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Adafruit IoT Monthly: Internet in Antarctica, Measuring Heart Rate with WiFi, and more!
IoT Projects
Streaming Audio over Bluetooth Low Energy from a Raspberry Pi
Thanks to recent advancements in BlueZ (the Linux Bluetooth stack), AK Experiments decided to try streaming audio over Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) using a Raspberry Pi. - AK Experiments
Engineering for Slow Internet in Antarctica
While working in Antarctica, brr “had access to the Internet only through an extremely limited series of satellite links provided by the United States Antarctic Program”. Modern websites often load up to 20 MB of Javascript, which makes connecting to the Internet in Antarctica a challenge. Brr’s exploration into engineering a faster, slow, internet is detailed in their blog post. - brr
Universal Sensors for Home Assistant
Two totally different options for a building sensor to communicate with Home Assistant. - GitHub
IoT News and More!
WiFi signals can measure heart rate
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz developed Pulse-Fi, technology that uses WiFi signals to measure a person’s heart rate. Pulse-Fi appears to be highly accurate, with clinical-grade accuracy. This system is unique because it does not require any wearable devices. - UC Santa Cruz
u-blox Sells for $1.3bn to Private Equity Firm
After exiting the cellular space this year, connectivity module manufacturer u-blox has been sold to Advent for $1.3bn. - RCRWirelessNews
Dual-Antenna Boards by Unexpected Maker
We got these unique new boards from Unexpected Maker in the shop last month. This is a very niche product to stock, hence why I’m including it in this newsletter. What makes them unique is these boards have both an antenna AND an u.FL connector for an external antenna, on the same board. You can switch which antenna to use via the RF switch on the fly from your code. These are perfect if you want to test different antenna variations while in the prototyping phase of a project, before you commit to a final design. - Adafruit Blog
KittenTTS is a state-of-the-art TTS model under 25MB
Kitten TTS is a new open-source realistic text-to-speech model with just 15 million parameters, designed for lightweight deployment and high-quality voice synthesis. Under 25MB and CPU optimization means its perfect for electronics projects. - Adafruit Blog
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Adafruit IoT Monthly: Ocean Sensing, Open-Source Bluetooth Speaker, and more!
IoT Projects
Rain Sensing Umbrella Stand
A compact sized umbrella stand that lights up to warn you of incoming rainstorms. - Adafruit Learning System
Using ESP-NOW with CircuitPython
ESP-NOW is a connectionless communication protocol developed by Espressif that allows ESP32/ESP8266 devices to communicate directly with each other without needing a WiFi router or access point. It’s great for props, sensor-networks, remote controls, and mesh communications. Instead of spending spin-up and development time to see if ESP-NOW is the right fit for a project you’re working on, CircuitPython exposes an ESP-Now library that makes getting started super easy. - Adafruit Learning System
Ocean Sensor
An open-source buoy that monitors turbidity off the coast of Maui, Hawaii. The design is incredibly low-cost and uses an IMU sensor to read ocean waves. To do this, the author used ChatGPT to develop an Edge Impulse model for identifying wave height. Instructables
IoT News and More!
Ikea Relaunches Entire Smart Home Product Line
Ikea is re-launching its smart home product line. Smart devices will use the Matter-Over-Thread standard instead of Zigbee. The smart audio product line is also re-launching with inexpensive Bluetooth and Spotify, rather than Sonos. - The Verge
Belkin Bricks Wemo Smart Plugs
Belkin is ending support for Wemo smart plugs in 2026. The plugs will not be controllable via the Wemo app or the Internet. While Belkin is also offering a partial refund for this product line, I [the author of this newsletter] feel for the many users who have invested in these plugs for their home. I am not sure if a partial refund is “fair compensation” for effectively bricking a product that’s physically installed in a home unless the partial refund can cover a replacement for its functionality. Belkin Support
Espressif RainMaker MCP Server
ESP RainMaker now supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling natural language interactions with your IoT devices via tools like Claude, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, etc. - Espressif Developer Portal
Insights on Teufel’s Open-Source Speaker
The MYND speaker by Teufel Audio is a portable speaker that “can be rebuilt from publicly available data”. The industrial designer and electrical engineer responsible for this project discuss their design ethos on the Teufel blog. - Teufel Blog
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Adafruit IoT Monthly: Brainrot, Hardware MVPs, and more!
