The tag reader, and it’s relative the NFCDeck have piezo buzzers in them. These can be used to play monotone music via PWM signal from an ESP. As an addition to this, there’s a simple music file format from the early years of cellphones that’s also supported by this system. Combine these together and we have an interesting little music box.
Continue reading “Playing Music on a Tag Reader”ESP32 Bluetooth Proxy and BLE Tracking
I recently started using ESP32s for my projects, mostly out of necessity for the flash sizes and GPIO capabilities, but they do bring in another interesting feature I haven’t made use of yet, Bluetooth capabilities. Each ESP32 can be used by home assistant as a Bluetooth proxy and BLE tracker. It should be a simple addition to the ESPHome yaml too!
Continue reading “ESP32 Bluetooth Proxy and BLE Tracking”Max7219 display in esphome
I saw a really cool blanking panel for a server rack recently that used a bunch of LED displays to show information powered by an ESP and home assistant. I thought the displays were pretty cool and decided to get some and try them out. I may also have some ulterior motives with a project I’ve started working on as well.
Continue reading “Max7219 display in esphome”NfcDeck Backlit Key Notification
Since I just finished my new EspDeck model that has backlit keys. I always intended on using these for notifying me of some state in my house so I can take action on it, ideally using the EspDeck itself. This is the first use case I had for the features so I’ll be implementing it so we can start making use of my fancy new NFC Deck to it’s fullest.
Continue reading “NfcDeck Backlit Key Notification”EspDeck w NFC: The NFCDeck
The time has come for a new iteration of the EspDeck. This time it’ll include a few new features, and a new form factor. The new version will include all the features of the Tag Reader, original EspDeck, and a rotary encoder.
Continue reading “EspDeck w NFC: The NFCDeck”Flashing a Lolin32 with EspHome
In working on a new variant in my EspDeck line of devices, I need a controller with more flash space, and so I look at the Esp32 controllers, and their 4mb flash models. This is a bit of my frustrations in getting them setup.
Continue reading “Flashing a Lolin32 with EspHome”NFC Tag Readers in Home Assistant
This is the first step in my home audio setup. I need an easy way to select music to play from my collection, and having EspDeck buttons for each choice would end up being a bit too clumsy. I plan on making some tag readers and a small collection of NFC tags for the various bands, playlist, etc available.
Continue reading “NFC Tag Readers in Home Assistant”EspHome Device Randomly Disconnects from Wi-Fi
While I built my Air Gradients a while ago, there was a bug with their wifi connections that I’ve been chasing for a while. They drop off the network and don’t reconnect, forcing me to hard reboot them by cutting power to get them to reconnect. I think I’ve finally figured how to get them to at least be mildly stable and keep them from disconnecting for days at a time.
Continue reading “EspHome Device Randomly Disconnects from Wi-Fi”Building a Word Clock
Way back around 2013, something started getting popular on Instructables, word clocks. They gave the time as a sentence instead of a usual number like most common clocks. I thought these were cool and wanted to build one, I even picked up parts, but never got around to building it.
Continue reading “Building a Word Clock”EspDeck Generation 3: Simplify!
With the latest iteration of EspHome bringing in matrix keypad support, and the parts ready for a third espdeck build, I decided to redesign it yet again to try and optimize things further.
Continue reading “EspDeck Generation 3: Simplify!”