Category Archives: Hobby

Escape game world generator

A world map generator in php.
This php script selects randomly 3 cities from a CSV file and draws these on a worldmap.
No cities wil be choosen which have could cause a drawing overlap.
Every player can see the same generated worldmap with a countdown timer.

CSV example with places and coordinates (cities.csv)

London,905,412
Amsterdam,929,414
Wellington,1722,867
Costa Rica,524,640
New Delhi,1270,514
New York,567,477
Tokio,1548,500

generate.html

<html><body bgcolor=black>
<header>
  <div class="menu_area"></div>
  <center>
<p id="demo" style="text:white;"></p>
  </center>
</header>
<style>
html, body, header {
    overflow: hidden; /* Hide scrollbars */
    height: 100%;
    text: white;
}
header {
    background-image: url('world.php');
    background-size: cover;
}
  p {
  color: white;
  font-size: large;
  font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;
  font-size: 42px;
 }
</style>
<script>
	Date.prototype.addHours= function(h){
    this.setHours(this.getHours()+h);
    return this;
}

var countDownDate = new Date().addHours(1).getTime();
  var x = setInterval(function() {
  var now = new Date().getTime();
  var distance = countDownDate - now;
  var days = Math.floor(distance / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24));
  var hours = Math.floor((distance % (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24)) / (1000 * 60 * 60));
  var minutes = Math.floor((distance % (1000 * 60 * 60)) / (1000 * 60));
  var seconds = Math.floor((distance % (1000 * 60)) / 1000);

  document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = days + "d " + hours + "h "
  + minutes + "m " + seconds + "s ";

  if (distance < 0) {
    clearInterval(x);
    document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = "EXPIRED";
  }
}, 1000);
</script>
</body></html>

Used world image to draw on.

The squares and city names are dynamically drawn using php GD lib.

apt-get install apache2 php php-gd

php example:

// create image from source
$src = imagecreatefromjpeg('world.jpg');
$dest = imagecreatetruecolor(1920, 1080);
// 1920x1080
imagecopy($dest, $src, 0, 0, 0,0, 1920, 1080);
// assign color
$white = imagecolorallocate($dest, 255, 255, 255);
// rectangle example
imagerectangle($dest, $x, $y, $x2, $y2, $white);
// add text
Imagettftext($dest, 24, 0, $x, $y, $white, $font, "Text");
// set header output as image
header('Content-Type: image/jpg');
// output to browser
imagejpeg($dest);
// output to file
imagejpeg($dest, 'generatedworld.jpg');
// Free memory
imagedestroy($dest);
imagedestroy($src);

world.php is included as image, it dynamically generates the map

<?php

putenv('GDFONTPATH=' . realpath('.'));

// Name the font to be used (note the lack of the .ttf extension)
$font = 'tahoma.ttf';
$city1="";
$city2="";
$city3="";

// Create image instances
$src = imagecreatefromjpeg('world.jpg');
$dest = imagecreatetruecolor(1920, 1080);

// Copy
imagecopy($dest, $src, 0, 0, 0,0, 1920, 1080);

$green = imagecolorallocate($dest, 255, 255, 255);



$rows = file("cities.csv");
$len = count($rows);
$rand = [];
while (count($rand) < 1) {
    $r = rand(0, $len-1);
    if (!in_array($r, $rand)) {
        $rand[] = $r;
    }
}
foreach ($rand as $r) {
    $csv = $rows[$r];
    $data = str_getcsv($csv);
    $city1="$data[0]";
    $x1=$data[1];
    $y1=$data[2];
}

imagerectangle($dest, $x1-50, $y1-50, $x1+50, $y1+50, $green);
imagerectangle($dest, $x1-49, $y1-49, $x1+49, $y1+49, $green);
imagerectangle($dest, $x1-10, $y1, $x1+10, $y1-1, $green);
imagerectangle($dest, $x1, $y1-10, $x1-1, $y1+10, $green);
Imagettftext($dest, 24, 0, $x1-50, $y1-60, $green, $font, "$city1");

while($city2 == "") {

$rows = file("cities.csv");
$len = count($rows);
$rand = [];
while (count($rand) < 1) {
    $r = rand(0, $len-1);
    if (!in_array($r, $rand)) {
        $rand[] = $r;
    }
}
foreach ($rand as $r) {
    $csv = $rows[$r];
    $data = str_getcsv($csv);
    $x2=$data[1];
    $y2=$data[2];
    $deltax=abs($x2-$x1);
    $deltay=abs($y2-$y1);
}
if($data[0] != $city1 && $deltax > 100 && $deltay > 100 ){
	$city2=$data[0];
}