IoT Projects
An $8 smart outlet to avoid brainrot
Neil Chen used an $8 smart outlet to avoid “brain rot”. When plugged in, a script blocks websites like X, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit, allowing him to focus and not get distracted by the Internet. - Neil Chen
AI Study Lamp
Makestreme built a study lamp that “gets angry” when it sees a smartphone. As soon as this lamp’s AI camera spots a smartphone on the desk, the lamp’s color shifts to red, making it harder to look at the phone. Once the smartphone is removed from the desk, the lamp’s bulb shifts back to a warm white color. - HackaDay.io
Color e-paper Weather Display
A full-color DIY weather map showing the current forecast for the British Isles. - Gray Malik
Monitoring a Compost Heap
This sensor node monitors the heat of a compost heap, which is a task that I wasn’t aware of. What I really like here is the node’s custom-machined soil stake, which fits a temperature sensor inside it. - HackaDay.io
IoT News and More!
A Block-based Action Engine comes to Adafruit.IO
In Adafruit IO, Actions are a way to do something when a certain situation occurs. We’ve built a custom Blockly App to allow easy creation and editing of Actions on Adafruit IO. Lots of new projects for this engine are being developed as its capabilities increase. Stay tuned for more! - Adafruit Learning System
How to Test OTA Updates Without Bricking Devices
A post on the Memfault blog about introducing over-the-air (OTA) updates to the embedded device development process. - Memfault Blog
Why “Start Ugly” Beats Perfect in the AI Age
This blog post brings a new perspective to hardware MVP’s: “Building a connected product? Start Ugly”. - Golioth Blog
Walter, an Open-Source Cellular, GPS and WiFi/BLE Module
A new module named Walter that combines every connectivity option you could possibly want with an ESP32-S3 SoC. As a huge bonus for reducing development spend while developing a Walter-based product, the module is already certified by the FCC, CE, UKCA, IC, and RCM. - DPTechnics
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Adafruit IoT Monthly: Building a Smartwatch, Learning Advanced IoT Skills and more!
IoT Projects
How To Build A Smartwatch: Picking A Chip
Eric Migicovsky is writing a series of blog posts on how to build a smartwatch in 2025. He breaks down the high-level decisions that go into the low-level details of selecting a microcontroller for the watch. - Eric Migi
Replacing the Philips Hue Ambiance’s “Brain”
Wejn’s neighbor messes with their Bluetooth lights. The solution? Recreating the Hue Ambiance’s controller and replacing it with a locally-controlled version. - HackADay
Simple, web-based, Garage Door Opener
jjsch-dev created a garage door controller with a simple web interface, without modifying the system. - GitHub
Smart Terrarium
A basic self-contained terrarium that constantly monitors and controls the environment for plants. - HackADay
$30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener
An inexpensive solution to “open the blinds very gradually (and silently!) in the morning”. - Sifter
Water Flow Controller With HTTP Control
A straightforward, practical build from 406JEM for monitoring/watering a flower garden. - Sifter
IoT News and More!
How to Balance a Full-Time Tech Job and Learning Advanced IoT Skills
Shawn Hymel’s blog post about balancing a full-time job in tech with a strategy for learning advanced IoT skills like edge ML, AI, and real-world deployment. - Shawn Hymel
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Adafruit IoT Monthly: Quantum Number Generator, Internet-in-a-Box, and more!
IoT Projects
Boston Bus and Train Prediction Board
All aboard! Dufus2506 built an LED matrix display that shows a prediction for when the next Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) subway, bus, or commuter rail train will be leaving a stop. An internet-connected MatrixPortal M4 pulls data from the MBTA’s official API. - Adafruit Playground
A mmWave Presence Detector Blends Seamlessly with an Old Home
Modern home presence detection sensors look too futuristic when mounted in an older home. Chris built a presence detector using the newest mmWave technology that matches and preserves his home’s aesthetics. - renaissance-design
The Many Possibilities of Adafruit IO Actions and an Arcade Button
Tyler Cooper was inspired by the new Adafruit IO Actions feature to create multiple IoT projects using only a glowing arcade button and no programming. The projects range from a Pomodoro timer to a way to visualize the weather. - Adafruit Playground
A Quantum Number Generator
This project is too interesting to not include in this issue! This is a quantum True Random Number Generator. It publishes the number it generates over an MQTT channel so an API can be built on top of it. - GitHub
IKEA Death Star Lamp gets an Upgrade
Every time I go to IKEA, I find myself staring at the PS 2014 lamp. It looks like the Death Star from Star Wars and opens to disperse light in a room. Sephalon’s project takes the PS 2014 and motorizes it so it can open and close when the sun rises or sets. - GitLab
IoT News and More!
Bringing back an Internet-connected Kid’s Toy
The Jooki was a screen-free audio player that let kids listen to music and stories by placing specific tokens on top of it. When the company went out of business, the Jooki device could no longer connect to its cloud-based services. Security researcher “nuit” is working on bringing this product back from the dead. - hackaday
Internet-in-a-Box Learning Hotspots
Internet-in-a-Box hotspots are a way to bring the “Best of the Internet” to regions without Internet. Websites like Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Khan Academy, etc, are locally hosted and distributed to community members as they connect to the hotspot. - internet in a box
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