day

Those of us living in the first world take clean clothes for granted. Throw them in the washing machine, transfer to the dryer after 45 minutes, and you won’t smell for another two weeks or so. But for people living in areas without electricity, clean clothes are a huge amount of work. Hand washing a [...]
Tags: world washing electricity clean-clothes washing-machines washing-machine home hacks
9:41
Cat palace with an automatic heat lamp
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Herpity] was getting tired of his cat manipulating him into turning on a lamp above her bed every time she wanted a nap. She likes the warmth put off by the light bulb but he knew he could do better than that so he built a bed which includes an automatic heat lamp. To help [...]
Tags: heat lamp bed cat cat-palace automatic-heat heat-lamp home hacks
August 15, 2012
13:01
Automatic speaker control via TV
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Jon] wanted his speakers to come on and off along with his TV. The speaker heats up if left on so he didn’t want to do that. But killing the power also resets the volume level (this is an old set of PC speakers and the remote is wired, not IR) so using one of [...]
Tags: didn speaker control jon speaker-control pc-speakers volume-level home entertainment hacks
7:01
Toothbrush timer
» ‎ Hack a Day

This toothbrush holder will make sure you’re brushing your pearly whites for an appropriate length of time. The three cups serves as tootbrush storage, and detect when one has been removed. Once you start brushing your teeth the lights on the front and bell in the back count down the process automatically. The counting sequence [...]
Tags: timer toothbrush holder toothbrush-holder brushing-your-teeth pearly-whites home hacks
August 10, 2012
13:02
How not to dim EL panels, TRIACs!
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’ve all been there: an exciting brilliant idea, scratched onto a napkin, hastily plugged into a breadboard, all for naught. Even the best ideas sometimes suffer from a heavy dose of reality. [Ch00f] over at ch00ftech recently had a similar experience dimming an EL panel of his using a TRIAC and some clever waveform manipulation. [...]
Tags: triacs idea dim breadboard dose-of-reality heavy-dose home entertainment hacks
August 09, 2012
4:30
Exposing PCBs with a home made laser printer
» ‎ Hack a Day

Making your own printed circuit boards – as useful as it is – is a pain. Using the very popular toner transfer method requires a dozen steps that have to go perfectly the first time, and milling boards on a CNC machine creates a lot of mess. The most industrious hackers are able to bodge up a [...]
Tags: laser exposing home printed-circuit-boards dozen-steps cnc-machine hacks
August 02, 2012
14:01
Home security anyone can build and install
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’ve been seeing quite a few home security hacks around here lately and we think they’re a lot of fun. This is one that we missed a few weeks ago. [Sharpk] used his existing home security system as inspiration for a completely DIY security system. Above you can see the tiny models he used to [...]
Tags: security home system home-security-system tiny-models existing-home hacks
13:01
Building an isolation booth for your home recording studio
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Brattonwvu] wanted to lay down some tracks with as high an audio quality as possible. To help get rid of the noise pollution of the everyday world he built this isolation booth in his attic. The project started off with a trip to the home store for some 2×4 stock and OSB to use as [...]
Tags: booth isolation home home-recording-studio isolation-booth noise-pollution digital audio hacks
11:01
MythTV library on Apple TV without a jailbreak
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Dan] wrote in to share a link to his MythTv to Apple TV setup. He found a way to make the recordings he made on his Linux box available on the 2nd Generation Apple TV. Our first thought is that he would use XBMC on a jailbroken device but that is not the case. The [...]
Tags: mythtv library apple dan apple-tv generation-apple tv-setup home entertainment hacks
August 01, 2012
12:01
Digital TV converter reverse engineering
» ‎ Hack a Day

Back when broadcast television was first switching over from analog to digital most people needed to get a converter box to watch DTV broadcasts. Remember that abomination that was “HD-Ready”? Those TVs could display an HD signal, but didn’t actually have a digital tuner in them. Nowadays all TVs come with one, so [Craig] found [...]
Tags: digital converter reverse craig dtv-broadcasts hd-ready analog-to-digital home entertainment hacks
July 30, 2012
13:01
Getting connected with your home security system
» ‎ Hack a Day

This simple device, paired with some creating code will let you become your own home security monitoring service. It’s called the PhantomLink and [Adam] started the project as a commercial venture. He recently decided to go open source with the hardware and will soon be posting a guide on how to program your own web [...]
Tags: security system home adam home-security-monitoring home-security-system commercial-venture hacks
July 27, 2012
15:04
Bending a home security control panel to your will
» ‎ Hack a Day

