[{"content":"","date":"16 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/%23cyberbrick/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"#Cyberbrick","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"16 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/%23electronics/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"#Electronics","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"16 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/%23esp-32/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"#Esp-32","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"16 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/%23kids/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"#Kids","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"16 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/%23linux/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"#Linux","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"16 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":"","date":"16 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/conor-haines/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Conor-Haines","type":"authors"},{"content":"Changing our target vehicle platform\nAttempts to use SNT Y60 With a Multi-Module Adapter # As written in the original post, our plan was to use a set of Sniclo Y60 mini RC trucks, with custom firmware from the Multi-Module Project running on an IRX4 Plus. This proved far more difficult than anticipated, due to our inability to smooth serial control from my mac converted to the standard 2.4 GHz R/C control protocols required. Though, for those interested, it is possible (as outlined here) but not suited to our purpose.\nArriving at the Cyber Brick System # Searching for a communication solution that would also free us from having a strictly defined platform, we cam across Bambu Labs CyberBrick system. In brief, it is a platform built around 3D printing models pulled from community submitted projects. At its core are ESP-32 micro controllers fitted with daughter boards to adapt them for tasks such as transmitter and receiver. Communication is handled via the ESP-NOW protocol. This protocol, along with projects like this allow us to control multiple vehicles from a desktop.\nAssembling the first two vehicles # We decided to start with this Mini Tank project and move on to the other CREW platforms next. The purpose here is to have fun building and testing with a standard remote setup. Next we will make use of the ESP-NOW communication protocol and control the vehicles via an app running on Linux.\nHere are a few images of us on the way to assembly of the first two tanks. Recording the ESP-NOW messages from the transmitters and replaying them # Following assembly of the controllers and tanks, we were able to control them properly and have a bit of fun target shooting. Next, our goal was to record a set of control inputs and replay them. That is, have the tanks controlled via the recording the ESP-NOW command packets, via Wireshark.\nWe were able to record the packets on my mac, via the use of monitor mode on my WiFi interface. However, it is not possible (as far as I can tell) to broadcast messages in monitor mode from macOS. It is possible on a Raspberry Pi 5 running Kali Linux. We set it up, read in the .pcap file and replayed them (via a Python script) and were successful. We can now play prerecorded commands and have the tanks react as if we were using the original controllers!\nNext Steps # Now that we have verified that we can control multiple vehicles from a single desktop machine via the ESP-NOW protocol, our next step is to move from replaying recorded commands to generating them via a control application. The next update will present an overview of that process: building a QT Widgets based GUI application to run on Kali Linux which will provide the same controls as the standard controller.\nJust as importantly, all code involved in this project will start being posted to my GitHub account in the coming weeks. So far, this includes Python scripts used to facilitate communication and some QT Widgets applications used for object tracking. There will also be some step by step guides to recreate our setup and tests.\n","date":"16 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/mini-crew-2/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eChanging our target vehicle platform\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Mini Crew Ventures Forth Into Communication Issues","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"16 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Posts","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"16 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"SoL Tech Group Blog","summary":"","title":"SoL Tech Group Blog","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"16 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"4 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/%23arduino/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"#Arduino","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"4 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/%23pico/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"#Pico","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"4 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/%23raspberry-pi/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"#Raspberry-Pi","type":"tags"},{"content":"Wrap up on our variation of the Peter Sripol attitude indicator.