Cindy's Newsletter #15 - Home automation fun
A little side project controlling relays with Home Assistant and ESP8266.
I’ve finished up a personal project I’ve been working on for a while a few weeks ago. I was looking at the best way to control relays using Home Assistant, but nothing I found was really satisfying.
My husband wanted an automated garage door opener, but something harder to hack than the average remote control and that we could remove in the summer when we’re not using it.
It could be done with a few smart plugs, but it would have been a mess of wires. Also, like in our case, if you already have bare wires or are handling DC power it’s more convenient to just plug your wires in a terminal and put everything in a box.
The ESPHome platform already has all the necessary software elements to drive a board with a few relay, but no complete board with both an ESP8266 chip and the relay were available, so I created my own.
Read the rest of this post over at https://robotsbench.com/controlling-relays-with-home-assistant-and-esphome/
Projects updates
Since I’ve been slimming down, I’ve worked mostly on my socks eCommerce store. I still have more products to add and it’s never totally done, but I’m happy with the recent tweaks. I also added a newsletter specific to that project for new models and colors announcements.
I’m also finishing up the last of a mobile engagement. I still have a big web contract, but I’m not totally happy with my current offerings (which is mostly being a code monkey). I’m considering building a few more focused offerings or some consultation/coaching, but nothing definitive yet.
Feeling of the week
Ways I can help you
I’m a freelance web and mobile developer. I have a bit of availability for client work; don’t hesitate to reach out if you need help with an MVP or want a consultation!
Get your cozy, made-to-fit wool socks at my new shop https://manibas.com.
For my Canadian friends, I have a nano business selling seeds from my garden at https://sentiersperdus.net/en. Jerusalem artichokes tubers are available for the next few weeks! Sorry, due to various phytosanitary concerns, it’s hard to ship those outside Canada.
Also, don’t hesitate to reply to this email if you want to chat, or connect on Twitter.