#hackerbox

Not long ago the old JamBox sitting in one of my office display case’s caught my eye. After picking it up I noticed it used an ESP32 development board, so I had to flash it for ESPHome. I downloaded the PixelOperator8 font and uploaded it to my esphome/fonts folder in Home Assistant. Then I figured out the following YAML to get the buttons, potentiometers (knobs), and LED Matrix working. #…

Realtime fun with HackerBox 65

HackerBox 65 Contents I did it! After blogging about HackerBox 64 just a few days ago, I finally looked at the current HackerBox. HackerBox 65 is called Realtime. The project revolves around learning about RealTime Operating System (RTOS), using a real-time RTC shield with an ESP32, and creating a functioning clock with an LED matrix. This was a well-packed little kit. Testing the ESP-WROOM-32…

A belated look at HackerBox 63: SAMD

Earlier this year, I received HackerBox 63: Samadhi. The instructable for HackerBox 63 has some pretty good information about getting started with the kit. This box revolved around two SAMD ARM Core Development Boards. Plus, it included an ESP8266 Wemos D1 Mini, perfect for adding WiFi capabilities for other microcontrollers. This post will briefly go over the contents of the HackerBox and share…

A look at HackerBox 62

Earlier this month, I received HackerBox 62: Watts Up. This month’s theme mostly seems to revolve around low power operations. I must admit I rarely worry about low power operations in my projects. But it is an important topic, and I can foresee some future projects where low power would be necessary. This post will look at what is included in HackerBox 62. ESP32-S2-WOOR V1.1 ESP32-S2 Included…

I recently mentioned I was considering cancelling my subscription to HackerBoxes. Turns out the owner of the company made that decision much easier with the way he treats customers. Box #0030 is my last one.

The HB owner came up with some crazy conspiracy theory that all of his most active customers were trying to run him out of business. He started attacking us and censored us from helping other…

Unboxing HackerBox #0030: Lightforms

Quick unboxing video for the latest HackerBox.

Official box contents from the Instructable:

HackerBoxes #0030 Collectable Reference Card

NodeMCU V3 Module with ESP8266 and 32M Flash

Reel of 60 WS2812B RGB LEDs 2 meters

8x8x8 LED Kit with 8051-Based MCU and 512 LEDs

PCB

Reusable Plastic Parts Box

Two 4.7 KOhm Resistors

Eight 470 Ohm…

HackerBox #0029 Field Kit Updates

I’ve customized the items in the HackerBox Field Kit and explained everything in this video.

You can find the example code I put together for all of the modules in my hackerbox-29-field-kit GitHub repo.

I plan to keep the kit in my backpack, especially for trips up north when I visit family. Maybe I shouldn’t take this with me on…

HackerBox #0029: Field Kit

I did an unboxing and a little demo with the latest HackerBox.

Here is the official list of contents from the Instructable:

HackerBoxes #0029 Collectable Reference Card

Exclusive HackerBoxes Zipper Case

Portable 5V Soldering Iron

ProMicro ATmega32U4 5V 16MHz

OLED 0.91 Inch Display 128×32 I2C

Four Key Pushbutton Module

Six LED Debug…