\nA quick update on the first completed project. It is a recreation of Peter Sripols attitude indicator with a change to the micro controller, OLED screen and Gyroscope/Accelerometer module. Here is a basic parts list:\nRaspberry Pi Pico MPU6050 6-axis Gyroscope/Accelerometer Module Bog Standard OLED 1.3 inch (SSH 1106 controller) 3D printed case For software, we put together a modified version of this code. Initially, we were using CLion as the IDE along with CMake but when the OLED driver dependencies became to convoluted to include properly, we switched to the Arduino IDE and the Adafruit SH110X display driver and GFX libraries. Here is a shot of the breadboard before loading our components into the case:\nAnd our beautiful creation after packing it in stylish PLA: After assembling everything, we made some minor code updates due to the unique behavior and orientation of our gyro/accelerometer module. Here is our \u0026ldquo;finished\u0026rdquo; beauty in action:\nYour browser does not support the video tag. This project was great learning as we kick start a series of family projects. The next project involves flying disks and possibly panzers.\n","date":"4 February 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/haines-project-one-2/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eWrap up on our variation of the Peter Sripol attitude indicator.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Family Electronics Project Number One - Good Enough!","type":"posts"},{"content":"The first in a series of electronics projects where the kids and I try to make neat things.\nMy oldest son (8) and I wanted to work on some projects together during the week (especially since video games are now limited to the weekend). To that end, I\u0026rsquo;ve organized the workshop and we\u0026rsquo;ve begun working on small electronics projects. The aim is to keep them simple and fun. My plan is to assemble the basics myself first and then re-assemble, upgrade and re-build the code together. Though several hours of yelling at breadboards and IDEs is essential to any worthwhile project, I\u0026rsquo;ll save that for when he is a bit older. No sense in getting frustrated just yet\u0026hellip;\nThe First Project: An OLED Attitude Indicator # We\u0026rsquo;ve been watching the great youtuber, Peter Sripol for awhile now and really enjoyed his latest series on building a cardboard airplane. Specifically, in the video linked below he demonstrates a custom attitude indicator (not flight rated!). It was made with a bog standard OLED display and flyduino multiwii board with an onboard mpu6050 (gyroscope/accelerometer). He also printed a nice 3D case for the gear. As his fundraising supply sold out quick, we decided to make one ourselves. The plan is to use some kit we have on hand to recreate the fellow: a raspberry pi pico, SH1106 OLED displays and a Hoite MPU6050. If that goes well, we\u0026rsquo;ll 3D print a case and show it off to our pet hamster.\nThe Original Video from Peter Sripol # First Steps and a Preview # In the interest of keeping things proper and give my boys a healthy distaste for administration, we\u0026rsquo;ve followed the advice of our friend Bob Adams and started with this Product Requirement Template. It\u0026rsquo;s simple, as we are only creating a replica, but Here she is.\nTime is limited today but I really wanted to get a new blog post out, so that\u0026rsquo;s all for now. The next entry on this project will go over our hardware issues, development environment, source code and 3D printing plans. For now, a preview of our current setup: ","date":"19 January 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/haines-project-one-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eThe first in a series of electronics projects where the kids and I try to make neat things.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Family Electronics Project Number One - It Begins!","type":"posts"},{"content":"A self-hosted monitoring and alerting system for the Hedera distributed ledger network by Taras Smereka\nDemo Video # 5-minute walkthrough of the Hedera Network Monitor in action\nWhile Hedera has excellent development tools, the monitoring ecosystem needed something purpose-built. Not another expensive SaaS platform with vendor lock-in, not a generic tool requiring weeks of customization, and not an Ethereum-focused solution awkwardly adapted to other chains. The Hedera Network Monitor fills that gap.\nWhat It Does # This is a 24/7 watchdog that monitors Hedera accounts and network health, evaluates alert conditions, and dispatches notifications through webhooks to Slack, Discord, PagerDuty, and other services.\nCore Features:\nAccount Monitoring - Track multiple accounts with real-time balance changes and configurable threshold alerts Network Health - Monitor node availability and network degradation across testnet and mainnet Flexible Alerting - Webhook notifications with severity levels, cooldowns to prevent spam, and exponential backoff retry logic Developer Tools - REST API for programmatic access, CLI utilities, YAML configuration, and comprehensive logging Technical Architecture # Built in Go, leveraging goroutines for concurrent operations:\nCollectors (Account/Network) → Alert Manager → Storage (in-memory)\r↓\rAPI Server :8080 The implementation demonstrates production-ready patterns: graceful shutdown via context-based cancellation, exponential backoff for webhook delivery, and comprehensive test coverage (197 unit tests, 11 integration tests).