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CapibaraZero: A cheap alternative to FlipperZero based on ESP32-S3
- nine_k 2y ago> For the moment the only option is to make capibaraZero with a breadboard but we are working on a PCB to make device more portable. Radically low-cost, can't disagree :) PCB files are actually available: https://github.com/CapibaraZero/resources/tree/main/PCB/ https://github.com/CapibaraZero/resources/tree/main/PCB/ OTOH it's nice to be able to literally see every part, and how they are connected.
- ZiiS 2y agoRemember hardware != software. These PCBs may still be WIP.
- nine_k 2y agoYes, updating a PCB means building a device anew, and to build it you can't just type "make" and go grab a tea. This us why the idea to go for the breadboard first and thus always have a working prototype is so obviously right.
- andreock 2y agoPCB is ready, it's a typo in docs, I will update ASAP
- canadianfella 2y agoWhat part was a typo?
- stronglikedan 2y ago> For the moment the only option is to make capibaraZero with a breadboard but we are working on a PCB to make device more portable.
- canadianfella 2y ago[dead]
- shaxa 2y agoThat’s awesome! I love the idea of starting with a breadboard—it makes everything more hands-on and helps visualize the connections better. Having PCB files available is a great touch for when things need to go portable! Are there any music-related (https://sites.google.com/site/legitticketsites/vivid-seats-reviews https://sites.google.com/site/legitticketsites/vivid-seats-r...) projects or builds you’ve seen with CapibaraZero so far?
- blackeyeblitzar 2y agoDoes anyone know what the legality of these are? Can you get in trouble just for purchasing things like flipper zero? Or just for using them in some way?
- hsbauauvhabzb 2y agoYour country may be of relevance to the question, but in most countries owning or using a flipper or similar, provided you do not interfere with devices you do not own, will not cause issues.
- diggan 2y agoDepends on your country. Usually it's the action of using it for specific things that are illegal, not just purchasing/owning it. But if you're caught breaking into an office with it, I'm sure many countries' courts would see that as additional tooling for the break in, for example.
- Havoc 2y agoTransmissions are pretty tightly regulated in most countries. Receiving less so but those laws can be pretty catch-all. Unless you enjoy static noise you're probably intercepting something and thus potentially running afoul of lawful interception rules. Exactly laws & whether anyone cares are ofc dependent on your country
- matheusmoreira 2y agoFlipper Zero was banned in at least one country: Brazil. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/flipper-zero-devices-being-seized-brazils-telecom-agency https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/flipper-zero-devices-b... https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/brazil-seizing-flipper-zero-shipments-to-prevent-use-in-crime/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/brazil-seizin...
- numpad0 2y agoIt's probably not illegal to own in most countries, but nevertheless won't be the smartest move to actively getting involved with it, the idea around it is just too malicious.
- beeflet 2y agoI wish this functionality was in Watchy v3 (https://watchy.sqfmi.com/ https://watchy.sqfmi.com/), which is also based on EPS32-S3
- daghamm 2y agoAh man, this thread is horrible for my wallet.
- anigbrowl 2y agoM5stack.com makes a whole bunch of ESP32 modules with display, enclosures, batteries, etc already integrated, and they're cheap and robust. You can get one with a built-in keyboard for $30.
- numpad0 2y agoEspressif(the ESP* company) bought M5Stack earlier this year. So M5 products are basically official ESP* reference platform.
- radicality 2y agoOh wow, had no idea. I like their products, have a bunch of sensors and liking the ease of use. Most recently got the SCD41 co2 sensors to migrate away from all the crappy cloud-based sensors, and works great!
- RachelF 2y agoFor the more budget concious - you can get ESP32 modules with USB C, Wifi/BT and a few IO pins from AliExpress for $4. These things are amazingly cheap.
- SparkyMcUnicorn 2y agoAgree, but M5stack devices also start at $5 and come with a case. Add $10 or 15 and you can get a device with a screen, accelerometer, buttons, microphone, and more. No soldering required.
- ruph123 2y agoWhich of theirs is the most comparible to the flipper zero? Besides the cool looking Cardputer it is quite hard to make sense of their product lineup and compare features.
- barrenko 2y agoCare to recommend one? Appreciate it.
- ingen0s 2y agoThank you
- HWR_14 2y agoThe big advantage of the FlipperZero is the community developing software. This seems to be a based on a different chip. Does the Flipper software run natively on this, or do we need to port everything?
