Home Assistant Control Panel For My Wall

I built a physical control panel for Home Assistant that features buttons, LEDs, and a touch screen. It's powered by two Raspberry Pi 3B+ boards and uses power over Ethernet. The panel monitors and controls lights, switches, electricity, water usage and more using the Home Assistant API. In this video you can see what it does, how it works and how it was built, along with an explanation of the software. All of the parts are readily available and the major ones are listed below in case you want to build a similar panel too!
Some items mentioned in this video: (This video is not sponsored and these are not affiliate links)
- Home Assistant: www.home-assistant.io/
- AppDaemon/HAdashboard: appdaemon.readthedocs.io/en/l...
- Raspberry Pi 3B+: www.raspberrypi.com/products/...
- Pi Official 7" touchscreen display: www.raspberrypi.com/products/...
- Pi POE HAT: www.raspberrypi.com/products/...
- Adafruit MCP23017 GPIO Expander: www.adafruit.com/product/5346
- balenaCloud Platform: www.balena.io/
Additional info based on comments/questions:
- Motorized water valve: www.elkproducts.com/product/w... (newer version than the discontinued one in the video)
- Pulse water meter - newer versions here: www.ekmmetering.com/collectio...
DEC Mini in background: decmini.tin.cat/
Programming info:
- To send commands to your Home Assistant using Python and Requests: developers.home-assistant.io/...
- To receive real time updates from your Home Assistant using Python and a web socket: developers.home-assistant.io/...
GitHub repository for STL files and parts list: github.com/alanb128/ha-panel

[@johnrostron2801]

As impressed as I am, the wife has just seen me watching the video and said (screamed) "don't even think about it."

[@vyrekxd4971]

@@hackersofbattlefield8357just wait until realize some of the components used for that are made by women

[@TalismancerM]

For once, your wife may be correct. 1950's industrial is ugly as sin. (I run HA too, the project is cool, but NOPE)

[@bjornlinde2669]

Who cares about the looks despite women? This project is awesome as fuck

[@lesegomodutwane5915]

🤣🤣🤣

[@NilvinPerpinosas]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@husjon]

My first thought was, "This has some real power plant / nuclear reactor feel to it". Few moments later, mentions design inspirations from airplane and nuclear reactors. This is a really nicely made piece.

[@niilojoukanen106]

Immediately reminded me of the Airbus cockpit too haha

[@alexk7110]

Now that's an amazing PUI implementation (Physical user interface) for Home Assistant! Retro and futuristic at the same time! I'm seriously impressed.

[@a-aron2276]

In the industry you'd call it a HMI (human machine interface)

[@techheck3358]

@@a-aron2276a PUI is a type of HMI

[@scottmcnamara2458]

You sir are my new "geek superhero"

[@Adam.NavyVet]

Love it! I started Nerding out when I was a child. I loved pressing buttons and was considered a Terror by my parents when entering any car. I had, and still do to this day. An OCD behavior about buttons, switches and all things gadgets. My entire house is controlled via Voice and a dedicated IPad Pro. Your Control Panel is definitely more industrial looking and I instantly feel that we would embark on hours and hours of tours of each of our homes and the automations. Never lose your inner child. It’s what makes us discover ways to do the impossible and find solutions that were seen as not possible. BZ Sir…

[@zito88]

I love the idea of implementing physical buttons and switches alongside the typical touchscreen panel. I have several tablets wall mounted around my house but love the idea of some physical buttons for more common stuff.

[@MagZu]

hands down the best home assistant panel i have seen. jealous of the water flow stuff, need to look into implementing something like that in my house :) great work!

[@Scaliad]

Water flow monitoring only requires an esp32 under esphome and a hall effect flow sensor in the water line you want to monitor.

[@MagZu]

@@Scaliad thank you i will have to look into that :D

[@blvckbytes7329]

As somebody who loooves physical front-panels, I'm really impressed by your project - awesome work! :) Who cares whether we can have UIs of arbitrary complexity, if there are pushy buttons and glowing indicators? 😊

[@karlexceed]

💯 exactly!