Does your home have a security system but you don’t subscribe to the monitoring service to make it work? Rip that baby off of the wall and do something with it, or just build your own system around it. If you have a DSC PC1500RK control panel [CaitSith2] shows us how easy it is to control the [...]
Tags: security control home security-control monitoring-service security-system arduino hacks
July 26, 2012
7:00
Diablo 3 is an arcade game, apparently
» ‎ Hack a Day

MAME cabinets are simply awesome. They’re a great way to relive the stained and sticky fluorescent carpets, loud noises, and Neon signs and blacklights of old arcades. If there’s one problem with MAME cabinets, it’s that gaming has moved on from the quarter-eating cabinets of yesteryear. It simply doesn’t make sense to put Starcraft, TF2, or other [...]
Tags: arcade mame diablo mame-cabinets neon-signs arcade-game home entertainment hacks
July 25, 2012
15:01
Lighting controller counts how many people are in a room
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Deekshith Allamaneni] built this controller which will automatically turn the lights in a room on and off. No big deal, right? You can already get a replacement light switch at the home store that will do this for you. But there is one big difference. The commercial solutions we’ve seen simply rely in a motion [...]
Tags: room controller lighting lighting-controller commercial-solutions light-switch home hacks
4:01
Raspberry Pi keeps tabs on your solar power setup
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Brian Dorey] has been adding green power solutions to his home for some time now, and as things have progressed, he has experimented with several different iterations of data loggers. The latest system watching over his solar power setup is a Raspberry Pi armed with a custom-built I2C analog/digital converter. The Rasp Pi is responsible [...]
Tags: raspberry power setup brian-dorey analog-digital-converter data-loggers dorey home hacks
July 24, 2012
13:47
One remote to stream them all
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’d bet that most readers stream video as the lion’s share of their entertainment consumption. It’s getting easier and easier thanks to great platforms like XBMC, but not everything is available in one place, which can be a bit off-putting. [Tony Hoang] is trying to simplify his viewing experience by creating one remote to rule [...]
Tags: video bet stream tony-hoang xbmc hoang consumption home entertainment hacks

11:00
Home Secretary To Decide On McKinnon Extradition By October
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Headlines

Home Secretary To Decide On McKinnon Extradition By October
Tags: extradition home mckinnon secretary-to home-secretary

4:01
Create a laminar flow jet wthout pesky fiber optics.
» ‎ Hack a Day

[ApexLogic] had some PMMA core acrylic rod rod left over from a project and decided to use it as the lighting element in a laminar flow water jet. The typical water jet consists of a bunch of sponges and drinking straws sandwiched together to slow a rough water stream and then a finely cut nozzle [...]
Tags: laminar jet water laminar-flow-water drinking-straws fiber-optics home entertainment hacks
July 22, 2012
12:01
Driving your home appliances with hybrid power
» ‎ Hack a Day

This system of hybridizing your home’s electric appliances is an interesting take on solar energy. It focuses on seamlessly switching appliances from the grid to stored solar energy as frequently as possible. There’s a promo video after the break that explains the setup, but here’s the gist of it. Follow along on the pictograph above. [...]
Tags: energy power home electric-appliances home-appliances hybrid-power green hacks
July 21, 2012
9:01
Building fiber optic chandeliers
» ‎ Hack a Day

This chandelier keeps the light source hidden and uses fiber optics to illuminate the acrylic diffusers. It’s the second attempt [TheCreator] has made at building his own. Bother projects are interesting in their own way. The first attempt used marbles as diffusers and had a much different look to it. This time around he’s using [...]
Tags: fiber building attempt fiber-optics diffusers light-source home hacks
July 19, 2012
9:01
Automatic trough filler makes sure the animals have water
» ‎ Hack a Day

It has been a hot hot summer for many parts of the US. The heat has been dangerous at times and making sure the livestock has the water they need is incredibly important. [Maddox] recently upgraded the automation on their water troughs which will help with the process. Sure, they still have to check on [...]
Tags: filler trough water water-troughs maddox hot-summer home hacks
6:01
Father/son team goes big with backyard observatory
» ‎ Hack a Day

