
Megadesk - robin_reala
https://www.tindie.com/products/gcormier/megadesk/
======
alasdair_
I have a Jarvis standing desk right now and I'm very happy with it, but I've
recently gone on a home automation bender and want to automate all the things.
In particular, I'd like to be able to control the desk remotely so that I can
add it to a Home Assistant script that fires via an Alexa skill.

This seems a bit silly, but I have a whole configuration that I use for coding
that is different to the config that I use for (say) gaming - different
monitor settings, change in lighting, open/closed window shades etc. I'd like
to adjust desk height similarly (I have two keyboards and mice, one positioned
below the other one on a pull-out keyboard tray).

So, any ideas on where to start automating this particular kind of desk? The
controller is a sealed unit and my google-fu is lacking when it comes to
finding the protocol used to communicate with the desk itself.

EDIT: Found this:
[https://github.com/sarahkw/deskctrl/blob/master/schematics/r...](https://github.com/sarahkw/deskctrl/blob/master/schematics/reverse_engineer.jpg)
not sure if my desk is a JRV1 or not yet but will find out.

~~~
Sohcahtoa82
I've been considering a new desk recently, since I will be WFH for the
foreseeable future, and I'm considering the Jarvis.

How's the lateral stability in a Jarvis? I want to be able to mount a gaming
wheel with very strong force feedback to my desk, and the Jarvis's lack of a
cross bar makes me doubt it's as strong as an UpLift V2 desk which I'm also
considering.

~~~
hnexamazon
I happen to have both a Jarvis desk I bought 3 years ago, and just recently
bought an UpLift v2 with the commercial crossbar package as an additional desk
in my office. Both sit next to each other, making comparison easy.

I was content with my Jarvis until I received the Uplift. Stability
comparisons are night and day: Uplift (with crossbar) has vastly superior
stability at standing heights. The Jarvis has noticeable sway just using a
keyboard and mouse, while the Uplift remains stable even when pounding on
music gear. Both are stable at sitting heights. I found accessories (such as
cable management) to be better with Uplift as well. It is enough of a
difference that I am considering replacing the Jarvis with another Uplift desk
in the future.

To Jarvis’ defense, I am comparing their 3 year old product to their
competitors’ product I bought 1 month ago, and the overall desk experience
with Jarvis is still good enough that I’m in no rush to replace it. I will be
only buying standing desks with crossbars from now on, though.

~~~
Sohcahtoa82
Thank you for the info!

Do you think it's worth the extra money for the 4-legged Uplift? Would it be
more stable than a C-frame or T-frame?

Did you also get Uplift's CPU holder? I'm unsure of the ability of it to fit
over the crossbar of the commercial frames.

~~~
hnexamazon
I went with the commercial C-frame with a 60” desk and I think the 4 legged
version would be overkill. I have a 27” iMac sitting on a 4U rack monitor
stand filled with devices and probably around 30 pounds of music equipment on
top of the desk and it feels consistently stable with no strain when changing
heights. Unless you are putting seriously heavy stuff on top I don’t think you
need 4 legs.

No CPU holder, but I got the retractable keyboard tray. At the lowest height
(under 24”), it collides with the crossbar when fully pushed back. This never
impacts me because it is well below the lowest height setting I use for
sitting and can’t imagine it being an issue for anyone else. If the CPU holder
collides with the crossbar, though, it’d probably happen at an unacceptable
height. I would check the dimensions of everything before purchase.

For my purposes, I have an an additional desktop machine I simply keep on the
floor by the desk.

------
soygul
IKEA has a new standup desk called IDÅSEN:
[https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/idasen-desk-sit-stand-black-
dar...](https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/idasen-desk-sit-stand-black-dark-
gray-s79280998/)

It can be controlled via Bluetooth with an app on your mobile. It is a much
better option in comparison to Bekant in my opinion. The tabletop on IDÅSEN is
much thicker too, making monitor mounts safer to install. If you are on the
market for a standup desk with good value, pay $100 more and buy IDÅSEN
instead of the Berkant desk mentioned in the Tindie campaign.

~~~
gcormier
I had a feature request to support IDASEN and came to the same conclusion.

However, for myself (and I suspect others), I don't need yet another app to do
something. I want to push a button and be finished in 1 second for something
like a desk. Cognitive load on this should be zero.

~~~
the_pwner224
Generally these devices use Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for control, which has
a well-defined 'schema' where devices expose 'services' which contain a number
of read/write/notify 'characteristics' that are used for control. It's pretty
easy to reverse engineer this stuff, I spent around two hours doing it with a
sleep number adjustable bed base. Once you have the protocol of course you can
just write a program to connect to the MAC address and send the commands.
Another response to the parent shows that this has already been done.

On Android the free (as in money) NRF Connect application lets you browse the
services/characteristics, tells you which ones are read/write/notify, and
snoop+send data. I also had to use the 'Bluetooth Snoop Log' setting in
Developer Options and open the log in Wireshark to sniff some of the packets
that the app sent. The log contains timestamps so you can wait 10 seconds
between operations to make it really easy to identify what does what. All you
need in Wireshark is a filter like 'btatt.uuid128 == ff...:ff' to filter to
just the characteristic you want to sniff.

------
aosaigh
Ha, I just built something like this with a Raspberry Pi for fun. My standing
desk (a Conset) only had a up/down button so I used a RPi + relay hat +
distance sensor + screen/buttons to allow height presets as well as control
via Homebridge:

[https://imgur.com/a/9YF7FuP](https://imgur.com/a/9YF7FuP)

Not exactly cost effective, but it was a fun way to learn about relays.

~~~
vaughnegut
Out of curiosity, why did you go with height instead of timing? Wouldn't you
get equivalent results without the use of the sensor by activating the motor
for a set period of time?

~~~
aosaigh
Yeah I tried timing first but it was hard to get right. The weight of the desk
affects it and it also goes down quicker then it goes up (not sure if that’s
common with all desks - I would assume so). You also can’t use the regular
up/down adjustments if you rely on timing as it would be out of sync (I have
buttons to raise and lower regularly as well as moving to presets)

------
mbreese
I have one of these. It makes the IKEA desk much nicer. Being able to adjust
to pre-defined heights is something that should have been supported from the
start.

The only real complaint that I have is how difficult it was to swap the
original board for this one. But changing boards was probably not high on the
IKEA priority list.

~~~
gcormier
We can call it the "BEKANT Tatoo" when you stab yourself with a spudger trying
to open that damned case.

------
StavrosK
I just realized that I have a problem, where I think "why would I pay $50 for
a PCB that I can design and make myself?" and then conclude "therefore nobody
would pay".

Maybe I should start selling some of the PCBs I made.

~~~
tyingq
The seller provides all the Gerber files, BOM, etc.
[https://github.com/gcormier/megadesk](https://github.com/gcormier/megadesk)

But it's pretty clear many are buying the pre-assembled kit. Hand soldering
SMD components is pretty tedious.

~~~
kevarh
I bought one of the kits and assembled it myself (although it looks like kits
aren't currently for sale.) The only hiccup I had during assembly is the
random board profile I found in the Arduino IDE had the chip layout reversed
which took me a few minutes to figure out based on the source.

~~~
tyingq
The pin spacing on J2 looks like it would need a pretty steady hand to me.
Though it appears only 3 of the pins matter.

~~~
kevarh
I have access to a SMD oven (just a toaster oven with a fancy controller.)
Manually applied solder paste, placed the parts and they flowed just fine.
Same process with a hot air gun should work but will be a little more finicky.

~~~
tyingq
I'll have to try that out. I suspect I'd still have trouble like accidentally
shaking the components off center while putting them in the oven.

------
basejumping
I suggest they also program a child lock for the buttons. My son caught his
fingers between a chair under the desk and the desk itself while pressing the
down button, luckily I jumped in time to help. I've since then moved the
controls on top of the desk and at the back.

~~~
marcinzm
The IKEA standing desk seems to have a safety key that needs to be plugged in
for the desk to move.

~~~
gcormier
Correct, the desk will not move without the key inserted, even with megadesk.

~~~
klausjensen
So THAT is what that is for... I have had some of these Bekant tables, never
understood the reason that thing needed to be plugged in.

------
verelo
Crazy that this is here, this is the product of a friend of mine!

I will admit, my reaction to the price was that its not cheap either, but i
also really did want my ikea desk to have this functionality and its pretty
easy to justify given how much use my desk at home gets now. The solution he's
made is very solid, never let me down, and was easy enough to install
(Although Ikea make it hard by plastic welding the box shut).

------
herpderperator
I recently got myself a commercial-grade Workrite Sierra HX Electric standing
corner desk to make what appears to be a pretty permanent WFH situation more
pleasant. Safe to say I won't be volunteering to go back to the office anytime
soon.

Video:
[https://www.dropbox.com/s/h6ja2epcja2cwd8/standing_desk.mp4](https://www.dropbox.com/s/h6ja2epcja2cwd8/standing_desk.mp4)

You can even kneel on the ground with this one, because it goes as low as
22.5" as per BIFMA G1-2013 requirements.

It seems to have the same up/down interface (panel and app) as the IDÅSEN from
IKEA, which is interesting. Exactly this one:
[https://www.linak.com/products/controls/dpg-with-
reminder/](https://www.linak.com/products/controls/dpg-with-reminder/)

~~~
gcormier
IKEA Bekant contracted the design to
[https://rolgroup.com/](https://rolgroup.com/)

------
sdfx
I guess this makes mostly sense if you plan on extending the firmware. A
stupid idea I was thinking about is a table that moves once a day into the
standing position. I used to work at a standing desk and after a wile almost
never used the feature. Maybe a warning-beep would make sense...

edit: mixed up the price, removed my first sentence

~~~
gcormier
There's an open feature request to allow this type of functionality. Someone
else wanted it to randomly move during working hours (a few times a day) to
force them to alternate their position.

------
lifeformed
FYI, these motorized desks can be dangerous, so be careful. My friend had a
desk in a high position, and lowered it, not knowing a chair was off to the
side slightly under the desk. It hit the chair and kept going, and tilted the
desk and his monitor and desktop tower fell off the table. I've also had the
arm rests of my desk get caught under them. There's lots of things that can
happen, like catching an open door's handle. A child can hit the button and
get hurt.

IMO they should have some sort of sensor thing that detects a change in
resistance or something.

~~~
jabroni_salad
My Jarvis will stop and reverse a few inches if it hits something. I have
triggered it just setting my coffee cup down while it was raising.

~~~
timcederman
Interesting, my Jarvis doesn't and it's 18 months old. I've had the same
scenario happen that OP described.

------
ajoseps
If anyone has concerns about the reliability/safety of electric desks and are
also put off by crank desks, I can recommend pneumatic standing desks. They
can transition between standing and seated very quickly, faster than either
crank and motor. This looks like what we have in our office:
[https://www.standupdeskstore.com/pneumatic-adjustable-
height...](https://www.standupdeskstore.com/pneumatic-adjustable-height-
standing-desk)

~~~
wyclif
I don't mind electric desks but I prefer crank operated ones, like the Adler
Desk which totally slays, because there is no motor to burn out and need
replacement: [https://work.ohiodesign.com/adler-
desk.html](https://work.ohiodesign.com/adler-desk.html)

------
tokamak-teapot
For those worrying about motorised desks and their safety, I just want to
recommend Ikea’s manual desk. It works fine. I don’t know why I’d want a motor
in it.

~~~
ornornor
I went to the store to have a look at that desk. They had three on the floor
including one that was assembled three days ago according to the staff there.

They were all so wobbly as to be unusable. Put some pressure on where the
monitors or where you’re hands would be and everything shook.

Knowing how robust ikea is, I hard passed and got the stationary bekant. It
still comes with legs that are quite adjustable (but only when you assemble
it, I wouldn’t think it’s easy to set it with stuff on it)

So yes a word of caution I guess, that desk can be rather wobbly.

I didn’t go with the motorized bekant because I heard the electronics are not
reliable at all and fails way too much needing warranty service. The less I go
to ikea the better, and since their warranty is bring in (30kg desk)...

~~~
tokamak-teapot
I use the manual desk at standing height most of the time. At this height, if
I really bash on the keys of my mechanical keyboard then I can see a tiny
movement in the monitor (which is on an arm clamped to the rear edge of the
desk). Otherwise nothing. I don’t normally bash the keys like I’m trying to
break them, so yes, while it’s possible to make it move artificially, in real
life I don’t see any movement.

~~~
ornornor
Too bad ikea themselves do such a poor job at assembling their own furniture
in the showroom then. Because of the wobble and the pain that it is to return
ikea furniture without a car, I ended up spending half as much on a fixed
bekant instead which is really good enough for my purposes as I don’t ever
change the height anyway.

------
dbg31415
I use an Ikea Jerker desk as my main desk. I love it.

You can set it to any height you want, adjust the monitor shelf height, and
it's so sturdy. For my home office I got two... one for work, and one for
gaming.

They cost like $50 when you can find them on Craigslist.

No clue why Ikea stopped making this desk, it's better than anything they have
made to date.

[https://www.jerkersearcher.com/](https://www.jerkersearcher.com/)

~~~
sntran
I was curious so I looked it up the desk, and surprised, I did have one of
those.

