Bluetooth is everywhere, but it’s hard to inspect. Most of the magic is done inside a Bluetooth controller chip, accessed only through a controller-specific Host-Controller Interface (HCI) protocol, and almost everything your code does with Bluetooth passes through a binary library that speaks the right HCI dialect. Reverse engineering these libraries can get us a […]
[Distracted by Design] loves gear from the 1980s, though some of it isn’t as useful as it used to be. He happened across a cheap old FM radio with a great look, but wanted to repurpose it into something more modern. Thus, he set about turning this cheap piece of old electronics into a stylish […]
Apple’s AirPods can pair with their competitors’ devices and work as basic Bluetooth earbuds, but to no one’s surprise most of their really interesting features are reserved for Apple devices. What is surprising, though, is that simple Bluetooth device ID spoofing unlocks these features, a fact which [Kavish Devar] took advantage of to write LibrePods, […]
The arrival of cheap thermal printer mechanisms over the last few years has led to a burst of printer hacking in our community, and we’re sure many of you will like us have one knocking around somewhere. There are a variety of different models on the market, and since they often appear in discount stores […]
Wi-Fi cameras are everywhere these days, with wireless networking making surveillance systems easier to deploy than ever. [CiferTech] has been recently developing the RF Clown—a tool that can block transmissions from these cameras at some range. The build is based around an ESP32, with three tactile switches and an OLED display for the user interface. […]
Although most modern cars have moved to using proprietary components nearly everywhere, especially when it comes to infotainment systems, for a brief moment which peaked in the 90s and 00s most cars shipped with radios that fit in a standard size opening called a DIN slot. If you wanted a new Pioneer or Kenwood stereo […]
[Paul McCabe] wrote in to let us know about his $25 robot. This small wheeled robot is based on an ESP32 and made using cardboard and hot glue. You drive the contraption using a Bluetooth game controller thanks to the Bluepad32 library, which boasts a long list of supported hardware. [Paul] provides a Bill of Materials […]
Have you ever wanted to find a Bluetooth device out in the wild while looking like the comic relief character from a science-fiction series? You might like Dendrite, the direction-finding hat from [SolidStat3]. Dendrite is intended for hunting down Bluetooth devices. It’s capable of direction estimation based on signal strength readings from four ESP32 microcontrollers […]
When you think of a Bluetooth speaker, you’re probably picturing a roughly lunchbox-sized device that pumps out some decent volume for annoying fellow beachgoers, hikers, or public transport users. [Matt Frequencies] has developed something in an altogether different form factor—tiny Bluetooth speakers you can dangle from your earlobes! They’re called Earrays, and they’re awesome. The […]