On Amzn, there are nicely framed, wall-mounted control panels for proprietary home automation systems. What are people using for HA? Iβm leaning toward trying to wall mount tablets, but Iβd need 3, and cost starts to factor in. Mounts are a problem; I want it to look as built in as possible, but most mounts arenβt picture-frame style. The ones that Iβve found that are, are designed for specific tablets, and not the low end cheap ones. I donβt have a 3D printer, so Iβm limited to mounts I can buy.
I like some projects here Iβve seen using eInk - thatβs the ideal solution! Is there a source for pre-fab Android eInk wall mounted control panels, or are what Iβve seen bespoke projects?
Iβm not opposed to gross wiring, and am not afraid of cutting holes in dry-wallβ¦ itβs really the mounting that Iβm stuck at. Android 7-10" tablets sufficient to run the UI would probably work, and I can probably even figure out wiring the charger, if I could just get some nice picture-frame style mounts.
What are your solutions that you think is pretty neat? Or products that I may have missed?
Consider using Android tablets as kiosk-style wall-mounted control panels for home automation. Check out mounts from Heckler Design or VidaMount for a clean, built-in look. While pre-fab Android eInk panels are rare, you can DIY a solution with Android tablets using apps like Scalefusion for a versatile setup.
I bought a $60 Android tablet and run the Home Assistant app with a dashboard I created using the Wallpanel integration. I spent more time than I care to share getting the dashboard how I wanted it but Iβm very happy with the result. I also have a smart plug that turns off when the battery reaches a certain level to avoid battery swell. Wallpanel is very cool. I set this up to replace an Amazon Echo Show I got rid of because I missed the clock and weather display. Check it out if youβre still looking for ideas https://github.com/j-a-n/lovelace-wallpanel
Wallpanel is really cool! And the author is pretty active, too. I only have to figure out the hardware.
I was planning on using the Full Kiosk app but after buying a tablet that only had Android 12 Lite, I didnβt feel like ponying up double or more for a tablet with the full Android version. I tried to run Full Kiosk anyway, but had stability issues. Running just the Home Assistant app has worked great
You mention you like picture frame mounts, so why donβt you use picture frames? You can get some used stuff for very cheap at Goodwill. Or get wood trim at home depot and cut to size.
Anything thatβs not visible gets the glue gun treatment.
Believe me, Iβve thought about redneck-engineering something myself. I may get there; Iβm just checking for more clever, more attractive, turnkey solutions.
Iβm certainly not the only HA user whoβs approached this! I do seem to be the only one without a 3D printer, tho.
This is not redneck engineering, itβs how evening is attached to walls in the US as far as I can see. An ugly hole in drywall, and cover the rough edges with trim. Iβm not sure what else you are looking for.
Something outside the wall could use minimal wood working and nails or command strips.
How are you with embedded programming?
These are great displays, IPS panel, capacitive touch, they have an ESP32-S3 built in with wifi and bluetooth and the display is attached to its native RGB interface so it can pretty easily run LVGL and other UIs at 30+ fps without breaking a sweat.
https://www.makerfabs.com/sunton-esp32-s3-5-inch-ips-with-touch.html
I have one Kindle Fire using the Fully Kiosk Browser and a wall mount with a hidden power cord (https://a.co/d/05GVxVP). It uses the camera to turn on when you walk up to it. Itβs ok, but I installed it 3 years ago and never really finished making a dashboard for it. In practice, we control the vast majority of stuff by voice with the Google/Nest Home integration, or switches. The big control panel thing doesnβt hold enough interest to even bother putting controls on it, and I mainly leave it showing air quality graphs.
Of more practical use are smaller panels for area-specific uses. I mainly standardized on NSPanel, because I was experimenting with them and ended up with a bunch. Example: https://youtu.be/DBzg7v1Q5Zo. I have a short attention span and tend to stop when itβs 90% good enough. I also have in other places a DIY HA SwitchPlate, and HASPone on a Lanbon L8.
Iβm trying to stay away from components that require the graces of external cloud services. That said, Iβll probably end up with some amount of voice control using Rhasspy.
The NSPanels are exactly the thing Iβm looking for, but from what I can tell, these are cloud service based. Do they work if they are firewalled off from the Sonoff servers?
The way I use them is to reflash the firmware with ESPHome, at which point they have nothing to do with Sonoff. I got really into these things when they came out and made a video about the process: https://youtu.be/Kdf6W_Ied4o?si=4nh7kP28IglwVHBx. There are a bunch of different ways to use them including retaining the original software, but I kind of stopped paying attention when I got mine working.
Itβs worth noting that they have two different products. The βNSPanel Proβ is completely different, I think it runs Android. I havenβt played with that at all.
What a great video! Iβm going to try it.
In your video, you mention the horrible Nextion Editor. That was a year and a half ago - have you tried GUIslice? Iβm utterly unfamiliar with every component of this, but it seems to write the same TFT display driver needed by that hardware.
What I loved the most: when checking out the product on Amazon after watching your video (on NewPiped and over VPN, so low chance of tracking), was this beautiful recommendation:
I guess a lot of people are using it with non-SONOFF software. It absolutely restores my faith in humanity.
