HardHack 2026
1 language| Type | Interactive demo |
|---|---|
| Origin | HardHack at UC San Diego |
| Developer | David |
| Written in | Arduino, ESP32-S3, MQTT, SwiftUI, TypeScript |
| Tests | Firmware state machine ported line for line, with table tests for the confirmation logic |
| Built with | A four-person HardHack 2026 team project, simulated in the browser |
| Hosted on | David-Internet/demos/hardhack |
| Website | https://david-internet.vercel.app/demos/hardhack |
HardHack 2026 is an interactive simulation of a break-in detection system built for the UC San Diego hardware hackathon. It follows a sensor reading from a model house to an Arduino, gateway, MQTT broker, and phone application.[1]
The page recreates three hardware iterations from the weekend and includes an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor, VCNL4040 proximity sensor, ESP32 hardware, UART communication, and a SwiftUI application replica.
Overview
Visitors can open a schematic house door or move an intruder toward it, then watch readings enter a serial console. A wiring overlay displays the hardware connections, while network controls show packet queueing and malformed UART traffic.
Detection system
The browser state machine follows the Arduino firmware, including a moving average, armed-state gate, threshold, and confirmation count. An alert requires three consecutive readings under twelve centimetres, before JSON packets travel over UART at 9600 baud and are republished through MQTT.
Development
David's four-person HardHack team built the original project in January 2026. The page simulates the Uno and ESP32-S3 gateway, Arduino R4 WiFi, and consolidated ESP32-S3 architectures. The firmware state machine is ported line for line and table-tested. Firmware state machine ported line for line, with table tests for the confirmation logic.
See also
References
- ^
content/hardhack/README.md, David's Internet.
- Interactive demos
- Embedded systems
- 2026 establishments