[@Robert08010]

Because that is an end unto itself!

[@ohokcool]

I have never subscribed to a channel so fast. I absolutely adore this panel and it's inspiration.

[@newmonengineering]

I built a similar panel into my wall in the hallway, its just an arduino mega, and a keypad and lcd. I built it 10yrs ago or so. But its hooked up as a house alarm, and also connected to the garage door. I can enter a code to turn on and off the alarm system. It also connects to my solar hot water system. Its a very small discrete thing that looks like an alarm system would. But I can text it and it will open or shut the garage door. And i can call it, and it will speaker phone directly in the kitchen area, it automatically picks up the phone, without any ringer. I made it this way so I could listen in without anyone knowing at any time, but also I can startle someone by speaking when they least expect it. I did it mostly for security but also fun. Your looks nice but I think my wife would not appreciate its size on the wall lol. But your is much more expandable. I have mine running on a car battery and a float charger so it works even when power is out. Very cool project you have, reminds me of my project. Good job

[@psychemike]

That's super cool!

[@BorisDigital]

Sounds neat!

[@daveduna1]

I'm just a dumb truck driver. But I love this stuff and wish I knew how to make stuff like this. As someone who's been obsessed with early spaceflight - especially Apollo - I will always prefer physical switches over touchscreens so this is perfect for me. There's something so satisfying about a high quality 'thunk' when throwing a switch. I even have a collection of various switches even though I have nothing to do with them.

[@neatkefe]

There's no such thing as a "dumb truck driver". Ask me to reverse with a trailer and you'll see some stupidity though :D

[@daveduna1]

@@neatkefe haha thanks. I actually, truly appreciate that.

[@boatnerdbob6739]

Hey... I pilot boats, barges or ships containing engineers, salesmen, Jehovah's Witnesses, engineers, politicians or engineers alllll to be scuttled at sea; or coal, rock, sand, steel, containers an... wait.. what? 😢, NO! IT CAN'T BE! I'm a, OMG I'm a freekin truck driver 😭 ! Noooo 🤮 uhh.. oh crap! Wife's coming! Sea Ya !

[@Deveyus]

I teach programming and man this just... hurts to see. You absolutely can learn this stuff; it's way less intimidating than it seems at first glance. The real skill on display here is part technical sure (the project is well architected by-and-large) but also part artistic making something look this good is no mean feat either.

[@daveduna1]

@@Deveyus thank you for that.

[@manedpup]

For the panel labeling - you can do a two color 3D print by manually swapping the filament at the point where it prints the raised text (and raised outline, if you don't mind). That way you can accomplish a two tone look without an expensive printer or color changing system. Most slicers support this, but you can also put a manual g-code pause or even just manually pause the printer to do the swap at any time during your print. It would give a much cleaner look.

[@the-shork]

and you can even print that as the first layer to get a nice build-plate-textured finish

[@andrew2004sydney]

I love this! A great mix of modern touch screen and old style mimic panels. I also love that you showed all the details - even prototyping and wiring.

[@ManuLJ75]

Congratulations for this project, and thanks for sharing it so precisely in your video. This is a GREAT setup for HA, with a very smart way to interact with all the controls.

[@TVJAY]

Added this to my wish list of things to build.

[@JamesTM]

Fascinating! I've got a Lenovo tablet that I intend to use for a wall panel (via Fully Kiosk), but this inspires me to a try and build my own physical interface. There's a couple things I'd probably try: - Using LED pairs instead of single-bulb red-green. (I'm colorblind, so this is a requirement for me.) - CNC the front panel as one piece with two-color HDPE *or* print the sub-panels with a multi-color printer. - Attempt to design it with a modular layout, so I could replace sections as needs change. - Try to find small screens or make a layout that lets me visibly re-label buttons In any case, just thinking about it is daunting. (I haven't even made the case for the tablet yet.) This must have taken you hundreds of hours! It's both impressive and inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

[@peterwilson69]

Very inspiring. I've been meaning to make something like this for my house as my power bills are through the roof! I'm not connected to town water, so every time I turn on a tap, I also turn on a pump, and thus electricity - urgh! Thanks for turning it around so I could see the back. I've got some old raspberry PI's still sitting in their boxes new unopened - good grief!