- bigiain 2y agoI find my FlipperZero is a super fun tool for exploring stuff I'm even vaguely curious about, which I can then use to design/build things I want. Both my motorcycles now have about $8 worth of AliExpress parts including a CC1101 rf module hooked top to the high beam globe, so I can just flash my hi beams at the garage door and it opens via 433MHz magic. It was super easy to know how to build that when I'd experimented with "listening" to the keychain garage door opener with the FZ, and playing back the signal at the garage door. To get from there to a first prototype with a CC1101 module and an Arduino, then a second prototype with a CC1101 and an AT-Tiny installed on a bike was so obviously just going to work that it was a heap of fun. Without the "instant gratification" of being able to record the garage door opener key fob with the FZ and play it back to open the door, and the knowledge that the FZ did that just by using a inexpensive microcontroller driving a CC1101 module itself, I'd probably never even done more than wonder about how to do it.
- sedatk 2y ago> “listening" to the keychain garage door opener with the FZ, and playing back the signal That would only work with older garage doors that don’t use rolling codes, wouldn’t it?
- RachelF 2y agoGood to see some competition, the FlipperZero is very pricey for what it is. Then again, I guess you're paying for the software.
- k_roy 2y agoYou are paying for a complete package that you can fit in your pocket. This is still at breadboard stage. If you want to put something together for yourself at sub $35 you can. It's just not going to be portable, pretty, or probably even usable. I carry my flipper zero everywhere for a variety of tasks. The flipper zero isn't doing anything special that you we haven't been able to do for decades with a variety of parts. * SubGHZ, you need an RF module. * Bluetooth? yep * IR, you need IR, * network, hey WiFi. * SD card for any kind of storage? yep, another module * USB anything but charging? Yep, more wires and modules. But hey, most devices want at least 4 wires (VCC/GND/A FEW SIGNALs), and other devices want more, to handle clocks and timing. And that's only if your thing supports IC2 and you have enough GPIO. Otherwise you need multiplexers. Any one of these things can be done with less than a dollar in parts. But have fun combining them all into something workable AND can do them all. But hey, you are paying for the software right?? Come on.
- HWR_14 2y agoThe complete package is far more valuable because of the software that drives it. More valuable than not needing to solder the wires is not needing to figure out how to make the IR blaster do useful work by editing code. Because if it was just the hardware, the moat discouraging a non-open source competitor wouldn't exist and there would be competition already.
- k_roy 2y agoWhat you are saying doesn't even make sense. They are discouraging open source hardware therefore that's what makes the software more valuable? I invite you to hit up ChatGPT or something and shit out a flipper app. It's fun, and straightforward and most people could pull it off with a bit of time and slogging through it. I would LOVE to see your Gerber design that fits in a case that's around 100x40x25mm and only weighs 104 grams. OH. And because of the parts involved, I'd love to see it because you'd need VERY advanced soldering skills to put it together. I'll write the OS/SDK. But it has to be the same size or smaller and have: 1. A screen 2. NFC 3. 125 kHz RFID 4. IR Blaster and Receiver 5. Bluetooth 6. USB controller that can be tons of things 7. HID Controllers for lots of things 8. Still lots of exposed GPIO pins for external stuff. 9. SD Card Any single one of these requires a sub $1 microcontroller/arduino/ESP + soldering ability + 10 lines of boilerplate code. Yeah. tell me again the hardware isn't anything special.
- snvzz 2y agoCute, but I'll wait for the ESP32-P4 version (RISC-V successor to the now deprecated S line).
- auguzanellato 2y agoNot really a successor, they’re different chip lines (more I/O, video engine, more hardware crypto stuff but no wireless capabilities we all know and love from Espressif)
- snvzz 2y agoHmm, I had missed that. Perhaps the C line (e.g. C6) would be more suited. Espressif CEO expressed commitment to RISC-V (now already years ago) and they've stopped releasing new chips with tensilica ISA. As the ecosystem, toolchains and such aren't comparable to that of RISC-V and this gap will only widen, they really shouldn't be selected for new designs.
- auguzanellato 2y agoC line isn’t also very comparable: single (C-series) vs dual core (S3), and S3 has USB-OTG capabilities whereas C6 only has USB-JTAG. Tensilica ESPs aren’t formally in NRND stage as of right now, for some usages they’re still the only choice, even if RISC-V is clearly the path forward.
