Product recalls are one of those things that most people don’t pay attention to until things get really bad. If it’s serious enough for somebody to get hurt or even die, then the media will pick it up, but most of the time they simply pass by in silence. In fact, there’s a decent chance that you own a recalled product and don’t even know it. After all, it’s not like anyone is actually watching the latest product recalls in real-time.
Well actually, there might be one guy. [Andrew Kleindolph] has created a cute and cuddly gadget using CircuitPython on the Adafruit PyPortal to display the latest release from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC). In a wonderfully ironic touch, the child’s unicorn boot that the device lives in is itself a recalled product; apparently kids could pull off the “horn” and choke on it.
The PyPortal is basically built for this kind of thing, allowing you to easily whip up a display that will scrape data from whatever online source you’re willing to write the code for. All [Andrew] had to do was pair it with a battery so the boot could go mobile occasionally (we’re told they’re made for walkin’), and design some 3D printed accoutrements such as a screen bezel and charging port.
As these recalls (thankfully) don’t come out quite so fast that you need it to update more than once or twice a week, it seems like this could also be an excellent application for an Internet-connected e-ink display.
Cute. Seems like this can be made into a product and marketed to maybe like stores regarding food and not just other stores. Then again, like… isn’t everything based around Costco? ;-|
Warning this reply may contain traces of peanuts.
If they turn it into a product, it should ideally self destruct if it subsequently determines that it has been deemed unsafe by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission.
no need for this. you are ALWAYS in danger. a high percentage of hazards are avoidable when you use your head properly.
not really all that much of a hack (really only hack is re-purposing the boot), since all it appears to be is an adafruit display that is designed to display junk using python (doing what it was made for…) and wrapping it in a recalled boot
I’d personally likely just use a bargain basement prepaid or used cellphone mounted on a dollar store dock – would also be able to do a whole lot more in the long run. (clock/rss/streaming musak/etc)