Category Archives: Projects

Pi Bar

By | | ,
Leave a comment

Using parts made from a Makerbot Replicator 2X 3D printer, some square metal rods, and a series of 5 peristaltic pumps. The project was based off a project called Bar Mixvah. The problem with the orginal is that you had to use a sluggish MongoDB database and a laptop in order to get it up and running. I wanted something that was self contained. Using an old Raspberry Pi with 256mb ram, I worked with a few guys from NESIT to redesign the top portion to fit the raspberry pi into and then created a slim MySQL backend with PHP and node.js.

20140623_225646

Continue reading →

To Catch a Thief – CarDuino Alarm

By | | ,
Leave a comment

Due to my car getting broken into 2 times in the past few weeks, I decided to use the opportunity to make a project out of it. One of our members had bought a Seeed Studio GPRS Arduino shield last year for a project but it was sitting around collecting dust so I asked him if i could borrow it.

The device uses an unlocked SIM card to send out sms text messages. (Can also be used for voice and data too). I worked with a few guys at NESIT to figure out the best plan to trigger the device. Our option was to connect the interior light to pin2 on the Arduino so that when the light turned on the 12volts would trigger the shield to send the SMS. Also added a 10kΩ resistor inline to drop the voltage down to so it wasn’t feeding a full 12v back into the Arduino. To power the device i was originally going to go with a 9v battery but since my cars cigarette lighter stays on when the car is off I decided to use this to power the device so I didnt have to worry about the 9v battery dying.

So hacking up an old phone charge wire I then used a perf board to solder together a 0.1uF capacitor and a LM7805 voltage regulator to drop the voltage from 12v to 5v to feed into the Arduino. Also added a 5.1k. resistor to ground. This is the design that member Cobey had drawn up for the connections.

The SIM card that he had no longer worked since it was over a year so I stopped by Walmart and bought an AT&T gophone SIM card for $10 and a recharge/refill card for $15. It was as simple as calling the number provided on the package and putting in the refill card pin info, and giving the GPRS shield’s IMEI printed on the SIM900 chip.

So after a few tests I finally got it working, so all’s i need to do is hook it up to my lighter, then hook pin2 up to my interior light underneath the dash

When my original $15 is up AT&T said I can convert my gophone plan over to text only for $5/month, so its pretty cheap.

If you would like to build a similar device the cheapest ive seen for an arduino clone is $13.50 ::HERE::

And for the GPRS Shield was $30 ::HERE::

Find yourself a nice case for them (I ended up using a weatherproof AT&T DSL box) and you’ll be off and running for about $70 total including the SIM card and first month.

The Arduino source code is available ::HERE:: you just need to change the phone number to your own number and upload it to your Arduino.

Thanks to Cobey,Devin, and Gary for helping out with the project, one of the great things about a hackerspace is you have people to turn to when you have questions. I’ll be updating soon with results if my device is triggered :)

RFPiD – Raspberry Pi Access Control

By | | ,
Leave a comment

We’ve been working on our new door entry system for NESIT that will allow members to enter the space through our sliding door. This will replace our current Arduino RFID door access system. It utilizes a RFID card reader that checks the tag against a SQLite database then opens the door by triggering a 5v relay connected to a garage door opener. It also tweets when someone arrives @ the space to Twitter.com as well as logging the arrival into the database. Connected to the front of the device is a small 4.5 lcd screen connected by s-video port that plays videos when someone scans their card. Continue reading →

PirateBox

By | |
Leave a comment

The PirateBox is a device designed to facilitate sharing, you need to be close enough to connect via WiFi to this portable file server. PirateBox is designed to be private and secure. No logins are required and no user data is logged. Users remain completely anonymous – the system is purposely not connected to the Internet in order to subvert tracking and preserve user privacy. It can be used anywhere, it runs on batteries, usb, or by power cord.

We had an old Fonera router laying around collecting dust so we decided to put it to good use as a Piratebox. Our first step was to try to find a suitable case , we found a used oldschool domed lunchbox on ebay, we decided to try to bid instead of buy it now, not realizing there was such a demand for the lunchbox, someone finally outbid us for more than the lunchbox went for new. So i did some more searching and found a plastic one on Amazon for $8. 

Continue reading →