Oh that? It’s just the backyard observatory we built last summer. You know, for fun. This is a conversation we image [Kakon24] and his dad are having quite often these days. They’re astronomy interests just got a big equipment upgrade when they built a huge observatory on their homestead. Now we don’t proclaim to know [...]
Tags: father backyard observatory backyard-observatory astronomy-interests homestead home hacks
July 18, 2012
12:01
Monitoring your home energy use
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Dave's] been elbow-deep in mains voltage while building this home energy monitoring rig. He started with an approach that is different from most we’ve seen before. He wanted a system that could make a linear measurement to keep the accuracy as high as possible. His first thought was to use a opto-isolated linear amplifier to [...]
Tags: energy monitoring home dave linear-amplifier linear-measurement energy-monitoring green hacks
July 16, 2012
15:01
Scratch-built railroad crossing signal
» ‎ Hack a Day

At first glance you would think this is the real thing, but [Kevin] built this railroad crossing signal from parts you can find at the home store. We keep seeing traffic lights used as web-connected signaling devices. This would be right at home for that type of setup, but [Kevin] built it with railroad enthusiasts [...]
Tags: signal railroad home kevin railroad-enthusiasts first-glance traffic-lights misc hacks
July 13, 2012
4:01
Garage door opener now a bedroom door closer
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Roy] had an extra garage door opener on hand and decided to put it to use as a remote control closing mechanism for his bedroom door. We gather he has some noisy housemates as the inspiration for the project came from not wanting to get out of bed to close the door when the ruckus [...]
Tags: garage-door-opener housemates ruckus home hacks
July 12, 2012
15:01
Cat trainer will keep them off the counters
» ‎ Hack a Day

Our cats are not allowed on the kitchen counters, and [Iron Jungle] has the same rule. But he spotted some foot prints on the hood above his range and the addition of a security camera caught this picture of [Kelso] breaking the rules. Since he’s not always around to make the fur-ball behave he built [...]
Tags: trainer iron kitchen cat fur-ball cat-trainer foot-prints home hacks
July 09, 2012
6:01
Make your own integrated circuits at home
» ‎ Hack a Day

The Nyan Cat you see above is only 600 micrometers from head to tail. To put that into perspective, that’s about 10 times the diameter of a human hair. Also, that Nyan is etched into 200 nanometer thick copper foil and is the work of the HomeCMOS team, who is developing a hobbyist-friendly process to make [...]
Tags: head nyan home cat thick-copper copper-foil integrated-circuits chemistry hacks
July 07, 2012
8:01
Monitoring a clothes washer with an accelerometer
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Viktor's] washing machine did a good job of cleaning his clothes, but it kept a bit too quiet about it. The machine doesn’t have an audible alert to let him know the cycle has finished. He decided to build his own alarm which can just be slapped on the side of the machine. You can [...]
Tags: monitoring machine washer clothes-washer audible-alert accelerometer home hacks
July 04, 2012
16:01
TI Chronos watch monitor your sleeping infant
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Bill] wants a little piece of mind when his infant is sleeping in the other room. For him, the audio-only baby monitor could use some improvement. His proof-of-concept is that blue patch Velcroed on the swaddled infant. It monitors movement, orientation, and temperature and alerts you when something’s amiss. Inside the pouch you’ll find a [...]
Tags: piece chronos infant bill proof-of-concept baby-monitor piece-of-mind home hacks
7:02
[RobB's] house has no light switches
» ‎ Hack a Day

So [RobB] wanted to take out all the light switches in his house. His plan was to replace them with a system that could be operated from his smart phone. But his wife insisted that there still must be some way to control the lighting directly — we have to agree with her on that one. The [...]
Tags: house robb plan light-switches smart-phone home hacks
July 02, 2012
13:06
Timer-based cooling helps your network survive the summer
» ‎ Hack a Day

Start your week off with a smile thanks to the video [Sammy] put together. It shows off the cooling rack he made for his network equipment. The project was developed out of necessity as the summer weather was causing his modem and router to heat up and at some point one of them would just shutdown and [...]
Tags: network timer-based summer sammy smile-thanks summer-weather home hacks
June 30, 2012
10:01
Computer desk… literally
» ‎ Hack a Day

