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

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

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

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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

IoT Projects

ChatGPT for Rotary Phones

Pollux Labs transformed a rotary phone into a novel way to interface with ChatGPT. Dialing “1” will activate OpenAI’s Whisper API. The phone interacts with you through its handset. - hackster.io

Moon Phase Lamp

An internet-connected Moon Phase clock displaying the current moon cycle on a 3D printed topographical relief of the lunar surface! - learn.adafruit.com

No-Code Easy Ambient Smart Lights

Tyler Cooper’s project focuses on “a super easy smart ambient lighting system that you can stick to the back of your computer monitor”. The ambient lighting system can be configured to notify you of events (virtual or physical!). - Adafruit Playground

Monitor Indoor Air Quality with Blue and a Hue LED Strip

Rob Lauer posted about building a cloud-connected air quality system with LTE connectivity. - adafruit-playground.com

A blazing-fast IoT data pipeline

This project uses the AMG8833 infrared thermal imaging sensor to send an array of values (corresponding to the thermal grid) to the cloud. The camera sends 470 bytes of streaming data at a frequency of 10 Hz. That’s a lot of data! This project discusses how they got their data pipeline costs down to around $2 per month. - s2.dev blog

IoT News and More!

Espressif’s Response to Claimed Backdoor and Undocumented Commands in ESP32 Bluetooth Stack

This past month, the media reported on a blog post from Tarlogic claiming to have a “backdoor” for ESP32 chips. Espressif clarifies this matter and provides a commitment to product security. - Espressif

I Won’t Connect my Dishwasher to Your Stupid Cloud

Jeff Geerling purchased a cloud-connected Bosch 500 series dishwasher and writes about their post-purchase frustration of a dishwasher with a cloud requirement. - Edge Impulse

Edge Impulse joins Qualcomm

Edge Impulse, the popular “end-to-end platform that streamlines the edge AI workflow”, was acquired by Qualcomm Technologies. - Edge Impulse

Thingino - Open-Source IP Camera Firmware

Thingino is an open-source firmware for Ingenic’s line of SoC IP cameras. - thingino

IoT Projects

Wearables for Diabetes Monitoring

Andrew Childs designed and built a wearable for his 9 y.o. son. His son has Type 1 diabetes and an off-the-shelf monitoring system like the Apple Watch provides too many distractions for a kid - it’s just too complex. So, he built his own! The blog post details the entire build process, from requirements to prototypes to custom glass fabrication. - andrewchilds.com

Espresso Machine Water Tank Monitor

John Park’s espresso machine has a “water reservoir that’s inconvenient to check on”. To solve this, he built a “contactless remote water level meter that harnesses the power of “The INTERNET” to keep us informed without having to move all the cups, lift the lid, and peer into it like some kind of luddite!” - Adafruit Learning System

Low Power Rain Gauge

A pair of AA batteries power this low-power rain gauge. The circuitry is relatively simple, using an nRF52832 module and the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol to send rainfall data to an Android application. -HackADay

Train Tracker, Tide Tracker, and Much More!

Brian Benchoff wanted “a device that will ping the city’s API for all the bus stops near my house, and condense that into a list I can put on a small display somewhere”. The result is a small e-ink display that not only shows the next bus arrival times but also the current tide schedule, and the current weather. Like the smartwatch above, this is another really great build guide. It goes into depth, detailing the difficulties of scraping a city’s bus schedule API and digesting it with a microcontroller. - bbenchoff

IoT News and More!

Humane’s AI Pin

The main story in February was the demise of Humane’s AI pin. This has been a poor rollout for one of the first consumer-focused AIoT hardware. After a large number of bad reviews spelled danger for the AI Pin - reports of units being returned more than they are sold and battery fire concerns made headlines. This all culminated in HP acquiring Humane in February for $116 million. As part of the acquisition, AI Pins stopped functioning at February 28, 2025. If you own one of these $699 devices, there is still hope! A recent WIRED article details a group working to keep the devices online.