}


imagerectangle($dest, $x2-50, $y2-50, $x2+50, $y2+50, $green);
imagerectangle($dest, $x2-49, $y2-49, $x2+49, $y2+49, $green);
imagerectangle($dest, $x2-10, $y2, $x2+10, $y2-1, $green);
imagerectangle($dest, $x2, $y2-10, $x2-1, $y2+10, $green);
Imagettftext($dest, 24, 0, $x2-50, $y2-60, $green, $font, "$city2");


while($city3 == "") {

$rows = file("cities.csv");
$len = count($rows);
$rand = [];
while (count($rand) < 1) {
    $r = rand(0, $len-1);
    if (!in_array($r, $rand)) {
        $rand[] = $r;
    }
}
foreach ($rand as $r) {
    $csv = $rows[$r];
    $data = str_getcsv($csv);
    $x3=$data[1];
    $y3=$data[2];
    $deltax=abs($x3-$x1);
    $deltay=abs($y3-$y1);
    $deltax1=abs($x3-$x2);
    $deltay1=abs($y3-$y2);
}
if($data[0] != $city1 && $data[0] != $city2 && $deltax > 100 && $deltay > 100 && $deltax1 > 100 && $deltay1 > 100 ){
	$city3=$data[0];
}
}
imagerectangle($dest, $x3-50, $y3-50, $x3+50, $y3+50, $green);
imagerectangle($dest, $x3-49, $y3-49, $x3+49, $y3+49, $green);
imagerectangle($dest, $x3-10, $y3, $x3+10, $y3-1, $green);
imagerectangle($dest, $x3, $y3-10, $x3-1, $y3+10, $green);
Imagettftext($dest, 24, 0, $x3-50, $y3-60, $green, $font, "$city3");


// Output and free from memory
header('Content-Type: image/jpg');
imagejpeg($dest);
imagejpeg($dest, 'generatedworld.jpg');


imagedestroy($dest);
imagedestroy($src);
?>

Started on a mobile over the internet Escape room experiment

I’ve been working on some modular gadgets which can be combined to make a complete puzzle.

I like games like Keep-talking-and-nobody-dies. (Which is a computer game, but you have to play it with multiple persons and a physical “manual” Great fun!)
https://keeptalkinggame.com/

And i like real escape rooms.
There are some puzzle “rooms” you can buy in the game store, it is okay but many are for single use only.

I’ve been following some people on youtube, i saw some great ideas but not a remote over the internet using physical knobs and switches.

This is a RFID reader with an old Amico Esp8266 Arduino. It sends RFID information to the MQTT broker

Some other tools ‘n knobs .. and stuff

I want to use Adhoc Wifi and a Mqtt/Nodered setup which uses a mqtt over the internet to get people (and their knobs) connected

I already got a lot of test schematics

Left part of the “connect the wires puzzle” right a solenoid electrical lock)

Schematic for the MQTT enabled RFID module

ESP8266 <-> RC522
D8            SDA
D5            SCK
D7           MOSI
D6           MISO
GND           GND
D1            RST
3V3           3V3
 

Code

Below will write the RFID id to “rfid/id” and resets this when you remove the tag to “rfid/id = 0”

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <WiFiClient.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>
#include <MFRC522.h>

#define SS_PIN D8
#define RST_PIN D1

MFRC522 mfrc522(SS_PIN, RST_PIN);
unsigned long cardId = 0;

WiFiClient net;
PubSubClient client(net);

const char* mqtt_server = "MQTTBROKER";
const char* ssid = "MYSSID";
const char* password = "MYWIFIPASSWD";

void setup() {
  SPI.begin();
  mfrc522.PCD_Init();

