The homie led multicontroler

This is the homie compatible led muticontroler project. This project is composed of a software and 2 hardware boards based on esp32 and cheaper esp8266 (to be published soon).

The goal is to provide a multi channel led controller and sensors facility for home automation.

You don't have to be a python or an electronic expert to use this project.

View of in situation ESP32 hardware

Why this project

The original idea comes from the desire to control lightning at home. I wanted something cheap and simple to use. I initially made a project with lamps connected on mains power and communicating over 433 RF, worked not very well (433 Mhz band is really busy) and dangerous. When I dicovered the ESP8266 boards and micropython I immediatly knew I had to use them. Over the years I embraced standards like MQTT and homie (influenced by OpenHab2). Then I faced I/O shortage on ESP8266 so ESP32 saved me :-) Now the project is mature enough to be published.

Main features

• homie 3.0 and 4.0 compatible (seamless integration with openHAB for instance)
• json configurable
• controls independant 3 (esp8266) or 4 (esp32) leds channels or RGB group (12v and 24v compatible)
• switches for local led control
• build in compatiblility with DHT, DS1820 and BME/P 280 sensors
• build in compatibility with any ADC sensor
• easy to add your own sensors or actuators
• designed to run on micropython
• very robust, ran for several years now

Configuration

You will have to provide a configuered json file to the controler, it will be use to determine which platform and which sensor you are using, and then expose the values on the homie side accordingly.

• esp32: boolean (false), set to true if you are running an esp32 platform
• broker: string (empty), the ip of your MQTT broker
• location: string (empty), this will be used in the displayed name of the item like "Multicontroler - "
• dht: boolean (false), set to true if you are using a DHT compatible temperature/humidity sensor
• ds1820: boolean (false), set to true if you are using a ds1820 temeprature sensor
• bme280: boolean (false), set to true if you are using a bme or bmp 280 sensor, the software can recognize itself bme vs bmp
• analog_period: int (0), interval in seconds of analog sampling and publishing
• analog_bits: int (10) - esp32 only, precision for the analog conversion
• analog_attn: int (0) - esp32 only, attenuation for ADC - 0 is 0 dB, 1 is 2.5 dB, 2 is 6 dB and 3 is 11 dB (see HW desc for more info)
• analog2_* - esp32 only, same as above but for channel 2
• debug: boolean (false), if true the program does not reset the target when an exception occurs

example :

{
  "esp32" : true,
  "broker" : "192.168.2.25",
  "location" : " - buffet",
  "bme280": true,
  "analog_period" : 10,
  "analog_attn" : 3,
}

The software is made to run on my hardware, but it can be used on any similar hardware with few modifications.

Deployment

(more detailed steps to be done)

1. flash micropython binary
2. configure the wifi access
3. upload the software
4. upload umqqt simple and robust from micropython_lib
5. upload the config.json
6. reboot
7. that's it

I will publish a basic tutorial for usage on OpenHAB 2