Thomas makes, writes

openHASP touch display build

openHASP running in a 3D printed case

I discovered HASP - open hardware edition while I was searching for projects integrating touch interfaces with Home Assistant.

With this opensource firmware, you can easily and cheaply make a network connected touch control panel to control devices or show values.

When I bumped into a nice 2.8" TFT Desktop stand enclosure on thingiverse, I remembered I had an unused 2.8" ILI9341 display with resistive touch layer from a previous project.

Connecting the dots... I had all the necessary parts in my workshop, this would make a nice project to make over a weekend evening.

Openscad: Interlocking Hash shaped platform

While designing a screw-drive based RC tank (perhaps more on that later), I wanted to create a large easily customisable support structure out of a minimal amount of plastic. I started prototyping an interlocking structure in the shape of a hash (#). This turned out to be a lot of ugly code, and so I got sucked into an advanced-openscad black-hole and found a cleaner solution.

Reviving my Standing stats project

I've been using an Ergotron standing desk for 6+ years now. Several years ago I started building a sensor device to track how much time I spend standing up versus sitting down in my chair. The hardware prototype finished, it got shelved since I found other fun things to do with my limited hobby-time.

Recently I noticed that I sit down 99% of the time when working from home. To revive my healthy habit of working upright part of the time, I decided to pick up my parked project by re-printing the enclosure I made on my own printer and leveraging the power of esphome on a ESP8266 and home assistant to make the hardware useful.

owl-filament.de review

I read on Facebook someone bought low-cost filament from http://www.owl-filament.de/. I'm always interested in alternative sources, so I took a look.

I already had a limited set of PETG spools in nice colors and was interested in some cheaper spools for prototyping purposes. The price was 'cheap' indeed, read along to see how this manufacturer's quality turned out to be...

Din-rail mounted Home assistant gear

I have a technical wall with several pieces of electronics mounted onto it. It started to look a bit disorganized, with all these things mounted at random places on the wooden board and cables running all over the place.

So I wanted to clean it up a bit... I stubled upon a dinrail mount on thingiverse, and remembered I had a piece of DIN rail in a box. Time to remix a bit and mount everything on DIN rail!

Board stacks

At home and at work, I always tend to have around 5 small development boards on my desk. In a fixed setup with identical boards, metal or plastic standoffs can be a nice solution to build a stack that reduces the footprint on desk, and avoid a spiderweb of cables.

In reality, the boards are of different sizes, and standoffs still cost a few euro's each. I knew I could do better, using a 3d printer and some parametric CAD modeling.

TV Console corner protector

During COVID19 lockdown, the kids were running around the living room a lot more, and a lot more reckless. Our TV console is covered with glass plates. These have chamfered corners (45 degree cut off), but still it's a hard, glass corner, and I could imagine painful or catastrophic injuries and trips to the ER.

I decided to create a quick and dirty cover that, once installed, would provide safer plastic, rounded corners.

DIY extension block

During COVID19 lockdown, I found myself struggling with cheap extension blocks, in fact I find most extension blocks horrible, and most power supply blocks can't fit next to each other.

I still had three brand new, wall sockets left over from electricity renovations (I opted to place earth wire so installed appropriate sockets). These are Niko brand, the finest EU/BE sockets available, and are lovely to use in every way possible. I already considered making larger extension blocks this way.

An improvised door handle

I designed a simple door handle during COVID-19 lock down. After my kids slammed the kitchen door against the radiator a few times, I had to glue the existing handle again and again. I didn't feel like installing a door stop (also, shops were closed) for this old door that …

Forest mood lamp build

I built a tree shaped lamp from thingiverse along with extra parts to insert WS2812 (neopixel) strips.

My Prusa Mk3s and setup

In the summer of 2019, I bought my first 3D printer, a Prusa MK3s. I've been super happy with this sweet toy, it works like a charm.

Let me tell you a bit about my experiences with it...

Housenumber sign

One of the first things I built when I got my 3D printer was a housenumer sign. I made the writing stand out in contrast by using a filament swap at layer height.