About
The Self Clearing Desk is an invention by Michael Cullen. It aims to solve the problem of desks in community workspaces being left covered in stuff, by dumping the stuff on the floor.
The Self Clearing Desk is fully Buzzword compliant, and adheres to several defacto standards for IoT Internet Of Targets devices.
Some technologies used by the desk include:
- MQTT
- MQTT over Websockets
- TLS
- HTTP
HTCPCPRemoved from launch scope
Is this real?
Yes. London Hackspace currently has one of these desks.
How Does It Work?
There is a QR code on the corner of the desk, which, when scanned with a smartphone, takes you to a website to control the desk. When you press the "Clear Desk" button, a pair of linear actuators raise one edge of the desk. tipping everything on the desk onto the floor.
Is This Some Kind Of Joke?
Eh, sort of. It was created as a bit of a joke, but it does really exist, and really does throw things onto the floor.
How Secure Is The Desk?
As is common in the IoT industry, the desk has absolutely no TLS certificate validation whatsoever, allowing fast and easy incerception of commands. The only security on the desk actuation is a random string in the QR code. This allows easy remote operation of the desk from anywhere in the world once the link in the QR code is saved to the user's bookmarks list. This opens up new markets in pranks and other mischievous activity.
Is the code available?
Not yet - I do plan to release it once I've cleaned it up a bit though.
@mich181189
mich181189
Light Emitting Resistor