- readyplayernull 2y agoBut it has no bluetooth or WIFI.
- asadalt 2y agois S3 depeecated?
- antirez 2y agoMuch more usable if this will target directly the LILYGO T3 and T3/S3. One would optionally add more hardware if needed to support the IR blaster, NFC and so forth, but the LoRa chip is already included.
- netsec_burn 2y agoOr the LilyGO T-Embed CC1101.
- andreock 2y agoCC1101 boards(at least the cheapest ones) have problems with shared SPI bus(SD card and Subghz module)
- andreock 2y agoI saw the board, interesting, a really compact board with almost all module already soldered on it. The project structure and build system makes it easy to integrate new board, I consider it a valid option to reduce space and avoid issues of soldering all components. Thank you for the advice!
- daghamm 2y agoThank you, we really need a good alternative to FZ. I haven't looked closely at the files, but I wonder if there is anything stopping us from using the new C3 riscv version instead if S3. C3 seems to be cheaper and more stable, but maybe the performance is a bit lower?
- andreock 2y agoI have a bunch of esp32-c3 and build system of capibaraZero make it easy to integrate it(like other device of esp32 family). The only problem with esp32-c3 is the absence of USB OTG feature.
- daghamm 2y agoIs OTG a requirement? Or just good to have? I have a bunch of C3-mini boards and it would be great to finally use them for something more interesting than a temperature sensor.
- andreock 2y agoNot really a requirement, you won't see USB section on the GUI. The capibaraZero is designed to support almost every device that support Arduino Wiring framework, so if a device doesn't support a feature, it will be hidden in GUI
- axegon_ 2y agoA good PCB design + a few STL files and this would truly be marvelous. I do own a flipper zero(I was one of the first backers so I've had it for a while). Admittedly it's a bit over-hyped and I never saw it as an rf swiss army knife because of it's limitations and shortcomings. The two shortcomings I saw were the price and the lack of WiFi built in. In reality, if this project gets paired with a single board computer, this would truly be a match made in heaven. An 18650 lipo battery to power them on, a cheap stl file for a 3d printed case and you have a disposable one-off hacking device(as in drop it somewhere for a one time task and do everything remotely over ssh and a proxy like ngrok or bore). Admittedly I started working on something of the sorts a while back though I never really got anywhere due to the lack of time. I actually wanted to include LoRa to the equation to make it truly off the grid. I got as far as writing some boilerplate code for the project and it's been collecting dust ever since... "Someday" as we all like to say...
- nateabele 2y agoPush it! I can happily pick up the torch on everything except the PCB design.
- axegon_ 2y agoWell the PCB design isn't my strong side either - I am completely self-taught in that regard and I'm sure people who have studied that will tare me apart for any decisions I've made(also valid for all of my projects involving PCB's in the past, even more so considering I make the PCB's at home with a diode laser). Likewise, software is my domain.
- JKCalhoun 2y agoThere are PCB designs linked (maybe not good?) and an STL for a case. Just didn't know if you had missed those. I was not able to find a photo of the finished device.
- andreock 2y agoI will upload photo and a guide soon
- wkat4242 2y agoNice! The FlipperZero is too expensive for me so this would be a great option.
- phkahler 2y agoSo I forgot what a FlipperZero is, and this website doesn't say squat about what this this actually is or is used for other than claiming it's a FlipperZero clone of some sort. How about saying what the thing is all on your own rather than ONLY making sense as an alternative?
- JKCalhoun 2y agoGuessing their "audience" will already know.
- cruffle_duffle 2y agoThose esp32-s3’s are super hot right now. Lots of improvements over the older esp32’s like the ability to assign any set of pins to your SPI bus. Previously there were a fixed set of pins you could use. Back on the 8266 it was even worse as there were a lot of gpio pins you couldn’t use at all! The S3 also has a built in hardware debugger accessible with its new built in USB pins. Previously you had to attach an external jtag debugger. The one thing I’ve noticed is the S3 is a bit of a “breaking” hardware revision and things like the arduino pin library haven’t quite caught up yet to some of the new features. Things like WLED or FastLED haven’t caught up quite yet either.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- ge96 2y agoNo pic of the assembled hardware or mostly software?