  WiFi.mode(WIFI_AP_STA);
  WiFi.begin(ssid, password);

  client.setServer(mqtt_server, 1883);
}

void reconnect() {
  while (WiFi.waitForConnectResult() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    WiFi.begin(ssid, password);
  }

  while (!client.connected()) {
    String clientId = "NodeMCUClient-";
    clientId += String(random(0xffff), HEX);

    if (!client.connect(clientId.c_str(), "rfidclient", "...")) {
      delay(5000);
    }
  }
}

void loop() {
  reconnect();

  if (!mfrc522.PICC_IsNewCardPresent()) {
    return;
  }

  if (!mfrc522.PICC_ReadCardSerial()) {
    return;
  }

  cardId = getCardId();

  char buffer[10];
  sprintf(buffer, "%lu", cardId);
  client.publish("rfid/id", buffer);

  uint8_t control = 0x00;

  do {
    control = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
      if (!mfrc522.PICC_IsNewCardPresent()) {
        if (mfrc522.PICC_ReadCardSerial()) {
          control |= 0x16;
        }

        if (mfrc522.PICC_ReadCardSerial()) {
          control |= 0x16;
        }
        control += 0x1;
      }
      control += 0x4;
    }

    delay(0);
  } while (control == 13 || control == 14);

  reconnect();
  client.publish("rfid/id", "0");
  delay(500);

  mfrc522.PICC_HaltA();
  mfrc522.PCD_StopCrypto1();
}

unsigned long getCardId() {
  byte readCard[4];
  for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
    readCard[i] = mfrc522.uid.uidByte[i];
  }

  return (unsigned long)readCard[0] << 24
    | (unsigned long)readCard[1] << 16
    | (unsigned long)readCard[2] << 8
    | (unsigned long)readCard[3];
}

Schematics used for the Solenoid lock

Software is a mqtt example from the internet which toggles a PIN on the arduino.

Magic Mirror no more .. lets reuse the display

I never look in the mirror, so why do i need one?
The mirror foil was already ugly in the corners.
There were bumps.
Never finished a proper interface

This one was made using a touch screen, so there are always fingerprints you could see

I’m going to use the display for an in-house small Escape Room idea i have.

Only the time part still worked, but i could not find the right cables for the touch part. The buttons displayed are meaningless anyway 🙂
Just a mockup

Mirror part was done using a Safety/One way mirror foil.
Cut a part as large as you screen, spray a little water and stick it on.

At some point i displayed Dashticz on there.
Apparently i started playing with a magic mirror setup in 2015, according some timestamps of code on my fileserver.

Automatic photo sorting with Gps location lookup

We take a lot of pictures, with our Nikon camera and our mobile phones.

(Apparently in 2019 5544 pictures)

Some stats

757 20190803 - on a single day (Holiday)

Average pictures per month
locate "/2019/" | egrep -i "photoalbum|gsm" | egrep -i "mp4$|jpg$" | grep -Eo '2[[:digit:]]{3}[[:digit:]]{2}[[:digit:]]{2}' | cut -c-6 |sort | uniq -c | sort -n | awk '{ sum += $1; n++ } END { if (n > 0) print sum / n; }'
461

Besides android pictures being automatically uploaded to our nextcloud, I’m using some apps and scripts to get pictures and movies stored on my fileserver. (bash scripts/andftp)

For sorting those media files, i made a sorting script.
(Today I added a location sorting addition using GPS information stored in the exif information.

  • jpg and jpeg (add your own extentions)
  • mp4 and mov (for mobile and nikon)
  • Sorts by camera model/year/date/location
  • tries to extract date from filename when not found in exifinfo
  • Sorts whatsapp media
  • Sorts Raw

INSTALLING

pip3 install reverse_geocoder
You need python3, exiftool, exiftime and mediainfo

copy below python script in ~/bin/reverse2.py

( need more info? change last print entry admin1/admin2)
[{‘lat’: ‘-39.45556’, ‘lon’: ‘173.85833’, ‘name’: ‘Opunake’, ‘admin1’: ‘Taranaki’, ‘admin2’: ‘South Taranaki District’, ‘cc’: ‘NZ’}]

import reverse_geocoder as rg
import sys

lat=sys.argv[1]
lon=sys.argv[2]

coordinates = (lat,lon)

results = rg.search(coordinates) # default mode = 2


#print (results)

for entry in results:
    print(entry['name'] + "(" +  entry['cc'] + ")")