This piece of furniture begs the question, why think of a desk and a computer case as separate things? It combines Ikea furniture with electronic hardware to create the ultimate command center. First the obvious parts: there’s a nook for the computer case that hangs just below the desktop off to the side, and the twin displays are mounted [...]
Tags: furniture desk computer piece-of-furniture computer-desk electronic-hardware home hacks
June 29, 2012
11:01
Fighting over the Frat’s TV remote
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Colin Bookman] lives in a Fraternity house and apparently the remote for the cable box has a way of walking off. He figured out a method to give everyone control of the TV channel in one form or another. The cable box can be seen perched on that shelf, and [Colin's] addition is the wooden [...]
Tags: fighting box cable colin colin-bookman fraternity-house cable-box s-tv home entertainment hacks
June 28, 2012
5:01
Roll your own battery backup system
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Chris] and [Dom] wanted to build their own battery backup system on the cheap. They were very creative in sourcing the parts, and ended up putting together a battery-backed CCTV system for about eighty bucks. Since short power outages are fairly common in the area this battery backup makes sense. We’ve seen some pretty gnarly whole-house systems [...]
Tags: backup battery system chris dom battery-backup-system whole-house-systems power-outages home hacks
June 27, 2012
5:01
Simple ambilight clone is just a few transistors
» ‎ Hack a Day

The Ambilight system – built in to high-end Phillips TVs – is a neat system to add a bit of ambiance to regular television viewing. With this system, a series of RGB LEDs are mounted to the rear of the TV to respond to whatever is currently being displayed. [Lovro] came up with a very [...]
Tags: ambilight simple system phillips-tvs rgb-leds neat-system home entertainment hacks
June 22, 2012
12:01
Are you smarter than a raccoon?
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Ben] has a raccoon problem. It seems that it’s not uncommon for him to come face-to-face with a pesky raccoon in the middle of the night, in his living room. We think most people would solve the problem by preventing the raccoon from entering the home. But [Ben] just seems hell-bent on catching him. Most [...]
Tags: pesky raccoon problem ben living-room hell home hacks
June 18, 2012
15:01
Motion sprinkler chases away defecating dogs
» ‎ Hack a Day

Don’t want dogs pooping on the front lawn? You could put up a sign, your could chase them away like a crotchety old miser, or you could build a motion detecting sprinkler system. It’s pretty hard to line up for a doody when you’re getting sprayed in the face (or worse) with cold water. The setup is [...]
Tags: lawn sprinkler motion don old-miser defecating doody home hacks
June 15, 2012
12:01
HDTV antenna that can hang in a window
» ‎ Hack a Day

We can’t wait to give this one a try. We’ve got a DIY HDTV antenna hanging out in the attic which was made from some scrap wood and eight metal coat hangers. It works great but it’s pretty ugly and not everyone has an attic to hide it in (not to mention the signal drop [...]
Tags: attic antenna hdtv hdtv-antenna coat-hangers scrap-wood home entertainment hacks
June 14, 2012
5:01
Hands on with Raspbmc
» ‎ Hack a Day

Have you heard of the Raspberry Pi? Surprisingly enough, they’re starting to trickle into the hands of thousands of hackers, and we were fortunate to get our hands on one (second-hand since we didn’t jump in time for the initial preorder). We’ve longed for a tiny embedded option for running XBMC and this is one [...]
Tags: raspberry raspbmc hands xbmc hackers home entertainment hacks
June 07, 2012
13:01
Incredible home made low cost CO2 Laser
» ‎ Hack a Day

[LokisMischief] wrote in to the tip line to let us know about this incredible home made CO2 laser. This thing is a complete DIY beauty, from the PVC cooling jacket to the toolbox based controller. The whole thing is essentially built from DIY parts, hand blown glass for the laser tube, plumbing store mirror mounts, [...]
Tags: thing laser home plumbing-store hand-blown-glass mirror-mounts hacks
11:01
Adding remote control to Klipsch surround system
» ‎ Hack a Day

The speaker system [Zurcher] bought was made by Klipsch. It is a surround sound unit but it’s intended to be used with a computer so there’s no wireless remote for it. Instead, a wired unit sits on the desk and lets you select between the speakers or headphones, and has a volume adjustment knob. The [...]
Tags: klipsch system unit volume-adjustment zurcher speaker-system home entertainment hacks
June 05, 2012
10:01
Home automation with RC wall plugs and Raspberry Pi
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Jake] took some cheap hardware and figured out a way to use it as a huge home automation network. He’s chose a Raspberry Pi board to connect the radio controlled power outlets to his network. He wrote about his project in two parts, the first is hacking the RC outlet controller and the second is [...]
Tags: raspberry automation home jake automation-network wall-plugs home-automation hacks
4:01
Open hardware Moodlamp with ATmega
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Daniel Andrade] has built a pretty cool mood lamp circuit. He was initially inspired by [Toon Beerton's] Ikea lamp, but found he just didn’t have the knowledge to proceed with the PIC processor. He rushed out and bought an arduino to begin learning. Once he figured out how to properly make a mood lamp function, [...]
Tags: mood lamp Hardware daniel-andrade mood-lamp ikea home hacks
June 03, 2012
6:01
Building an RGB mood lamp using an IKEA Mylonit
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Toon Beerten] had been experimenting with LED lamp construction. He had already built a pretty neat pyramid of LEDs as a mood lamp but wanted something a little higher quality for his living room. He ran out and picked up an IKEA lamp, which you can see above. From the store, the lamp can only [...]
Tags: ikea mood lamp mood-lamp lamp-construction home hacks

