Wired Chaos Studio Send a bad idea

Est. by Absolutely No Authority

Wired Chaos Studio

World's Foremost Authority on Things
That Probably Shouldn't Work

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How this started

I write software for a living and studied electrical engineering before that, which means I know exactly enough to be a genuine danger to a breadboard. Somewhere between the day job and a drawer of microcontrollers, this turned into the place where the projects nobody asked for actually get finished.

Friends started calling me Krieger. Then somebody hung a Fort Kickass sign over the workbench, and at that point the branding was out of my hands.

Absolute maximum ratings

Self reported, obviously. There is no test house.

Parameter Symbol Min Typ Max Unit
Operating enthusiasm EOP 81111 of 10
Adult supervision NSUP 000 persons
Elapsed time, "quick fix" to 2am tQF 152540 min
Magic smoke released QMS 001 per build
Unfinished projects, drawer NWIP 49 unbounded count

Note 1. Stresses beyond those listed may cause permanent damage to the schedule. Exposure to absolute maximum rated conditions for extended periods is the normal operating condition.

What gets built here

Three things, mostly. The third one is where it gets interesting.

  1. Home automation that went too far

    ESPHome and Home Assistant, well past the point of reason. Sensors in places sensors were never meant to go. If it holds still long enough it gets a microcontroller and starts reporting its temperature to a dashboard nobody asked for.

  2. A wireless firework controller

    Multi channel, radio mesh, cryptographically signed fire commands, and a three layer arming chain. It has so many safety interlocks that it will refuse to do the one thing it exists to do unless you really, genuinely mean it.

    This is the correct number of interlocks.

  3. Whatever you are about to describe

    One off circuits, boards, and enclosures for the specific problem you actually have. It usually starts as "I just want a button here." It has never once stayed that.

Say something alarming

Have a build that probably shouldn't work? I would like to hear about it. I take on the occasional outside project, strictly the interesting ones.

Send a bad idea