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Life & fun · July 11, 2013

I hacked my microwave with a Raspberry Pi

A few months ago, I was inspired by this post on Reddit, titled: Food items should have QR codes that instruct the microwave exactly what to do. Like high for 2 minutes, let stand 1 minute, medium 1 minutes.. I thought this was a pretty cool idea, and that it

I hacked my microwave with a Raspberry Pi launched on July 11, 2013 with 423 votes, #1 of 486 launches that month and more than 99% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 13 years on.

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In plain words

This project involves integrating a Raspberry Pi into a microwave to modify its functionality. Created by Nathan and launched in 2013, it demonstrates creative hardware hacking for hobbyists interested in IoT and kitchen appliance customization. The project allows users to repurpose everyday electronics through single-board computing, appealing to makers and electronics enthusiasts who want to experiment with adding smart capabilities to conventional household devices.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

A few months ago, I was inspired by this post on Reddit, titled: Food items should have QR codes that instruct the microwave exactly what to do. Like high for 2 minutes, let stand 1 minute, medium 1 minutes. . I thought this was a pretty cool idea, and that it would be a fun project for a Raspberry Pi. I agreed with the people who thought using UPC barcodes would be better, since products already have them, so I went with a barcode scanner + online product database. I used a microwave with a touchpad, and discovered that the touchpad was a button matrix. I took photos of the touchpad and traced the wires, so that I could tell which pins corresponded to which buttons. I initially wanted to…from madebynathan.com

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