Top all-time · #8922
Punch Through
Company blog · punchthrough.com/blogprogramminghardware
Punch Through is the company blog at punchthrough.com, writing about programming and hardware. Since 2014, 9 different Hacker News readers have linked it 9 times. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-09-17, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (5) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN commenters link Punch Through for its LightBlue Bean small BLE Arduino-style module and related product pages, often in threads on Bluetooth Low Energy hardware and door-lock projects. Comments do not judge the writing itself.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 5 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Punch Through is a design and engineering partner for connected medical devices. Systems, electronics, firmware, mobile, cloud, and security, one team.
What Hacker News says?
I was looking for exactly this before and found the LightBlue Bean by PunchThrough, ( https://punchthrough.com/bean ). The documentation is a bit on the weak side, but it's small, easy to use, and low-power (~1.3mA @ 3V connected, ~0.2mA advertising)! I recently used one to make a BLE smartwatch that uses my iPhone as a network connection ( http://workhardanywhere.com/smartwhatch )
Comment linking /bean
on “Arduino in the size of a AA battery”Submitted Arduino Comes to iOS: Program the LightBlue Bean from Your iPhone/iPad as a story · 21 points
HN discussionUpdating wirelessly is also a possibility, not for ASICs, but BT low energy can make it feasible if you do something like a mesh network. Of course, that means if one device is susceptible, others networked may be too. I don't really have a solution, but if you are interested in playing around with that kind of concept, here's something you can probably start with. [1] The battery lasts about a year or more, suppose…
Comment linking /bean/
on “Integrated Circuit design for the IoT”Submitted The Ultimate Guide to Android Bluetooth Low Energy as a story · 2 points
HN discussionI've spent ages in LightBlue poking at BLE devices. I had no idea there was also a hardware module, the "bean". It looks pretty nice: http://punchthrough.com/bean/ -- definitely a lot easier than manhandling directly on the TI BLE controller...
Comment linking /bean/
on “Building an Open Source Lockitron with Arduino, BLE, and the Bean”Submitted Harmonics Part 1 – Introduction to Harmonics and BLE as a story · 2 points
HN discussionAlso featured here: http://punchthrough.com/bean/ble-controlled-door-lock/
Comment linking /bean/ble-controlled-door-lock/
on “Building an Open Source Lockitron with Arduino, BLE, and the Bean”Submitted Creating a BLE Peripheral with BlueZ as a story · 1 points
HN discussionI saw this on Instructables' FB page this morning and was reminded of some similar open source BLE efforts. Some of the notable ones are: Tah: BLE central role AND periperal role AND iBeacon; USB HID via male USB and programmable over USB, 12 analog inputs, 7 PWM outputs, 20 digital I/O; https://www.crowdsupply.com/revealing-hour/tah-open-ble-ardu... BLEduino: BLE peripheral role only; USB HID via micro-USB; 9 analo…
Comment linking /bean
on “Tah: Open Source BLE Arduino-compatible Board”