And a bash script /usr/local/bin/exifsort.sh

#!/bin/bash
#set -x

reversepath=/home/henri/projects/reversegeo/reverse2.py

#RAW
rawcnt=`ls | grep -i  nef$ | wc -l`
if [ "$rawcnt" = "0" ] ; then
echo "no raw"
else
mkdir raw 2>/dev/null
ls | grep -i nef$ | while read ; do mv $REPLY raw ; done
fi


ls | egrep -i "jpg$|jpeg" | while read ; do 
 	location=""	
	getmodel=$(exiftool "$REPLY" |grep "Make " | awk '{ print $3 }')
	if [ "$getmodel" != "" ] ; then 
		getmodel=$getmodel/
	fi
	echo "$REPLY" | grep WA0 >/dev/null && getmodel=whatsapp/

	gpsinfo=$(exiftool -c "%+.6f" "$REPLY" |grep "GPS Position" | cut -d":" -f2 | tr -d ' ' | sed s/,/\ /g)
	if [ "$gpsinfo" != "" ] ; then 
		location=$(python3 $reversepath $gpsinfo | grep -vi load | sed s/\(NL\)//g)
	fi
	dater=$(exiftime "$REPLY" 2>/dev/null | egrep "Created|Digitized" | sed s/Digitized/Created/g | tail -1  | cut -c 16-19,21,22,24,25)
	if [ "$dater" = "" ] ; then 
#		echo "Trying from filename"
		dater=$(echo $REPLY | grep -Eo '2[[:digit:]]{3}-[[:digit:]]{2}-[[:digit:]]{2}')

		if [ "$dater" = "" ] ; then 
#			echo "Trying from filename - maybe without dashes"
			dater=$(echo $REPLY | grep -Eo '2[[:digit:]]{3}[[:digit:]]{2}[[:digit:]]{2}')

		fi
	fi
	if [ "$dater" != "" ] ; then 
		year=$(echo $dater | cut -c-4)
		mkdir -p "${getmodel}$year/${dater}/$location"
		mv "$REPLY" "${getmodel}${year}/${dater}/$location"
	else
		mkdir -p "${getmodel}unknowndate/$location"
		mv "$REPLY" "${getmodel}unknowndate/$location"
      	fi
done

ls | egrep -i "mov$|mp4$" | while read ; do 
	
 	location=""	
	getmodel=$(exiftool "$REPLY" |grep "Make " | awk '{ print $3 }')
	if [ "$getmodel" != "" ] ; then 
		getmodel=$getmodel/
	fi

	echo "$REPLY" | grep WA0 >/dev/null && getmodel=whatsapp/
	gpsinfo=$(exiftool -c "%+.6f" "$REPLY" |grep "GPS Position" | cut -d":" -f2 | tr -d ' ' | sed s/,/\ /g)
	if [ "$gpsinfo" != "" ] ; then 
		location=$(python3 $reversepath $gpsinfo | grep -vi load | sed s/\(NL\)//g)
	fi
	dater=$(mediainfo "$REPLY" | grep Encode | tail -1 | cut -f2- -d:  | cut -f3 -d" " | sed s/-//g)
	if [ "$dater" = "" ] ; then 
#		echo "Trying from filename"
		dater=$(echo $REPLY | grep -Eo '2[[:digit:]]{3}-[[:digit:]]{2}-[[:digit:]]{2}')

		if [ "$dater" = "" ] ; then 
#			echo "Trying from filename - maybe without dashes"
			dater=$(echo $REPLY | grep -Eo '2[[:digit:]]{3}[[:digit:]]{2}[[:digit:]]{2}')

		fi
	fi
	if [ "$dater" != "" ] ; then 
		year=$(echo $dater | cut -c-4)
		mkdir -p "${getmodel}$year/${dater}/$location"
		mv "$REPLY" "${getmodel}${year}/${dater}/$location"
	else
		mkdir -p "${getmodel}unknowndate/$location"
		mv "$REPLY" "${getmodel}unknowndate/$location"
      	fi
done

Example running in a directory with mixed media

# Raw images get moved into a RAW directory
no raw

# Samsung phone detected with date and GPS location
mkdir -p samsung/20220717/Hilversum
mv 20220717_133453.jpg samsung/20220717/Hilversum

# OnePlus phone
mkdir -p OnePlus/20021208/Voorburg
mv IMG_20190109_091825.jpg OnePlus/20021208/Voorburg

# Realme (Added country when not NL)
mkdir -p realme/20220607/Isle of Islay(GB)
mv IMG20220607213630.jpg realme/20220607/Isle of Islay(GB)

# Whatsapp has no date embedded so it gets it from filename
Trying from filename
Trying from filename - maybe without dashes
mkdir -p whatsapp/20221021/
mv IMG-20221021-WA0000.jpg whatsapp/20221021/