May 29, 2012
16:23
UK Home Office Slams Delayed E-Borders Programme
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Headlines

UK Home Office Slams Delayed E-Borders Programme
Tags: office home slams borders uk-home-office

May 28, 2012
12:01
Building the backend of Internet controlled devices
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Adam] and [Jeremy] took on the challenge of designing a system that would make it easy to control appliances from the Internet. We’ve seen the concept many times before; it involves some method of switching mains power and connecting that mechanism to the Internet. This design is both well planned and nicely executed. We’re always [...]
Tags: internet backend challenge adam jeremy mains-power appliances home hacks
May 26, 2012
6:01
[Adam Savage] giving a speech about the maker movement
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Adam Savage] gives an interesting talk titled “why we make” at the Bay Area MakerFaire. Many have been comparing the leaps we’ve been taking in home engineering/hacking/making etc, to the early days of computers. People are making things at home that are actually making a difference. [Adam] is a huge collector and maker of movie [...]
Tags: maker speech home adam-savage adam bay-area giving-a-speech leaps savage misc hacks
May 25, 2012
14:01
Lighting up a runway into the garage
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Timo] didn’t want to look like every other lighted driveway but using solar path lights. Instead he decided to light it up as if it were a runway. It’s easy to look at the result as cute and move on to the next hack. But look again. If you were going to do this yourself [...]
Tags: lighting garage runway timo solar-path hack home hacks
May 23, 2012
7:00
Build a levitating bed for under $1000
» ‎ Hack a Day

Many of us have had this exact thought and wondered if it was feasible. As it turns out, you can, in fact, just buy a bunch of magnets and make a levitating bed. Those magnets need to be extremely strong, so [mememetatata] used some rather large Neodymium magnets. This frame involved some careful planning since [...]
Tags: thought build bed neodymium-magnets levitating-bed home hacks
May 14, 2012
13:01
Arduino compatible home automation for smart phone or voice control
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Joseph] wrote in to share this home automation system he’s working on as a college project. He calls it the Room Engine and the house-side of the hardware is built on top of the circuit you see here. This is the most basic part of the REBoard, which is meant to connect to a computer [...]
Tags: arduino automation home joseph home-automation-system voice-control smart-phone hacks
May 12, 2012
6:01
The trials of working with brushless DC motors for the first time.
» ‎ Hack a Day

We’ve all worked with DC motors at some point. Even if you aren’t a big hardware person, you’ve probably at least picked up a motor as a kid and touched a battery to the leads causing it to whir to life. These are usually standard DC motors and not their brushless relatives. Brushless motors require [...]
Tags: aren time point brushless-dc-motors hardware-person whir home hacks
May 11, 2012
11:01
Golden spiral chicken coop
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Marchelo] wanted to build his own chicken coop. He started researching different designs and ended up basing his build on the golden spiral. In addition to the interesting shape, a ton of clever design choice made it into the build. For instance, [Marchello] took the time to dramatically round over the lumber used as the skids of [...]
Tags: spiral coop chicken golden-spiral chicken-coop marchelo home hacks
May 04, 2012
5:01
The Gas Cap senses your flatulence and displays it on your forehead
» ‎ Hack a Day

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering if there’s any possible way to let those with deficient olfactory senses know just how flatulent you are, wonder no more. The Gas Cap is here to fulfill that very need. A bar graph of sorts, located on the front of a hat that will light up to reflect [...]
Tags: gas flatulence cap bar-graph olfactory-senses gas-cap home hacks
May 02, 2012
14:01
Fiber optic chandelier with wireless controls
» ‎ Hack a Day

