OpenBeken

De-Clouding IoT Devices: Local Control for Midea Air Conditioners and Tuya-Based Cat Feeders

A security researcher detailed a methodical approach to eliminating vendor cloud dependency for Wi-Fi IoT devices in a smart home setup. After acquiring a cat, the author was forced to integrate several Tuya-based appliances that only worked through proprietary cloud apps. Using hardware analysis tools including UART adapters, multimeters, and soldering equipment, the devices were disassembled and their controllers identified. The Midea air conditioner controller based on TYWE3S ESP8266 was reflashed with ESPHome to enable direct Home Assistant integration. For the Tuya WBR3-powered cat feeder running on an RTL8720CF chip, OpenBeken firmware was installed after extracting the original firmware with ltchiptool. Detailed UART communication analysis between the Wi-Fi module and MCU allowed full recreation of scheduling and control functions locally via MQTT.