At the Hacklab, to save power, we needed a way to turn off devices when nobody was at the Lab.  Rather than buy expensive Insteon or Z-Wave modules, Hacklab member Av (that’s me!) reverse-engineered the radio protocol on these super cheap ($8 each) controllable outlet modules.

For a total cost of $47, you can now control 5 or more outlets via Wifi.  All that’s needed is an ESP8266 and a 433Mhz transmitter module.  No soldering or electronics is required, it’s just three wires!

Check out the rest of the project with source code on Av’s Site.

Hacklab member Av has been busy working on this ridiculously huge RGB LED Pixel display.  There is still much to be done, but here are some work-in-progress photos.  The project consists of 32 strips, each with 150 WS2812 RGB addressable LEDs.  That’s 4,800 pixels!

In this workshop, Rob and Alex demonstrate how to configure, flash, and use the ESP-8266 Wifi module.  Learn how to do cool things with LUA and NodeMCU, and check out some more complex things you can do with custom firmware.

Easily connect your plant water sensor, refrigerator, coffee machine, shoes, or cat to the internet, thanks to the magic of the Internet of Things!

Plug-and-play USB-enabled ESP modules will be available at cost for $8 to the first 13 attendees (as that’s how many we have).

When: Monday, Nov 9th, at 7:00 PM
Where: Hacklab Classroom

YOU WILL REQUIRE: A laptop and $8 to buy a module.

Please RSVP on EventBrite:

http://www.eventbrite.com/e/building-the-internet-of-things-on-the-cheap-tickets-19207453009

Hacklab member Daria demonstrates the radiating power of our 100W 80m-band transmissions on the Hacklab’s new amateur radio antenna.

There was a huge turnout at our event yesterday in collaboration with Hackaday! Check out some photos.