\nWhy Go? # This project reinforced why Go dominates infrastructure tooling: goroutines make lightweight concurrency straightforward, the context package enables elegant cancellation, and implicit interface satisfaction enables true modularity without rigid upfront design.\nLearn More # For the full technical deep-dive, architecture decisions, and implementation insights:\nRead the full post on Substack View the code on GitHub The project is open-source and ready for teams seeking Hedera-native monitoring they can self-host, customize, and trust in production.\n","date":"4 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/hedera-network-monitor/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eA self-hosted monitoring and alerting system for the Hedera distributed ledger network by Taras Smereka\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Hedera Network Monitor: Production-Grade Blockchain Monitoring","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"4 December 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/taras-smereka/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Taras-Smereka","type":"authors"},{"content":"Creating a demo from scratch to demonstrate the concepts of Predictive Health and Capability awareness.\nWe\u0026rsquo;re going to break cars. Some virtual, some real.\nAttempts to use SNT Y60 With a Multi-Module Adapter # As written in the original post, our plan was to use a set of Sniclo Y60 with FPV Camera.\nWill try to use the IRX4 Plus with custom firmware forked from Multi-Module Project The first documented project here on the SoL tech group is called miniCREW. Mostly, we\u0026rsquo;re doing this to have fun. Hopefully, we will also create a mix between a fun mixed-reality game and hardware demonstrator to explain what my company does. The idea is to place several real drones in a small \u0026ldquo;arena\u0026rdquo;. As a group, we assign a job, such as mapping the space or moving materials. This job is broken into tasks for each drone, based on it\u0026rsquo;s capabilities and health. The fun part comes in when we create real faults, such as broken wheels, overheated engines and shredded tires. It is then our job to update the task assignments and plan maintenance, if possible.\nExpected Components # The Work Site It must be pretty small, as we want to take this to trade shows. ~1x1 M, hopefully multi-level A series of sensors, such as cameras, for tracking objects. Start with a Computer Vision based tracker as a cheap way of tracking all of the cars, without needing an Inertial Monitoring Unit in each one 3/4 Cars, already selected Sniclo Y60 with FPV Camera Each running a Capability-Aware Prognostics System (CAPS) instance Autopilot via PX4 firmware Initial sensor package: single FPV camera A means of controlling the RC cars directly from a computer Will try to use the IRX4 Plus with custom firmware forked from Multi-Module Project A single Flexible-Operations REsource MANager (FOREMAN) instance A Digital Twin showing the current state of the worksite This is me holding up a tracked cube Applications # Capability-Aware Prognostics System (CAPS) This is the application that knows how healthy and capable a given vehicle is Flexible-Operations REsource MANAger (FOREMAN) This is the application that used the CAPS data, along with the current job to decide who can do what today without breaking Central This is authority assigning jobs to the CREW (1 FOREMAN + 3/4 CAPS) Autopilot and logic to translate high level commands sent from the FOREMAN into tasks for each platform. Likely PX4 A visualization tool and game in an existing engine (likely Godot/Redot) to reflect the current state of the Work Site. Could possibly be used to create a fully virtual instance Computer vision based tracker for the Work Site A Sneak Peak # Current state of that visualization tool/game we\u0026rsquo;ve put together An OpenCV based approach to tracking these cars on the cheap ","date":"25 November 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/mini-crew-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"\u003cp\u003eCreating a demo from scratch to demonstrate the concepts of Predictive Health and Capability awareness.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe\u0026rsquo;re going to break cars. Some virtual, some real.\u003c/p\u003e","title":"Project MiniCREW Kick-Off","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"25 November 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/bob-adams-5/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Bob-Adams-5","type":"authors"},{"content":" Play Ready to dance ","date":"25 November 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/the-first-post/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The First Post","type":"posts"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Categories","type":"categories"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"}]