Where’s Jeff? Check the Desktop IoT Location Display

from hackster.io

Creator Make Fun Stuff’s dad Jeff is often out of the office, running from lab to lab doing science related stuff. This makes it difficult for coworkers to find him when needed, so as seen in the video below, ‘Stuff decided to create a desktop Where’s Waldo-themed desktop location console.

The device features a Wemos D1 mini ESP8266 board inside, allowing it to receive tracking info via WiFi. A 16 x 2 character LED screen then outputs data for other humans to see. Location info is updated by text message, which makes its way to the unit with the help of cloud services: Twilio, API Gateway, Lambda, and AWS IoT, plus MQTT for the final data update. More info on the setup can be found in the project’s video description.

To finish the build off, the device comes in a nice white and red Waldo-esque enclosure, along with a magnetic figure of Waldo. This is, of course, modified with Jeff’s face so people know who exactly they’re finding. On the other hand, it’s possible that Jeff, if that is his real name, doesn’t necessarily want to be found. In that case, he could simply stop texting it, or, better yet, text the wrong location to throw pursuers off of their tracks!