Networked Home Automation

The repo contains all the setup files for a networked home automation system based on ESPHome, Node Red and a mix of networked switches and custom firmware.

The MQTT broker and NodeRed server run on a raspberry Pi Zero W (set up with Docker).

Raspberry Pi Setup

The system has been set up using a Raspberry Pi B+. The Raspberry Pi OS Lite was used as the base. A 7" Waveshare LCD with a capacitive touch screen is used as the main interface.

Start raspi-config, set up the wifi, change the keyboard layout and setup openssh.

I set up the user using this page:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/security.md

I also added a lxde:

https://raspberrytips.com/upgrade-raspbian-lite-to-desktop/

In raspi-config, set the system to autologin the gui.

The final piece to add is an install of Chromium. The current version of Firefox in the apt packages doesn't support kiosk mode.

sudo apt install chromium

Copy the script run_chrome_kiosk.sh to /home/ and set it executable.

Copy the node-mosquitto-service.service file to /etc/systemd/system

Copy the autostart file to ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE

Copy the contents of the nodeRED directory to the ~/docker-compose directory.

Install docker:

curl -sSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker pi 

Reboot here, and then test docker:

docker run hello-world --rm

sudo apt-get install -y libffi-dev libssl-dev
sudo apt-get install -y python3 python3-pip
sudo apt-get remove python-configparser

setup docker compose:

sudo pip3 -v install docker-compose 

I also installed log2ram to prevent SD card wear:

https://mcuoneclipse.com/2019/04/01/log2ram-extending-sd-card-lifetime-for-raspberry-pi-lorawan-gateway/

Set up the gui to auto login under the system preference.

Set the screensaver to return a black screen after 1 minute.

Resolution very low

Edit the /boot/config.txt file and ensure the following is set.

max_usb_current=1 hdmi_group=2 hdmi_mode=87 hdmi_cvt 1024 600 60 6 0 0 0 hdmi_drive=1

Chrome doesn't work:

For some reason, I was getting an illegal instruction error when I tried to run chromium. Instead I installed Midori and changed the autostart command to

midori -e Fullscreen -a http://google.com

Set up the backlight:

This needs to be done manually. A wire needs to be run from Raspberry pi pin 20 to a SMD pad on the board.

The RPi pin is shown here:

![images/rpi-wire.png][RPi wire location]

The other end of the wire needs to be soldered here:

![images/waveshare-wire.png][Waveshare location]