Reverse Engineering Remote-Controlled Somfy Blinds – Part 1

In the following, I would like to document my findings in reverse engineering remotely controlled Somfy (io homecontrol) blinds. In particular, the details of the radio signals and the encoding are to be described here. This project was created over several evenings over the last few months and is intended to show a small glimpse of how much work was needed to understand the signals.

CORS anywhere Proof-of-Concept

Who hasn’t felt the same way? You want to access a web service API and display the scraped data on your own web page, but your browser doesn’t allow it. The security feature CORS (cross-origin resource sharing) makes it impossible if the webservice does not include the respective headers. Isn’t it there a way around it?

Sammlung 3D-gedruckter Gegenstände

Auf dieser Seite werden 3D-gedruckte Gegenstände gesammelt, für die sich kein eigener Artikel lohnt. Diese Seite wird ständig erweitert.

MQTT Air Quality Monitor

I usually think poorly of home automation and smart homes. Not every thing has to be smart and should have an internet connection – especially not my coffee machine or what else. In this case, however, having a sensor which connects automatically to our wifi network and sends the achieved data to another server is pretty cool.

Eine Holzschaukel für Kleinkinder

Wir genießen das Privileg in einer Wohnung mit einer sehr hohen Decke zu wohnen. Das Wohnzimmer in einen Minispielplatz umzubauen bietet sich also geradezu an.

Ein neues Leben für unsere Salatschleuder

Dinge gehen kaputt. Insbesondere mit zwei Kindern im Haus. Zuletzt musste unsere Salatschleuder an den Entdeckertrieb unseres Sohnes glauben.

Enumerating the contents of your router history

If you want to reach websites on the Internet, all network traffic is usually routed through routers. Because no one can remember IP addresses for countless websites, DNS servers („Domain Name System“) are used to assign an IP address to a host name. A DNS server translates more readily memorized domain names to the numerical IP addresses needed for locating and identifying computer services and devices with the underlying network protocol.

Moonlander Game on a Show Laser System

I am a big fan of laser shows. Good music, bright light, vibrant colors. And then there’s the technology: lasers, electronics, programming. All this became second nature to me. This virus already infected me during my early school days…

Audiometry

A while ago I had to take a hearing test at the doctor. The result of my left ear was unfortunately sobering, yet I found the measurement itself very interesting. To be able to continue to control my hearing ability, I wrote a program to measure the hearing threshold at different frequencies.

Arduino Precision Scale

Because my brother bought a coffee machine and he wanted to brew the perfect espresso, he had to measure the amount of coffee powder relatively accurately. A cost-effective alternative to expensive scales was to build a precision scale from an Arduino, a load cell and a 3D-printed housing.