After seeing a cool fiberoptic chandelier on Ebay for over $1,000, [Apex Logic] figured he could build one himself that would not only be cheaper, but have more features. Some of the features he was after were for it to be wirelessly controlled, have the ability for full RGB control, and of course to have [...]
Tags: fiber ebay chandelier rgb-control home hacks

May 01, 2012
21:45
[Video] SIP home gateways under fire
» ‎ SecDocs

Authors: Wolfgang Beck
Tags: VoIP SIP
Event: Chaos Communication Congress 27th (27C3) 2010
Abstract: The SIP home gateway -- which combines a NAT router, a SIP proxy, and analogue phone adapters -- is the weakest link in a Voice over IP network. SIP's numerous source routing mechanisms share the well-known security weaknesses of IP source routing. The talk discusses possible exploits and countermeasures. Telephony is steadily moving to Voice over IP, opening up a world of hacking opportunities. While many security issues have long been addressed in standardization, real-world VoIP suffers from incomplete and sometimes broken implementations. SIP home gateways -- which combine a NAT router, a SIP proxy, and a phone adapter are especially at risk. The predominant VoIP protocol SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) has been designed as an -- almost -- stateless protocol. The network elements responsible for call routing only keep very little and short-lived state. This makes SIP highly scalable and substantially simplifies fail-over. To achieve this, SIP uses source routing mechanisms extensively. Due to its security weaknesses, the network layer protocols have long abandoned the idea of source routing, despite its theoretical appeal. Some IP source routing attacks and countermeasures can be applied to SIP.
Tags: sip source home wolfgang-beck-tags nat session-initiation-protocol chaos-communication-congress network-layer-protocols
21:45
[Slides] SIP home gateways under fire
» ‎ SecDocs

Authors: Wolfgang Beck
Tags: VoIP SIP
Event: Chaos Communication Congress 27th (27C3) 2010
Abstract: The SIP home gateway -- which combines a NAT router, a SIP proxy, and analogue phone adapters -- is the weakest link in a Voice over IP network. SIP's numerous source routing mechanisms share the well-known security weaknesses of IP source routing. The talk discusses possible exploits and countermeasures. Telephony is steadily moving to Voice over IP, opening up a world of hacking opportunities. While many security issues have long been addressed in standardization, real-world VoIP suffers from incomplete and sometimes broken implementations. SIP home gateways -- which combine a NAT router, a SIP proxy, and a phone adapter are especially at risk. The predominant VoIP protocol SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) has been designed as an -- almost -- stateless protocol. The network elements responsible for call routing only keep very little and short-lived state. This makes SIP highly scalable and substantially simplifies fail-over. To achieve this, SIP uses source routing mechanisms extensively. Due to its security weaknesses, the network layer protocols have long abandoned the idea of source routing, despite its theoretical appeal. Some IP source routing attacks and countermeasures can be applied to SIP.
Tags: sip source home wolfgang-beck-tags nat session-initiation-protocol chaos-communication-congress network-layer-protocols

10:30
Chicken coup door using threaded rod
» ‎ Hack a Day

There’s no rooster to wake them up, and [Steve] and his wife are fine with that. What they’re not fine with is having to get up early anyway in order to let the chickens out of the coop. Like many small-scale egg farmers they sought out an automatic solution for opening the coup in the [...]
Tags: egg-farmers chicken-coup automatic-solution home hacks
7:30
Automated cat feeder with a view
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Robovergne] wrote in to share his fantastic automated cat feeder with us. After researching the common commercial products he could find, he decided to build one that utilized a home made linear actuator to pull a certain amount out of a reservoir. Initially, he attempted to use microwave motors but ultimately found them to be [...]
Tags: cat-feeder linear-actuator microwave home hacks

April 30, 2012
21:45
[Audio] SIP home gateways under fire
» ‎ SecDocs

Authors: Wolfgang Beck
Tags: VoIP SIP
Event: Chaos Communication Congress 27th (27C3) 2010
Abstract: The SIP home gateway -- which combines a NAT router, a SIP proxy, and analogue phone adapters -- is the weakest link in a Voice over IP network. SIP's numerous source routing mechanisms share the well-known security weaknesses of IP source routing. The talk discusses possible exploits and countermeasures. Telephony is steadily moving to Voice over IP, opening up a world of hacking opportunities. While many security issues have long been addressed in standardization, real-world VoIP suffers from incomplete and sometimes broken implementations. SIP home gateways -- which combine a NAT router, a SIP proxy, and a phone adapter are especially at risk. The predominant VoIP protocol SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) has been designed as an -- almost -- stateless protocol. The network elements responsible for call routing only keep very little and short-lived state. This makes SIP highly scalable and substantially simplifies fail-over. To achieve this, SIP uses source routing mechanisms extensively. Due to its security weaknesses, the network layer protocols have long abandoned the idea of source routing, despite its theoretical appeal. Some IP source routing attacks and countermeasures can be applied to SIP.
Tags: sip source home wolfgang-beck-tags nat session-initiation-protocol chaos-communication-congress network-layer-protocols

