Built a budget quadcopter for just 57€ (excluding frame and battery), and yes—it actually flies great. I 3D printed the frame, sourced cheap parts, and ended up with a 77g FPV drone that gets around 14 minutes of flight time. Check out the video and full build details inside!
After a long break, I’m back working on my FIDO2 authenticator! With BLE dropped from Chrome, I’ve shifted gears to USB—and that meant switching from ESP32 to STM32 (and soon RP2040). The latest prototype features a fingerprint scanner, secure element, and a fresh USB PCB. Still lots to build, but it’s moving again!
Deploying Django on Docker Swarm? I needed a way to securely handle secrets, so I used Docker’s built-in secret management and added a simple helper in settings.py. Works great for both dev and production—no more hardcoding secret keys!
Turns out you can program a dirt-cheap ESP01 module to act like an iBus receiver for a flight controller. I threw together a quick sketch to send random channel data—and yep, Betaflight picked it up! It’s just a prototype, but this could be a fun path toward building a Wi-Fi-based RC setup.
So, I have returned to my last year’s design of the CH340G based programmer and upgraded it with the same pinout as the widely known ESP01 module for the better compatibility and the USB Type C receptacle. Nowadays connectors of this type are way more popular than outdated Micro USB ones.
A lot of people asked if they can buy the URU Card—so I built one more, opened a little Tindie store, and… it sold out instantly. I’ll build more in small batches, so if you’re interested, just hit the watchlist and let me know your PCB color preference. No Kickstarter (yet), just a hobby!
While working on the URU Card project, I realized just how practical the credit card form factor really is—so I redesigned URU Key into URU Card Pro. It now fits in a wallet, runs on an ultra-thin Li-Ion battery, and includes a tiny OLED display for feedback. Same secure guts, much better usability!
I added a tiny capacitive touch keyboard to the URU Card using the MPR121 chip—and it works great! The PCB has 12 touch pads, the setup is dead simple with I2C and the Adafruit library, and best of all… no debouncing needed. Smooth and responsive UI, just like I hoped.