A cross-disciplinary product lab
Hardware products,
built in the open.
dadaLab turns problems worth solving into real, sellable hardware. Each project combines circuit design, firmware, enclosures, and documentation — and every step is verified and published in the repository, from BOM pricing to test logs.
Under development The lab and its first product are actively being built.
What is dadaLab?
A product lab where engineering and the liberal arts meet. Projects are independent, evidence-backed, and documented — every claim is backed by a verified build cost, a test, or a documented bringup step.
Independent projects
One product per directory
Each top-level directory is a self-contained hardware project with its own firmware, PCB, BOM, docs, and tests — no shared code across projects.
Evidence-backed
Verified, not promised
Host-runnable firmware tests, a verified bill of materials with current pricing, and a hardware bringup checklist back every decision.
Honest by design
No overclaiming
Products report their true state — warming up, valid, stale, or error. If something is not built yet, we say so plainly.
Featured product
The lab's current focus. One indoor air quality monitor, built local-first — your data never leaves your home.
Project 01
airpi
An open-source indoor air quality monitor that measures CO2, PM2.5, temperature, humidity, and VOCs — served over a local web dashboard with zero cloud dependency. Assemble it from off-the-shelf parts, flash the firmware, and read your air on any device at airpi.local.
- CO2, PM2.5, and VOC sensors already wired into the firmware and surfaced on a local status page
- Wi-Fi setup from your phone on first boot; no accounts, no subscriptions
- Verified build cost of $156.42
Current status
Why build hardware this way?
Three beliefs shape every project in the lab.
Local-first, privacy-respecting
Consumer devices that depend on a cloud can be bricked when the company disappears. Products here keep data on your network and your devices working without a subscription.
Simple to build and use
Hand-solderable boards, off-the-shelf modules, and clear docs. The lab removes complexity rather than adding it — for the builder and the end user.
Honest pricing
Every product ships with a verified, itemized build cost. If a price target doesn't cover components, we say so and reprice before selling — never after.
Built with a community
The lab is designed for remixing and contribution — every project keeps its design files, docs, and a reproducible build path, and issues and pull requests drive the work.