# Nikon without GPS
mkdir -p NIKON/20220613/
mv DSC_1423.MOV NIKON/20220613/

# Whatsapp video without exif
mkdir -p whatsapp/20170528/
mv VID-20170528-WA0006.mp4 whatsapp/20170528/

# No camera name detected in exif from mobile movie
mkdir -p 20190114/Maarssen
mv VID_20190114_142455.mp4 20190114/Maarssen

# Location in mp4
mkdir -p 20220607/Lamlash(GB)
mv VID20220607155044.mp4 20220607/Lamlash(GB)

Result

./NIKON/2022/20220613/DSC_1423.MOV
./NIKON/2022/20220610/750_1101.JPG
./realme/2022/20220818/Hilversum/IMG20220818203825.jpg
./realme/2022/20220607/Isle of Islay(GB)/IMG20220607213630.jpg
./2019/20190114/Maarssen/VID_20190114_142455.mp4
./whatsapp/2017/20170528/VID-20170528-WA0006.mp4
./whatsapp/2022/20221021/IMG-20221021-WA0000.jpg
./2022/20220607/Lamlash(GB)/VID20220607155044.mp4
./2022/20220516/Hilversum/VID20220516125913.mp4
./OnePlus/2002/20021208/Voorburg/IMG_20190109_091825.jpg
./samsung/2022/20220717/Hilversum/20220717_133453.jpg

You could automate this using incrond
apt-get install incron
add your user to /etc/incron.allow
incrontab -e
add

/fileserver/mediain/ IN_CREATE /usr/local/bin/sortmymedia.sh
Coping a file in the directory, auto sort and move to correct location

sortmymedia.sh

#!/bin/bash
cd /home/user/media
/usr/local/bin/exifsort.sh

Workshop Cyanotype

The cyanotype (from Ancient Greek kuáneos, “dark blue” and túpos, “mark, impression, type”) is a slow-reacting, photographic printing technique. It produces a cyan-blue print used for art as monochrome imagery applicable on a range of supports, and for reprography in the form of blueprints. For any purpose, the process usually uses two chemicals: ferric ammonium citrate or ferric ammonium oxalate, and potassium ferricyanide, and only water to develop and fix. Announced in 1842, it is still in use.

This technique was also used as a method of copying drawings.
For example buildings and schematics. While making copies of drawings with the exact dimensions of the original, making the result untemperable was another big plus. ( You could not move/redraw walls for example on the copy)

I’ve printed a photo on transparant sheets to experiment with.
(Next time, i’ll take a larger size, and fix the contrast.

The most interesting ones i’ve made today:

Hidden remotes

While having a lot automated, and controllable via apps, we sometimes need the remotes (TV/Chromecast/Mediacenter/etc)

They are always … gone, lost.

So i made a little wooden thingamajig, which is hidden behind our couch.
Maybe an idea also useful for you?

The gap between, the couch and the wall is there because of airflow and the skirting boards.

When looking from a normal perspective, you can’t see them.
(I still have to paint them in the same color as our wall)

In the wooden compartments is some bubble wrap plastic.
It has long “feet” so i can position it anywhere.

On the sides are power outlets for laptops, and usb charging cables.

Not much new

Last days .. welllll doing al kinds of stuff.

Composite video print designed and ordered from china.

Changed some vlans in my network.
I need to think of a way to extract/migrate domoticz 433 info into a new instance.
For example .. i’ve got some instances in my device list which are only being controlled by domoticz, there is no remote i can reuse.

Tried welding again, because i could not do it for a long time, i noticed i have to practice again after 2 years.
(I’ve got a dedicated power outlet outside now .. 🙂

Last 8mm films work done. (Converted all of my dad’s old 8mm reels)

Designed a hidden remote cabinet, holding remotes out of sight for the occasions when automation doesn’t work.

Designed also a wooden wall with hidden cabinets in our bedroom.

Repaired a Gardena Leafblower .. again!

Hedgehog home webcam

A while ago i made a little hedgehog home, so i bought a little ipcam from china .. It should be able to run for a while on a little lipo battery.

And yes we’ve got one in our garden, sometimes he hides under our patio.

So lets see if this cam is useful.

Diorama’s progress

I like to work on mini models and diorama’s.
The fine miniature work helps me relax, it’s a zen moment for me.

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