We were intrigued by JB's laundry idea sent to Fun in March of 2010, so we immediately got to work. Breaking the card reader protocol was easy. After 10 minutes of fiddling around with the box, we had a steady stream of data. Then it was just a simple process of starting a load of laundry and observing what it spat out. The details would bore even the most avid of laundry fans, so feel free to contact us for more information if you are interested.
From there, we threw together a machine to drive the webapp. We went with the follow specs:
- Intel SR1530AHNA 1U server barebone
- Intel Xeon X3220 Kentsfield 2.4GHz, 2 x 4MB L2 Cache, LGA 775, 105W, Quad-Core processor
- Seagate Barracuda ES.2 500 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA II hard drive
- Corsair XMS2 4 GB, PC2-6400, 800 MHz, 240-PIN, DDR2 memory kit
- 2x Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 (One for each laundry room)
We hooked it up to the card reader and sent some test signals. To our surprise, it worked flawlessly. Because we wanted Tech Housers testing this as soon as possible, the webmaster cooked up an amazing webapp, and after a few hours of alpha testing we deemed it ready for public consumption.
This whole process took less than a week, making this one of the most successful projects we've ever done!
We would appreciate feedback on this project. Send your questions, thoughts, and opinions to webmaster@techhouse.org.