Nick Cupo is a DIY hobbyist in Central Florida who builds home automation hardware, cooks, and photographs. He writes about his projects at nickcupo.com.https://nickcupo.com/https://nickcupo.com/projects/driveway-gate/https://nickcupo.com/projects/driveway-gate/An ESP32 pulses the gate operator and watches its open and close signals. Most of the work went into knowing when the gate is actually closed.Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://nickcupo.com/recipes/caramelized-onions/https://nickcupo.com/recipes/caramelized-onions/Ten minutes in the microwave drives off most of the water before the onions ever hit the pan, so they brown in about twenty minutes instead of an hour.Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://nickcupo.com/projects/smartthings-oven-control/https://nickcupo.com/projects/smartthings-oven-control/A maintained Home Assistant integration for SmartThings ovens, with the token bug that broke it every 24 hours fixed.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://nickcupo.com/projects/water-softener-salt-monitor/https://nickcupo.com/projects/water-softener-salt-monitor/An ESP32 in the garage reports how full the brine tank is, and both phones get a nudge before it runs out.Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://nickcupo.com/projects/sauna-controller/https://nickcupo.com/projects/sauna-controller/My coach built a heat lamp sauna at the gym. An ESP32 holds it at a setpoint, keeps it from running away, and spares the bulbs from cycling themselves to death.Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://nickcupo.com/projects/imac-5k-monitor/https://nickcupo.com/projects/imac-5k-monitor/The logic board died. The 5120 by 2880 panel behind the glass was fine. A DisplayPort driver board and a new set of adhesive strips made it a monitor.Thu, 15 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT