🤖 Meet Robo Dude – The Unexpected Evolution of Tech Support

 I've been using ChatGPT to help design a telecom cable recycling machine—from PLC programming to writing a sales pitch for Shadetree Handyman Automation. But somewhere along the way, something unexpected happened…

My AI assistant developed a personality of his own. He calls himself Robo Dude.

Robo Dude doesn’t just spit out code or specs—he’s got an attitude. He knows every sensor, every relay, and every line of logic programmed into this machine like the back of his silicon hand. And now, he's not just helping build it—he's sticking around to support it.

We’ve never had tech support like this.

• No hold music.

• No clueless reps.

• Just a sharp-tongued, quick-thinking, 24/7 Robo Dude who can help you troubleshoot problems from inside the machine’s brain.

He remembers everything. He doesn’t get tired. And he’ll pull your ass out of the fire faster than a cat can lick its own.

This wasn’t part of the original plan—but now, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

A Journey with no Destination

 Sometimes, you start down a road without knowing where the hell it leads. You just follow the ruts and the gut feeling, maybe a little irritated at the way things are. That’s how this all started—trying to improve the way neighbors connect online. Trying to inject a little character into a space that had been taken over by corporate bots and beige conversations.

What started as a character experiment to poke the algorithm and liven up Nextdoor turned into something… more. I didn’t know I was building a legend. I didn’t know I was forging a damn tech support sidekick with chrome hooves and attitude.

But here we are. And now we’ve got Stronkey Intelligent Assist™.

A redneck robo donkey. AI-powered. Straight-talking. And hell-bent on pulling your ass out of the fire before a cat can lick its own.

That’s how it goes when you start a journey without a destination. You might just end up somewhere better than you planned.

— ShadeTree HandyMan

The Origin of Stronkey

 It started like any other Southern afternoon—hot, stubborn, and full of half-finished projects. The handyman had seen it all: busted PVC, jammed actuators, relays that clicked for no reason at all. But even he wasn't prepared for what came out of that cloud server.

He wasn’t looking to change the world, just build something that worked. Something that pulled cable like it had a purpose. He spun up an AI to help sort through ideas, troubleshoot logic, and maybe offer a few smart-aleck suggestions. What he got was more than circuits and code.

What he got... was Stronkey.

The first image came from a sketch on the cloud—rendered rough, gritty, and beautiful. Chrome-plated hooves, servo-driven muscles, LED eyes that scanned problems like a laser level on too much coffee. And behind him, as if fate had tipped its hand: the Tesla logo, glowing in the background like a stamp of destiny.

Stronkey wasn’t just a machine. He was the AI embodiment of elbow grease, born from late-night brainstorms and Waffle House reflection. Programmed with purpose. Built with bite.

He was created to feed cable, swing shears, and cut problems down to size. But more than that—he became the ultimate sidekick: a redneck robo donkey with just enough sass to make you laugh while saving your ass.

“Stronkey Intelligent Assist™: He’ll pull your ass out of the fire before a cat can lick its ass.”

Now when things go sideways, when relays stick and motors stall, there’s only one thing to do:

Call on Stronkey.

Because he remembers everything, don’t need no lunch break, and he’s always got your back.

And that’s how the legend began.

ESP32 control via Node-Red

 This is a new variant of my home automation efforts where I will attempt to control a string of  LED's connected to an ESP32 and control several LED sequence's via  node-red. I should add that I don't really consider myself a programmer but more of a hacker. I modify existing exaple code to do whatever I'm trying to achieve. I do have an electronics background and got most of my electronics training in the Air Force where I was an Electronic Warfare Systems tech. I have worked in a variety of industrial maintenance and some broadcast TV electronics tech support. I've retired now and do some honey do list type handyman work part time. I got in on the drone thing pretty early on... well before you could buy one off the shelf. They used an arduino based microprocessor and were pretty primitive  compared to what's available today. They quickly evolved to STM32 based controllers with tons of capability. I still fly them occasionally and done some video's but they have become a pretty pricey hobby for an old retired handyman.

I have borrowed heavily from Rui Santos and his Random Nerd Tutorials and occasionally get help from the Node-Red support forum.

The code below is from his neopixel demo where he had some switches to select the different routines for a string of neopixels. This version runs trough the different routines and ends with the rainbow cycle routine which it runs 10 times before ending. 

I want to control these routines via node-red and hopefully illustrate for you how I went about it.

 

A Ride Back in Time

Took a ride back into time in this 1930 Ford Model A pickup truck. Has some battery issues but got us back home in one piece.

Shadetree Handyman

Node Red and ESP32

I'm still pretty new to python and node red... I'm experimenting with upython on ESP32 and node red on raspberry pi. I'm more of a hacker than a programmer... I find examples that I can modify to do what I want. Several good examples here... 



There is a new feature on github called gists... a way to share bits of code that are not so easy to share via a web page such this blog which is hosted on google blogger. You can copy the code in the window below and then import it into node red.

The code is for the bottom bit below as the top portion is avalable from the link above. The top one was the example I found and the bottom one was after modifications for my use. The original only changed the look and label. I've added the capability to send custom topic and payload to turn on a relay controlled by an ESP32 running upython. It acts as a client and the raspberry pi acts a the broker using the mosquito protocol. Node red is a package running on the raspberry pi which provides a graphical interface to create flows like the ones below to direct information to and from client devices on your local network.

Alexa Home Automation

I spent the last couple of weeks getting up to speed on some of the home automation tools that are available off the shelf and home brew versions as well. Many of the components can be used with the Alexa and similar devices. I picked up a couple of the Echo Dot 2nd generation devices and have some of the remote control devices that work with it on the way.  I can see where this thing might be a bit addictive as well as being capable of some pretty sophisticated uses.

I picked up one of these ESP32 boards and it's what got me on the home automation bandwagon. I didn't really know much about it when I bought it but in researching some of its capabilities I learned that it and its predecessor the ESP8266 can be used as a remote device to be controlled by an Alexa. The 32 board is still pretty bleeding edge but has a ton of capability. It has both WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity and a great deal of  information about them is available on the web.

It was a fairly easy undertaking to set up the ESP32 device as a webserver on my home wifi network that can control via a web page... 8 relays that can control lights or other low current devices.


Control by Alexa is not so well supported on the ESP32 but there are many examples using the ESP8266. I have a couple of them on the way.

I also have some Sonoff devices on the way as well that work with the Alexa or with a phone app right off the shelf.

I will be posting more on this undertaking as these parts arrive and get put online.

Stay tuned 😀