Hacking a Commercial Colorimeter to add RAL Color Code Support

Hackaday reports that one electronics hacker solved a tedious workflow by reverse-engineering a commercial colorimeter. The problem was simple: after each color measurement, he had to manually record the reading, walk to the office, match it against a RAL reference table, and walk back. The solution involved extracting the CR4501's firmware via its debug port, analyzing it with Ghidra, and patching it with RAL color code support. Now the device displays the closest matching RAL color and the difference each time a measurement is taken. The hacker even published an online tool so other CR4501 owners can install the modified firmware themselves.

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