The courage to explore OpenHW Lab

Give dusty hardware a second life

OpenHW Lab is an open hardware lab.
We turn idle Android TV boxes into game consoles / mini PCs / surveillance recorders / print servers — and tinker with ESP32, STM32 and edge AI.
No flashing · Open source · Free downloads · Illustrated guides.

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TV-Box Repurpose Series4 ready-to-use kits

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Ready
🎮

TV Box → Game Console

8 native mini-games + study/exam/tutorial games. Control by remote / gamepad / mouse / keyboard / phone-as-controller. 1–9 players on one screen, fully offline.

  • Offline
  • Multiplayer
  • Phone gamepad
Download (.zip · 295K)
SHA-256 checksum4205d90b2756ecabbb81c3928f353d5bc83d28e611829652eb450b8ef1263083
Ready
🖥️

TV Box → Mini PC

Turn the box into a light desktop: desktop + browser + Chinese IME + LAN file transfer + USB drive, with storage used as extra memory and self-healing boot.

  • Desktop
  • Browser
  • File transfer
Download (.zip · 529K)
SHA-256 checksumbe2b4e80fb8c470207dd572ba51fec17d17a5358339c0c97c09cec02ca570adf
Ready
📹

TV Box → Surveillance NVR

Plug in one USB camera to get a recorder: live view + 30s loop recording + phone remote + motion detection + object detection + push alerts.

  • Loop recording
  • Remote
  • AI detection
Download (.zip · 11M)
SHA-256 checksum1ec2499cdc8812f8ac0cc46d00a55fb28063c05bc47d42a32ac9c92a5e5c32b8
Ready
🖨️

TV Box → Print Server

Turn an old USB printer into a network printer: print from phone/PC via web, AirPrint, IPP — with automatic model detection and driver install.

  • Network print
  • AirPrint
  • QR code
Download (.zip · 349K)
SHA-256 checksumb8f34f0a4c3bdc3ea08ee2f76e0f3bc9729d6fba4f3cce1f66f112cacb5ecda7
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More kits coming

Download center, media center, travel router… Tell us what you want repurposed on GitHub.

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Every .zip includes: install files (apk / scripts / one-click install) + Install-Guide.pdf (plus md/txt/html) + developer docs (with source). Unzip and go.

Hardware & MCUESP32 / STM32

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Source
🕹️

ESP32-P4 Physical Joystick Pad

Build a real gamepad from an ESP32-P4 + analog joystick, relayed to the TV-box arcade. Short press = A, long press = exit.

  • ESP32
  • Relay
Details →
Source
🔦

ESP32-P4 Laser Tripwire

Laser/photo sensor + ESP32-P4 detects beam interruption and shows it live on a web page — anti-theft or counting.

  • ESP32
  • Sensor
Details →
Source
👆

STM32 Knock / Tilt Sensor

STM32F103 Blue Pill starter: reads a knock sensor and a tilt switch, reports over serial with web visualization.

  • STM32
  • Starter
Details →

How it works

  1. Download the kit .zip you want and unzip it.
  2. Read the included Install-Guide.pdf (illustrated, ~30–60 min).
  3. Connect the box (enable ADB) and run install/one-click-install.sh <box-ip>, or follow the guide manually.
Requires: a rooted Android TV box with ADB enabled.
We do not flash firmware or touch system partitions — uninstall the apk / re-enable disabled apps to fully revert.
Read the guides →

FAQ

Does it phone home / upload my data?

Everything runs locally on the device, nothing goes to the cloud. Only features you set up yourself (file transfer, remote view, alerts) use your own network.

Which boxes are supported?

Rooted Android TV boxes (Android 4.4+, armv7 / arm64). Tested on HiSilicon Hi3798MV100 and ZTE ZX296715. Other models will likely work.

Is it free?

Completely free and open source (MIT).

What if I mess it up?

No flashing and no partition changes — just uninstall the apk / re-enable the apps you disabled.

Can I contribute / build on it?

Absolutely. Each kit ships a developer-docs/source folder; the repos host source and guides too. Issues and PRs welcome.