In your favorite online Chinese outlet the number of smart home gadgets/appliances seems to be growing on a daily basis. This is fantastic for home automation enthusiasts who want to automate their home or office. It is also beneficial for anyone with a very specific problem to solve. However, virtually …
For a long time now I have been longing for a sliding platform for my video camera to take some smooth scrolling panning videos. Also, I have long wished to take proper panoramic images with my SLR. I have had some success using a tripod, but the process was a …
Recently, SeeedStudio sent me a Wio Terminal for review. The Wio Terminal is powered by Microchip’s ATSAMD51P19. I had no prior development experience with the core (ATSAMD51) or with the built-in network chip (Realtek RTL8720DN), so it took me some research to get familiar with this development board. In the …
The article below is a detailed description of a GPS and GSM based vehicle tracking solution I have created recently. Its major features: Real time location reports using an onboard GSM modem. Has a micro SD card socket for offline storage on a memory card – this way using a …
Are you as baffled as I am about Home Assistant installation? Got a generic Linux system and are not sure where to begin? Well, look no further, as i am setting out here the necessary steps, as i identified them through my recent research. Home Assistant is one of the …
Introduction Almost a decade ago I made a PIC micro controlled staircase light timer. It has been working really well ever since and now time has come to upgrade it. This time I designed it around the ESP8266 WiFi module as most of my other projects these days. Having WiFi …
Recently, more and more consumer devices are available to make your home “smarter”. While they can make our lives a bit easier, comfortable, most of these smart devices also give rise to a number of privacy concerns as well as usability/reliability issues: The mobile apps (i.e. Ewelink, Smart life, etc) that …
Introduction Although optional, having a central coordinator (ActoSenso Server) in an automation environment can open up new possibilities. Advantages of having an ActoSenso Server include more processing power, more mass storage (for historical data), easier to develop business logic, etc. Options for an ActoSenso Server Almost any computer can be converted …
Introduction In the previous article I described the system overview of my automation platform, which I call ActoSenso Platform. In this article I discuss some of the nodes that can be (and I have) used in ActoSenso Platform. Any suggestion, tip for improvement, constructive criticism or related comment is mostly welcome …