[@gwnlars_8306]

Ever thought of solar panels? They may help you cut down on the electricity costs in the long run with some help from Home Assistant with Pi's :)

[@chrisis429]

It's so cool to see the customization you're creating with such tight integration with your home. Awesome video, thank you!

[@jhiggins]

this is really inspiring. love the industrial look!

[@fritzmuller9960]

WOW I love it great job. Mechanical switches are awesome. Not everything has to be touchy, like in all the new cars these days. Well done.

[@Anita95_original]

About labelling, Create the panel with characters on top, raised over the rest, PAUSE the print when the last full layer is done, switch filament color and print the raised characters only in the second color. For a Bambulab with AMS this is automatic but can be done on almost any 3D printer as long as you can pause and switch filament. No more indented characters and messy filling... I have used it for many signs etc. and it is fast, easy and beautiful results.

[@AlanTuringWannabe]

Have you had any layer adhesion problems? I did this with one of those bolt measuring gauges and had some of the characters peal away

[@Anita95_original]

​@@AlanTuringWannabeNo. But I think that would be due to the base layers cooling down. If you have an open printer that could be a problem. I use my Bambulabs P1S with AMS and it works perfectly every time. I have a CR10 heavily modified, it is open and layer adhesion was a problem even without trying to pause... The P1S revitalized my 3D printing hobby...

[@user-rx4gw7gz9m]

I assume he knows this and chose to do it this way due to raised parts on the back side of the panels that would be easier to print without supports. Still I'd rather peel away supports and have a clean label side. Alternatively could print the label side flat, and just do a second glue-on thin label section a couple layers thick.

[@michaelcharach]

Wow 🤯 this is epic. Will be even better when you add some solar and rain catching basins.

[@BorisDigital]

Absolutely, another project to add to my long list!

[@You-v9l]

Ive had good success with panels by doing a layer/filament change at the bottom of the emboss to a different color. Another technique is painting the panel with a roller or paint pen then the emboss is the original color of the filament. Maybe finishing the panels then filling the emboss might also work solving the layer lines getting dirty. Ultimately multi material, idex etc is the easiest but not very common. Finally having the panel side down on the bed usually ends up looking better. Amazing project thanks for sharing!

[@nj4ssa]

This is brilliant. Loved the big mushroom switch which stops the complete water flow. Wonderful work.

[@BorisDigital]

Thank you!

[@Nono-hk3is]

I love the way you implemented the water main shutoff. I did similar with my door lock--a servo moves the deadbolt switch. If the power goes out, the door lock stays in the same state it was in, and can always be locked/unlocked by hand. And the controller is custom, so any security attack won't be able to rely on knowledge of some IoT vendors product insecurities. (Besides, breaking a window will be easier.)

[@nostrislife]

This is interactive wall art!! Amazing work!

[@BorisDigital]

Thank you!

[@lisnjay]

Wow! A 3Com Audrey in the background. Haven't seen one of those in quite a few years.

[@jayzo]

Had the idea of a whole-house UPS system and it was gonna need something like this to manage it. There's some surprisingly good off the shelf solutions becoming available now that are really tempting as much as I want to build my own bespoke system.

[@MartinDolan]

That is so awesome. Going to make one. It is a work of art. Only thing you need to add are a few u shaped cupboard handles as bump guards near switches, or to make it look like sections are modular and can be removed to complete the industrial /aerospace look. ❤

[@BorisDigital]

Thanks! Good idea about the handles!

[@realSethMeyers]

What a beautiful project. I've dreamed of doing something like this and it's really cool seeing someone actually do it!

[@LostButMakingGoodTime]

In my current living arrangement I am often forced to live vicariously through others. I’m definitely adding you to the list. 😁👍 Nicely done!

