BluCrawler – LEGO Rock Crawler with BTBox Bluetooth Controller
First I want to give a shout-out (and credit) to PunkTacoNYC as BluCrawler is based off his Chilli Crawler - this is his creation. I'm just taking it down another path. You can also find published instructions if you want to build it yourself. For some time, I wanted to get an RC crawler, but they can be $$$. When I came across PunkTacoNYC's Chilli Crawler, that was I figured I had 90% of the…
Nextion TFT LCD – Why you need one!
I'll start this by stating that I don't work for iTead, and nor am I getting any sort of I just really like this TFT LCD. I stumbled upon the Nextion (which is a slick easy-to-use TFT LCD with a HMI editor) when they had their first crowdfunding campaign a year or so ago. I ignored it as there was not a lot of documentation, and frankly, I really didn't understand the concept of…
WIoT-2 Weather and Home Automation – Nextion with ESP8266/ESP32
This is a continuation from my first iteration of WIoT weather station. What is WIoT-2? I use it as a cloud-connected (IoT) info center of sorts. It is a culmination of information my wife or I often look for either on our way out of the house, or when we come home. It displays current/forecast weather, temp/humidity from outside the house (this), date, time, our local waste collection schedule, currency rates, the status of our garage…
ESP8266 – Lessons Learned
I've gotten enough ESP8266 projects under my belt to have a few lessons learned to share with you. The ESP comes in many flavors. One of my favorites is the NodeMCU. I also like the Adafruit Huzzah WDT Reset Error: This error was the bane of my existence for quite some time. When experiencing this, you typically see your sketch run and fail. Using the Serial Monitor and carefully placed statements, you can usually…
WIoT: Weather Station & IoT Notifier
Update: Check out my latest version of this project WIoT-2. This is a project that I have been wanting to do for some time. Since the marrying of IoT with microcontrollers, the world of cloud-connected devices has taken off. I had a hard time naming this thing because its sort of a swiss army knife of IoT. I keep coming up with new ideas as to what to connect to and control. I've done other…
LulzBot Mini: Arduino Temp Monitor / Fan & LED Controller
I'm on a mission to reduce the amount of noise my LulzBot Mini 3D printer makes. I've already added a motor damper to the Y axis. However, one thing that is consistently noisy is the case fan. It's on at > 70% nearly all the time. In addition to this, the air vent fins in the side of the case amplifies the fan noise. So, I decided to build my own fan controller. …
DIY & Hobby Projects: Parts, Components & Tools Must Have’s
Most people who visit to this site are either DIY'ers, Makers, Hackers, or Robotics / RC enthusiast. For the most part, we all do the same thing - we build or mod stuff for our projects or hobbies. Over the years, experience and repetition has given we wisdom as to what works, what doesn't, and key components that I want to have on hand. I wanted to share a list of parts/components I have found useful for…
LulzBot Mini: LED Lighting Controller
Update: Check out the more recent mod - camera mount and better lighting. So, I just got my LulzBot Mini this week and have to say I love this thing. It's my 2nd 3D printer (I Kickstarted the M3D - but it was not a reliable machine). Anyway, like any guy with a new toy, I had to do something to make it my own! ..and why not print some parts for it! The…
10 Minute Project – Glowy Pumpkin
Here's a quick project to get some funky flashing / colour changing LEDs into your pumpkin. Just grab a set of addressable WS2812's and some Arduino code and your're done. The 2812's are pretty easy to wire up. Essentially, +5v, GND and data signal get daisy changed through the set of LEDs. Each LED has 3 pins for IN and 3 pins out. Wire from the Arduino to the first IN set, then from…
IoT Garage Door Monitor/Opener with Finger Print Scanner
I've got a lot of stuff in my garage, and having 3 kids (one of them being me!) with forgetful minds, the garage door is sometimes left open over night. I don't really like that sinking feeling after waking up the next day to find the door was left open. Between loosing valuables and critters that make a mess of garbage, I finally decided it's time to take a stance! I have an IP Cam mounted inside the…