3 min read
An innovative project by a Romanian engineer, BogdanTheGeek, has demonstrated the surprising potential hidden inside disposable electronics. Dubbed “VapeServer,” the project repurposes a used vape pen into a fully functional web server, capable of hosting a webpage with an impressively quick load time.
The build began when the engineer disassembled a disposable vape and identified a PUYA C642F15 chip. Research revealed it to be a PY32F002B microcontroller featuring a 24 MHz Arm Cortex M0+ core, 24KB of flash storage, and 3KB of static RAM—modest specifications that were still sufficient for the task.
To enable the vape to connect to the internet, BogdanTheGeek utilized the Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP), emulating a basic 56K modem over the device’s USB interface. After integrating the uIP TCP/IP stack for network communication, the device successfully served its first pages, albeit slowly. Initial page load times were over 20 seconds, with pings hovering around 1.5 seconds.
However, through optimization techniques, including the addition of a ring buffer and code refinement, performance dramatically improved. The project now achieves pings of around 20 milliseconds and page loads of approximately 160 milliseconds.
The server currently hosts a 20KB copy of the engineer’s blog post detailing the project. Due to its limited hardware, the server is prone to overloading, resulting in 503 errors during periods of high traffic.
Ingenuity, sustainability, and education
The VapeServer project demonstrates how easily people can repurpose readily available electronics. The engineer, who had collected disposable vapes for years, initially focused on their batteries but later shifted his attention to their microcontrollers.
The project also highlights a significant environmental issue: the mounting problem of e-waste from disposable electronics. A 2023 study in the UK estimated that 1.3 million disposable vape units are discarded each week. Repurposing even a small fraction of these devices could have a positive impact on reducing e-waste.
For the benefit of other enthusiasts, BogdanTheGeek has published the source code on GitHub, including a tool called semihost-ip that simplifies the process of enabling web hosting on other Arm chips.
While an impressive feat of engineering, the VapeServer has practical limitations. Its minimal flash and SRAM capacity severely restrict the number of simultaneous visitors it can handle, making it unsuitable for commercial use. The project remains a demonstration of ingenuity rather than a practical web hosting solution.
The project’s performance, while excellent for the hardware, is not comparable to standard hosting services. As the engineer himself noted, what might seem slow to some is “blazingly fast” for this kind of hardware hack.
