Electronics
During my first post on motion-activated lighting, I showed how a PSIR sensor paired with some LED strips can make for very nice lighting that turns on and off without any intervention. Here, I'll describe how integrating these devices with a home automation orchestrator can make them complement
Electronics
When I first installed our Theater LED Lighting, I set it to mostly default to a rainbow effect available on the ESPHome. It gives a pleasing effect that looks like this. This is described by the following relationship: \[ h=\frac{n}{N} + \frac{t}{P} \% 1 \] where \( h \) is the
3D Printing
The last couple of posts described adding recessed lighting to our home. In this effort, I'll use a custom PCB as well as a 3D printed enclosure to make recessed lighting for the bathroom. Anyone who's stubbed their toe trying to fumble to the bathroom in
Electronics
In my last post, I described a new circuit board to add IR motion detection to our kitchen to control some recessed lights. The IR motion sensors are compact little components, but they need to be mounted permanently. Over the past few days, I designed and fabricated a mount for
Electronics
One of the improvements to our new home has been to replace recessed lighting. In our home theater, there is a recessed area in the ceiling that had some old tube lights. We replaced those with WS2811 strips controlled by an Electrodragon controller. This looked great. Next, we replaced the
Electronics
A few years ago, Trang gave me a Samsung Gear S3 watch. It's been great, but I'm not a watch person, so I really only use it for exercise. Lately, the battery has been failing. I couldn't run for more than about 20 minutes
Electronics
The Tesla Model 3 has more cool features than you can throw an eclectic CEO at. From Autopilot to Emissions Testing, there is always another creative innovation guaranteed to amaze. One such fun feature is the ability to record video from the vehicle's cameras. There are two situations
Brewing Hardware
Before the hiatus, I made an attempt at creating a Continuous Fluid Density Sensor. Here are the primary components: 1. Two dip tubes in the fermenter 2. MPXV7002DP differential pressure sensor 3. ADS1115 16-bit analog to digital converter 4. Generic, chrome plated brass, 2.5 mm hose barb to M3
Brewing Hardware
Merry Christmas, everyone! I just put My Lan to bed and am waiting for the family to get back from the airport, so I thought I'd provide an update. My study schedule has curtailed my tinkering but hasn't extinguished it entirely. I've been slowly
Electronics
When cooling wort with my countercurrent exchanger, it's important to know the temperature as it comes out. The goal is to bring the wort to the optimal temperature for pitching yeast as quickly as possible. Many commercially available chillers have a thermometer at the wort outlet for this
Brewing Hardware
Trang and My Lan were out of town over the weekend. While I've mostly forgotten what it's like to have the place to myself, I did manage to keep busy working on an academic manuscript and, of course, the brewery. Between the broken cabinet fan, the
Electronics
My guru told me long ago that I'd find myself cutting traces on printed circuit boards to problem solve. I thought I must have been lucky to go two-for-two without any hardware problems, but I found that the FTDI problem with my valve board was electronic, not software.