Radically low-cost, can't disagree :)
PCB files are actually available: https://github.com/CapibaraZero/resources/tree/main/PCB/
OTOH it's nice to be able to literally see every part, and how they are connected.
Exactly laws & whether anyone cares are ofc dependent on your country
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/03/flipper-zero-devices-b...
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/brazil-seizin...
Both my motorcycles now have about $8 worth of AliExpress parts including a CC1101 rf module hooked top to the high beam globe, so I can just flash my hi beams at the garage door and it opens via 433MHz magic. It was super easy to know how to build that when I'd experimented with "listening" to the keychain garage door opener with the FZ, and playing back the signal at the garage door. To get from there to a first prototype with a CC1101 module and an Arduino, then a second prototype with a CC1101 and an AT-Tiny installed on a bike was so obviously just going to work that it was a heap of fun. Without the "instant gratification" of being able to record the garage door opener key fob with the FZ and play it back to open the door, and the knowledge that the FZ did that just by using a inexpensive microcontroller driving a CC1101 module itself, I'd probably never even done more than wonder about how to do it.
This is still at breadboard stage. If you want to put something together for yourself at sub $35 you can. It's just not going to be portable, pretty, or probably even usable. I carry my flipper zero everywhere for a variety of tasks.
The flipper zero isn't doing anything special that you we haven't been able to do for decades with a variety of parts.
* SubGHZ, you need an RF module.
* Bluetooth? yep
* IR, you need IR,
* network, hey WiFi.
* SD card for any kind of storage? yep, another module
* USB anything but charging? Yep, more wires and modules.
But hey, most devices want at least 4 wires (VCC/GND/A FEW SIGNALs), and other devices want more, to handle clocks and timing. And that's only if your thing supports IC2 and you have enough GPIO. Otherwise you need multiplexers.
Any one of these things can be done with less than a dollar in parts. But have fun combining them all into something workable AND can do them all.
But hey, you are paying for the software right?? Come on.
Espressif CEO expressed commitment to RISC-V (now already years ago) and they've stopped releasing new chips with tensilica ISA.
As the ecosystem, toolchains and such aren't comparable to that of RISC-V and this gap will only widen, they really shouldn't be selected for new designs.
Rolling codes are better. But if you haven't seen it, Samy Kamkar has a device called Roll Jam, take a look at the last ~5 mins of this Defcon23 talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNgvShN4USU
(The TL;DR of the trick there is: Jam the radio signal a key fob sends so a car/garage fairly wide band receiver can't hear it. At the same time listen with a better tuned receiver. Wait for someone to press their key fob and record the code, then wait for them to press it again and record the second code - then stop jamming and replay the 1st code you captured. Door opens and person goes through. But you now have a valid second rolling code that will work. You can do this with a Teensy3 and two CC1101 modules, about $40 worth of hardware.)
Yeah. I've got raspberry pis, and some USB Wi-Fi adaptors specifically bought for having monitor mode, and a few different RTL-SDRs, and a HackRF One, and an Ubertooth One.
But I'm _way_ more likely to have my FlipperZero with me when my curiosity is piqued while out somewhere. I'll often have it in my pocket to use as the world's most expensive tv-b-gone.
Tensilica ESPs aren’t formally in NRND stage as of right now, for some usages they’re still the only choice, even if RISC-V is clearly the path forward.
I got mine awhile ago, played with it, did what I wanted to do and lost interest as I moved on to other things. So now I have a costly device knocking around in a drawer.
I haven't looked closely at the files, but I wonder if there is anything stopping us from using the new C3 riscv version instead if S3.
C3 seems to be cheaper and more stable, but maybe the performance is a bit lower?
The two shortcomings I saw were the price and the lack of WiFi built in. In reality, if this project gets paired with a single board computer, this would truly be a match made in heaven. An 18650 lipo battery to power them on, a cheap stl file for a 3d printed case and you have a disposable one-off hacking device(as in drop it somewhere for a one time task and do everything remotely over ssh and a proxy like ngrok or bore).
Admittedly I started working on something of the sorts a while back though I never really got anywhere due to the lack of time. I actually wanted to include LoRa to the equation to make it truly off the grid. I got as far as writing some boilerplate code for the project and it's been collecting dust ever since... "Someday" as we all like to say...
How about saying what the thing is all on your own rather than ONLY making sense as an alternative?
HN discussion at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39778185
The next problem with this project is the used radio: The SX12xx series from Semtech is good but lacks a lot of features like the CC1101 as used in the Flipper Zero.
I really like the idea of using an ESP32 but the choice of the used radio is a bit akward.
Back on the 8266 it was even worse as there were a lot of gpio pins you couldn’t use at all!
The S3 also has a built in hardware debugger accessible with its new built in USB pins. Previously you had to attach an external jtag debugger.
The one thing I’ve noticed is the S3 is a bit of a “breaking” hardware revision and things like the arduino pin library haven’t quite caught up yet to some of the new features. Things like WLED or FastLED haven’t caught up quite yet either.
All their stuff is programmable in C or in MicroPython, and they have a Scratch-type building-block interface called UIflow which lets you prototype in MP very fast, and is extensible with your own modules. You kind of need it even if you're competent in Python because the documentation tends to be barebones and focus on the electronic schematics, so the UIflow software components are the API documentation.
Expressif's own documentation is very good so this may be changing since they acquired M5stack, but I still find UIflow the fastest way to get hands-on with a new module.
They are discouraging open source hardware therefore that's what makes the software more valuable?
I invite you to hit up ChatGPT or something and shit out a flipper app. It's fun, and straightforward and most people could pull it off with a bit of time and slogging through it.
I would LOVE to see your Gerber design that fits in a case that's around 100x40x25mm and only weighs 104 grams. OH. And because of the parts involved, I'd love to see it because you'd need VERY advanced soldering skills to put it together.
I'll write the OS/SDK. But it has to be the same size or smaller and have:
1. A screen
2. NFC
3. 125 kHz RFID
4. IR Blaster and Receiver
5. Bluetooth
6. USB controller that can be tons of things
7. HID Controllers for lots of things
8. Still lots of exposed GPIO pins for external stuff.
9. SD Card
Any single one of these requires a sub $1 microcontroller/arduino/ESP + soldering ability + 10 lines of boilerplate code.
Yeah. tell me again the hardware isn't anything special.