Articles

Web applications commonly require a user database and the management logic for it. Having to build such software infrastructure for each individual app would be time consuming so I designed a general-purpose user management microservice that can be easily integrated in a project.

Managing one's body weight can be quite a challenge. And as the quote from Peter Drucker goes, "You can't manage what you can't measure". So, I built a body weight scale that can upload data to an API of my choice, which was the object of this article.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us cannot participate in family gatherings or other similar events in person. Instead, some opt for video-call applications like zoom, but then get constrained to the field of view of camera of the device used for the call.

The other day, I found myself putting on some weight. This rather surprised me as I thought I was having a healthy diet and exercised almost daily. To identify the root of the problem, I decided to start measuring my calorie intake as well as the macronutrients that constitute said intake.

I am not much of a cook so salads are usually one of my favorite options for a healthy meal. So, just like for everything else, I started wondering if I could make my own. However, I don't have access to a garden so I started looking into solutions to grow vegetables indoors. I settled for hydroponics, which seemed to provide a good balance between yield and operational hassle. Specifically, I went for a Deep Water Culture type of hydroponic system as it is usually considered easy for beginners to setup.

More often than not, web applications require restrictions regarding who can access the content that they serve. This involves an user management and authentication system, which, if designed inappropriately, can lead to security concerns. However, the development of such system can be time consuming, especially if done repeatedly for multiple applications.

While at university, two friends and I registered as a team for the <a href="https://robot-competition.epfl.ch/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">EPFL robots competition</a>. The objective of the competition is to build a robot that would collect PET bottles inside an arena and bring them back to a collection area. We figured the robot would need to be designed with a storage space as well as some form of path finding algorithm if we wanted it to be able to carry bottles to the collection area so decided to simply skip the step. Instead, we designed the robot as a bottle cannon that would shoot the bottles in the collection area.

When you don't know how much power your air conditioner draws, it's easy to leave it running without feeling too guilty. And then the electricity bill comes...

An IoT RGBW LED controlled via MQTT with integrated motion and illuminance sensor.

This is a wireless motion sensor that runs on rechargeable batteries. It can be deployed anywhere and sends a signal using an NRF24L01 wirless module whenever it detects motion.