Last Updated on May 19th, 1998
This page is dedicated to showing off some of the ingenious ways in which Linux was used in conjunction with either off-the-shelf or custom, one-off pieces of hardware hacked together by someone to create a unique device.
There are things out there like in-car MPEG Layer 3 (MP3) players, LCD panels that show off system statistics, LED guages to show system status and more.
If you've got a lead or created such a device, feel free to Email me to have it featured on this page!
Please note that this page is currently under serious development. I'll be adding pictures of these various devices, along with home page links and additional information in the next few days.
LCDproc
This ingenious bit of code allows you to attach a Matrix Orbital 20x4 backlit LCD screen to a free serial port and output a slew of system statistics like uptime, load, memory, time and date, etc. As with most hardware projects, to use this you need to purchase the LCD display, but unlike most projects, is complete out of the box, save for actual installation. The LCD display itself averages $70US.
In-Car MP3
This guy has too much time on his hands it would seem, but what he managed to hack together is way cool. It's an in-car Linux box tuned to play MPEG Layer 3 (MP3) audio files through your sound system. Let's face it, CD changers are kind of a bum steer because you're not always going like like every song on each CD, and even then you're limited to x number of CDs. With this beauty, you can upload up to 2.1GB of your favorite MP3 files to the internal 2.5" laptop hard drive for your cruising enjoyment!
Wearable Computer
For the ultimate geek road warrior weapon, check this company out. They make a small, wearable computer that can run Linux. Their Web site doesn't offer much just yet (like a real picture!) but it's got the specs, etc. Pretty wild stuff.
Linux Controlled Car
Tired of driving? Aren't we all... Well, let Linux take the wheel on your next road trip with this neat setup! On one hand, it's good that Windoze isn't driving, or our insurance rates would go sky-high everytime it "crashed."
Mort - The Talking Penguin
Look out, Barney. You've got competition now. Mort is a Penguin that runs Linux and talks. Not just "I love you, you love me" but a whole lot more. He can "see" several people standing together and introduce themn to each other, even remembering they've met. With infrared eyes, this Penguin's almost ready for Terminator duty against that blasted purple dinosaur. Check out the link to find out more. Really cool stuff.
Contributed by Everything Linux on 05/09/98
Hello everyone, welcome to the LWP - enjoy!
Contributed by Nameless on 05/11/98
My friend and I used Linux to grow pot! We hooked up the serial port of an old 386 to an off the shelf distributer device that controlled a water pump, a CO2 regulator, and a high pressure sodium light. We wrote an application in linux that allowed us to accurately schedule each device based on our targeted growth cycle. For example, during the first five weeks of vegetative growth, our linux box automatically turned the HPS light off for two hours a day. CO2 would be released for five seconds on the plants every two hours, and water/hydro solution pumped constantly until we would tell it to stop at the linux terminal (When it was time to change the solution). In our next crop, we plan to hook up a digital thermometer so that we can monitor the temperature in our grow room and have our linux gardener turn on fans to regulate the temp. Linux saved us a lot of manual labor, and helped produce a bumper harvest.(MH NOTE) Now this is pretty cool. All you need now is an analog board to read the temperatures and other sensors, and have Gnuplot generate some nice graphs... :)
Contributed by Casey Dunn on 05/18/98
I've seen the MP3mobile - pretty sweet (a miata). I'm real interested in the LCD and the Grow system... I'd like to adapt it to my fish tank.
Contributed by Jonathan on 06/13/98
Hey nameless! I need to talk to you, i want to know some of the details of your project... Even though i dont smoke, that is the best use of linux I have ever seen.
Contributed by Justin Davies on 06/17/98
I'm thinking of building a small (PDA ?) running linux. I know this will be a big project, so I thought I could get some help from you guys, just email me if your interested or have any ideas to contribute. Jay
Contributed by Jochen Tuchbreiter on 07/09/98
Linux Infra-red Remote Control Tired of having to get up and walk to the computer to switch to the next mp3 ? LIRC will enable you to control your Linux machine via your Hifi/VCR/TV remote control using cheap and easy to build hardware (<$10). (I'm not the author of the project nor am I involved with it but I thought that it would fit into this list of cool hardware hacks)
Contributed by someone on 07/19/98
(MH NOTE: SNIP!) ...on a more serious note id like to ask the following question..anyone out there actually have a clue as to how to seriously built such a home security system (not like the one i have described :) ) and have it all managed and controlled by our so dear and wonderful OS Linux...
Contributed by Jim Kannengieser on 07/25/98
Hello. I am curious about getting started with this kind of hacking. I am a novice programmer, but have some ideas that I'd like to try. The problem is, I'm not sure where to start with hardware hacking. For instance, nameless grew pot in a rather clever way, but I'm not sure what kind of hardware controllers are required. This kind of stuff doesn't jump off the shelf at CompUSA. Where can I find it? Are there any good programming books for working with external device controllers? I'd like to get started, but need some direction. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Contributed by jkaiser on 08/04/98
I plugged this thing called a solid state relay into the parallel port of a clunker, then used a program in cron to ring a 110v lunch/break factory buzzer. And I use X10 modules (that are likely to be available in a Compusa, definately fries, or in desperate times, radio shack) to flip lights on and off (use the relay-appliance type, the dimmer-light kind make the stereo buzz). The program that controls them just has to write to a serial port. (X10 modules use your AC wall outlets as a low grade network. An RS232 interface is available. Underneath the the Win9x stuff is a booklet that details the protocol.) I suppose in an ideal world, the light next to you would be a file in /dev, but I tend to do a lot of it with shell scripts.
Contributed by Nameless on 08/04/98
Jim- We used a micro controller we ordered from an add in the back of SysAdmin magazine. There are a bunch of them you can get. It comes with a c library for linux and its really simple to control once you get the serial port talking to it. MH- Gnuplot is a good idea, we'll look into it! Jonathan- can't talk 4 obvious reasons!
Contributed by Dan The Man on 08/04/98
Ive got my Linux box answering my phone and taking messages-- paging me when I get one. You can also call the linux box and tell it to jump on the Internet. At which point it Dials your ISP gets it's dynamically assigned IP address, then Pages you with that address so you can telnet/ftp/whatever back into your linux box from wherever you are.
Contributed by Menno Bakker on 08/12/98
Linux-controlled submarine
Contributed by erikyyy on 08/16/98
http://wwwcip.rus.uni-stuttgart.de/~inf24628/ is my project page. i have built a robot using rtlinux. (www.rtlinux.org) right now i am planning to control railroad by linux.
Contributed by Jonathan Hendry on 08/31/98
Has anyone thought about building a Linux-based MP3 jukebox that would fit into a stereo rack? You'd be able to listen through the stereo, or use it as an NFS server to listen through your computer. Ideally, it would have a control panel on the front, but also be controllable over the network. There'd be no monitor.
Contributed by Leon Brooks on 10/07/98
Currently building the ultimate panavision chat/MUD station, using a Linux 80486DX33 PC and a rack of _nine_ VT320s hooked through an old terminal server. As well as running the IRC clients, the Linux box will sequence the VT320s' power (all devices combined make a steady 10A draw on 240V; not willing to estimate start-up surge on all that...) and drive some LEDs to help the user(s) figure out what's going on where. The software will be fun, since I want to run combinations of 1, 2 or 3 users, each with 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 or 9 screens, and also take advantage of the double-wide and double-high text modes.
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