Sure you can adjust the height, but once you have your monitor, books and what
not, it is a pain to make any adjustments.

It has been in "sitting" position for as long as I can remember.

~~~
egypturnash
Get a bar chair/stool or something similar that puts your butt at a good
height for standing, spend a day rearranging the desk to standing height. Now
when your feet get tired standing you can just pull the stool out and sit for
a while.

It's a lot lower-tech than a fancy adjustable desk but it's also a lot cheaper
and lower hassle.

------
theincredulousk
I was actually hoping this was going to be some WFH setup where someone had
pushed multiple desks together like that episode of The Office

------
FullyFunctional
Am I the only one dismayed by the interface as described? User interface a few
decades old were far simpler and IMO more functional -- dedicated buttons for
everything (cheaper than micro controllers back then).

I'd suggest UP DOWN M1 M2 M3 with the only non-trivial function being a long-
press on an M button to store position. Simple!

~~~
robin_reala
The idea is that this is a board retrofit into the existing housing / control
setup. The BEKANT only has two buttons available, so this controller has two
buttons to play with.

Of course, you could build a new controller and housing with whatever input
buttons you want, but the cost then would go up considerably.

~~~
gcormier
I initially set out to do a complete design as you described, but homemade
housing/buttons will look... homemade. :)

------
tgsovlerkhgsel
I'm amazed at the tiny part size and part count/density "hobbyist-made" boards
have achieved.

------
ponker
This is plainly not safe. A desk with memory needs to require a continuous
button press to keep advancing the desk, so that if the operator or someone
gets caught in the desk and can’t push the stop button, it stops as soon as
pressure is released.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
Fall-safe buttons would probably be ideal too - recessed/covered to minimise
accidental contact. You don't want to collapse against your desk and have it
crush your legs (though the motor/gearbox probably isn't that strong).

~~~
ponker
The motor could easily be that strong, depending on how many pounds loading
the desk is rated for. My standing desk is an expensive model but it's rated
for 600 pounds.

------
luxurytent
Hah! I am in the market for a standing desk and am 95% sold on the IKEA
Bekant. Just waiting to move to commit to the purchase.

I wasn't keen on the crank but I figured I could live with it. This is a nice
and fun addition :)

~~~
robalfonso
I had the ikea one and this one:

[https://smile.amazon.com/VIVO-Ergonomic-Adjustable-
Controlle...](https://smile.amazon.com/VIVO-Ergonomic-Adjustable-Controller-
DESK-E151EB/dp/B084YP8PM2/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=vivo+standing+desk&qid=1593438736&sr=8-7)

The vivo one has been far better in features and reliability. I had to replace
the ikea one because it started only going down and not up.

~~~
shadowoflight
I've never owned an IKEA desk, but can vouch for VIVO's frames - I'm typing
this comment using a mechanical keyboard on an IKEA Karlby countertop mounted
to a set of VIVO V120EB legs and am experiencing minimal wobble (minimal
desktop wobble, no monitor wobble thanks to the gas-spring monitor arm I
have).

I also have my desktop at ~49" off the ground, including castors and a 1.5"
thick countertop, and I've read that no standing desk has 0 wobble at this
close to maximum height.

------
NoPicklez
Strange question, for anyone that has the Bekant non-motorized desk, is the
desk wobbly?

I noticed that the motorized version is significantly studier, where the
standard version was quite wobbly.

------
winrid
On a related note, I recently converted my old Ikea desk to a standing desk
using a kit off Amazon. Only like $150 to end up with a nice standing desk!

~~~
oAlbe
What's such a kit composed of?

~~~
winrid
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23684036](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23684036)

Basically everything below the flat desk part.

Although I suggest you have a drill to make inserting the screws much faster.

------
hellofunk
My IKEA standing desk died after only one year, the crank jammed in the
weirdest way and it cannot rise anymore.

------
vcolano
Hmm, I could use this finally realize my dream of the "Squatting Desk".

------
loser777
So it's called the "Megadesk," but it has an ATtiny...

------
zython
Can this be used to prank certain tall, beet farming, mustard yellow shirt
wearing co workers at a midsized paper company ?

~~~
doersino
No, what you're describing would be called _quad desk_.