April 28, 2012
13:56
Home brew motorized bicycle is a super grocery getter
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Thor] sent in an awesome motorized bike build he found coming from the fruitful workshop of [Jim Gallant]. It’s an incredible piece of work built nearly entirely from scratch. [Jim] welded the frame together on a home-built jig that keeps all the chrome-moly tubes in alignment before they’re pieced together. With the jig, the frame was kept [...]
Tags: jig home frame jim-gallant thor jim grocery-getter motorized-bicycle chrome-moly transportation hacks
April 25, 2012
10:01
Incredible home made miniature engines
» ‎ Hack a Day

On the heels of a small stirling engine we featured, an astute Hackaday reader sent in a few awesome builds from HMEM, the home model engine machinist forum. First up is a fantastic looking stirling engine made entirely from scratch. The build is modeled on a Moriya Hot Air Fan, but instead of making a fan [...]
Tags: engine incredible home fan moriya-hot engine-machinist miniature-engines hackaday cnc hacks
April 24, 2012
14:03
PiP-Boy 2000 build goes for function over form
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Daniel] wrote in to tell us about his PIP-Boy 2000 prototype. While most PIP-Boy remakes we’ve seen tend to be focusing more on the aesthetic side, like a prop, [Daniel] is attempting to make a functional one. He has included a GPS sensor, RFID reader, and radiation detector in his build but did choose [...]
Tags: function pip-boy form daniel pip radiation-detector gps-sensor home entertainment hacks
April 19, 2012
14:01
Monitoring air quality with a $12 sensor
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Chris] has allergies, asthma, and uses a wood burning stove. You can imagine why testing his air quality might be something he’d be interested in. He has a very nice $290 laser particle counter, but was really curious how the $12 sharp sensor he found would stack up. To find out, he plugged it into [...]
Tags: laser-particle-counter allergies-asthma wood-burning-stove home hacks
April 18, 2012
13:01
Ethernet over telephone wire
» ‎ Hack a Day

When [Bobo1on1] upgraded his Internet connection from ADSL to Fiber he ran into an issue of actually getting that speed to his desktop computer though his LAN setup. Before he had been using a telephone extension wire which ran from where the DSL entered the house, through a splitter, to his computer where the modem [...]
Tags: lan-setup telephone-wire telephone-extension home hacks
April 13, 2012
14:40
Stair accent lights made from cheap LED strips
» ‎ Hack a Day

We really like [Geert's] take on accent lighting for his stairs. He built his own LED channels which mount under the bullnose of each step. The LED strips that he used are actually quite inexpensive. They are RGB versions, but the pixels are not individually addressable. This means that instead of having drivers integrated into [...]
Tags: led accent stair geert accent-lighting bullnose stairs home hacks
6:01
This LED table really ties the room together
» ‎ Hack a Day

Along with quadrotors, and portable game consoles, one of the hacks we never get tired of seeing is an LED matrix table. [Christian Enchelmaier] wrote in to share his take on the ever popular pixelated furniture, which we think came out pretty well (Translation). Instead of going for a full-sized coffee table, [Christian] decided to [...]
Tags: room led table christian christian-enchelmaier led-matrix matrix-table coffee-table home hacks
April 09, 2012
13:01
UPS with dead batteries reborn as a whole-house power backup
» ‎ Hack a Day

[Woodporterhouse] must deal with regular power black outs in his area. He recently converted a rack-mount uninterruptible power supply to feed a portion of his mains wiring. This one is not to be missed, since he did such a great job on the project, and an equally remarkable job of documenting it. It’s one of the best [...]
Tags: ups job power uninterruptible-power-supply dead-batteries remarkable-job home hacks

10:49
Hackers Target Home Office Site
» ‎ Packet Storm Security Headlines

Hackers Target Home Office Site
Tags: hackers home target home-office

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