3 ms·

Buy a bunch of cheap sensors from Amazon and learn to interact with them. Learn what I2C is, and learn how to chain a bunch of devices together. Get a few relay

Buy a bunch of cheap sensors from Amazon and learn to interact with them. Learn what I2C is, and learn how to chain a bunch of devices together. Get a few relays or servos and you can learn how to start interacting with the physical world through machines. Find a recurring task in your life and automate it

dontbenebby 4y ago
Something like "The Clapper" but more elaborate, to scare away burglars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clapper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clapper I'm very anti "internet of things" but I used to wire that to an AM/FM radio and/or lamp so it would give the appearance of someone waking up if you jiggled the door handle at night, after one too many times exactly that happened when I was home. (Just before I came to town a white woman had gone missing, so I was surprised at how many weirdos they let just wander around under the pretense they were selling magazines or Jesus or whatever.)
- UncleEntity 4y ago
  Out of morbid curiosity…what is the alternative to letting people wander around? —edit— And the doorknob thing, just balance an aluminum can on it so it makes a terrible racket if someone messes with the knob. Wakes you up, they’ll hear it and having a shotgun handy will make them seriously reconsider their life choices if it comes to that.
  - dontbenebby 4y ago
    > Out of morbid curiosity…what is the alternative to letting people wander around? Citing them for disorderly conduct, ticketing them if they blow a stop sign or something, or otherwise making them feel unwelcome if someone reports they're literally wandering around trying doorknobs under the pretense they're selling something
kkielhofner 4y ago
+100 There’s something so fun about using small, cheap, and efficient hardware for interacting with the real world. It’s also a good stepping stone to the world of esp32 (which is more suited to most tasks like this, IMO). Warning to OP: it can get really addictive! Next thing you know you have entire collections of random microcontrollers, SBCs, and drawers full of relays, sensors, servos, etc!

dontbenebby 4y ago

Something like "The Clapper" but more elaborate, to scare away burglars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clapper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clapper I'm very anti "internet of things" but I used to wire that to an AM/FM radio and/or lamp so it would give the appearance of someone waking up if you jiggled the door handle at night, after one too many times exactly that happened when I was home. (Just before I came to town a white woman had gone missing, so I was surprised at how many weirdos they let just wander around under the pretense they were selling magazines or Jesus or whatever.)

UncleEntity 4y ago
Out of morbid curiosity…what is the alternative to letting people wander around? —edit— And the doorknob thing, just balance an aluminum can on it so it makes a terrible racket if someone messes with the knob. Wakes you up, they’ll hear it and having a shotgun handy will make them seriously reconsider their life choices if it comes to that.
- dontbenebby 4y ago
  > Out of morbid curiosity…what is the alternative to letting people wander around? Citing them for disorderly conduct, ticketing them if they blow a stop sign or something, or otherwise making them feel unwelcome if someone reports they're literally wandering around trying doorknobs under the pretense they're selling something

kkielhofner 4y ago

+100 There’s something so fun about using small, cheap, and efficient hardware for interacting with the real world. It’s also a good stepping stone to the world of esp32 (which is more suited to most tasks like this, IMO). Warning to OP: it can get really addictive! Next thing you know you have entire collections of random microcontrollers, SBCs, and drawers full of relays, sensors, servos, etc!