PS3 Burglary "Honeypot" Powered by Arduino, GPS, Wireless Modem

Over at DSS Circuits, Wayne Truchsess has posted a great article about a "Honeypot" he built inside an empty PS3 case. The device includes a GPS for tracking its position, an accelerometer for motion sensing, a GSM card for wireless communication, and an Arduino to control it all. When the Arduino detects motion via the accelerometer, it sends out a text message that includes the GPS coordinates of the PS3. As well, the Arduino can receive messages, allowing Wayne to control its activity remotely.

All of the components, plus a lithium-polymer battery and charging circuitry fit very nicely inside a $20 PS3 case from EBay. Planned upgrades to the system include a microphone to monitor the thief, a shrill, remotely-triggerable audio generator, and better power conservation.

Wayne described his motivation for creating the PS3 Honeypot:

So a couple of years ago we had a pretty bad ice storm here on the east coast and there were thousands of homes left without power for a week or more. As with any disaster one can expect the criminals to come out of the woodwork and make a bad situation worse. Well as luck would have it my brother in law was one of the people that had their homes robbed while they “seeking shelter” elsewhere. Among the items stolen was their sons’ Sony PlayStation 3. Of course the requisite police report was filed and as is usually the case, none of his property was ever recovered.

Now someone can easily have an alarm system installed in their home which can deter some burglars, but let’s be honest, even the best alarm systems have “holes” in them. So I got to thinking, why spend the money on a home security system that might deter a burglar when we can catch the burglar instead and possibly get him off the streets.

Head over to DSS Circuits for the full story....