{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreicxjjjuzjmyca23zqh4wt53wwhp4xl5fzc7bsgwihafhobwfiijam",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:bvcegdybsmuoyda6xrdldnxk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpa5h4z2h3u2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreicemxnmnj5dmcd2gal5ko36plzaw5uphxz7i7cii4qql7km33fevq"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/png",
    "size": 802762
  },
  "path": "/posts/2026/06/thepill/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-26T16:25:46.000Z",
  "site": "https://blog.smithfamily.org.uk",
  "tags": [
    "The Pill",
    "VETuner",
    "Web Bluetooth"
  ],
  "textContent": "I’ve found a new gadget that I’m genuinely excited about. The Pill from Shelly is a tiny little USB powered thing that you can plug sensors into and advertise the values over BLE\n\n## A little bit of time travel\n\nI have a Stupid Car\n\nand I’ve always had trouble with temperatures under the bonnet.\n\nOver the years I’ve tried to interface to DS18B20 sensors in various ways. It started with Raspberry Pi(s) which required a lot of effort not to kill with car voltages and shutdown.\n\nAfter running up a bill of dead Pis, I started playing with ESP32s. Much more robust and much cheaper. It did become complicated when I started running a mobile wifi network and publishing data over MQTT. If you ever wondered why MSDroid mad MQTT functionality, it was this.\n\nHowever that was all a major pain in the nuts with an excessive number of moving parts. There was a time when Wireguard and My Home Assistant setup were involved. Bonkers.\n\nI’m now working on VETuner and as that is browser based that immediately negates any realistic chance of a network connection. Chrome supports Web Bluetooth which lets code running in the browser talk to BLE devices.\n\n## Back to today\n\nI was idly browsing the Shelly website looking for energy monitoring devices I could put into the wall socket when I came across The Pill. TL;DC a 3 gramme widget that you can plug up to 5 DS18B20 sensors into and get readings from them over BLE. It arrived today and I’m now updating VETuner to read them. Then I need to actually place the sensors back in the car.\n\nThis thing is £8!",
  "title": "Red, Blue or White Pill?"
}