[@homemadetools]

Beautiful work. Great to have everything in one place and good design choices on the control panel. We shared this video on our homemade tool forum last week 😎

[@BorisDigital]

Thank you!

[@CheapSushi]

Yessss. I wish more people/companies would bring back buttons, switches, blikenlights, etc; aka cassette futurism. This looks awesome! Never forget the rule of cool. Also props to still using paper to start off. I still do too! Also, maybe in the future, another cool thing would be to hollow out the letters, and have a lit up acrylic panel behind it; kinda give it even more pizzazz, hah.

[@chriswyoung1]

Really enjoy your builds, thanks for sharing.

[@MonkeyPunchZPoker]

It needs a red LED strip that bounces light back and forth, and an AI interface using the voice of William Daniels. Then you'll have a Knight Rider control panel. As is that is one of the coolest projects I've seen, I would love to have that in my house.

[@indyspud]

Very (dangerously) inspiring! I really like the tactile button interaction with Home Assistant, as well as solving the power supply issue with PoE. The modular design is clever too - though I would also consider running each of the sections through a standardised ribbon connection so it's easier to update or move different components around. Less of a problem if your design is static and long term but that's just what came to mind seeing how modular the front is vs the wiring loom at the back.

[@BorisDigital]

Thanks! I considered ribbon cable and connectors but ran out of time...

[@otter-pro]

absolutely amazing! This is a real panel, and has really good UI. I hope that I can reach this level of engineering someday.

[@synack_DCCBUS]

This was really cool I had this in my watch later for a week or two and forgot till now, nice video great explanation thanks

[@BrianThomas]

I love this. You've just given me so many ideas that I've never seen before. Thank you!

[@DisinterestedObserver]

Love it. Only one comment. The color scheme you choose is not what is used in power plants. Power plants’ color scheme use a red indicator means active, open, energized, etc. Green indicators means inactive, closed, deenergized, etc. Basically, the color indicated if something is safe or not to a person. So in your water pipe example, the closed valves would have green indicators indicating no flow in the associated piping.

[@zyeborm]

I think in his situation the valve being in the off state would be the danger state as that is when the wife will get grumpy with you ;-)

[@BorisDigital]

Thanks, I did not know that but it makes sense. Since this panel is fully programmable, I could just change it in code. However, I'm already used to these colors!

[@garyingle7440]

This is very cool! No matter how digital we become be still love that analogue feel.

[@mightyskull]

Great work Boris. Really inspired to set up HA again!

[@makeitworktech]

Awesome work!

[@blackburn32197]

I really like this project. I would not have thought to do something like that. Thanks for sharing!

[@Marfprojects]

I really like the 7 segment displays.

[@DebraMoore-fo5vp]

Very impressive! Thanks for sharing all the work that went into this project.

[@Dolle_Man]

AMAZING project and so well executed, videos like this will blow up you're channel (in a good way) I subbed!

[@BorisDigital]

Thanks!

[@chriscrockerwhite]

loving your work as always! nicely done 👍

[@TechWinnerCC]

KZbin suggestions just brought me to you. I am grateful. Congrats on your incredible project, and thank you for sharing it with the world. Subscribed!

[@BorisDigital]

Thank you!

[@certified-forklifter]

very unique look! Well done! I like that you added the option to use the screen without the touch function, with the ABCD buttons. When wearing gloves for example. nice

[@jmd1743]

Looks like the old-school home automation! That's so extremely cool.

[@settlece]

cool the smudging around the letters and numbers add to the feel of the panel i love it thanks for showing us the water shut off i use z wave water valve shut off because i did not trust my skill with making one like you did

[@changquan]

Amazing. I especially like the warnings if something goes amiss like too much water output or stovetop on when you want to see if it’s ok t ok leave the house

[@ColdRFusion]

Great project! Love the DEC Mini in the background, I must make one for myself sometime, I love the VT100. Best of luck with your channel.

[@aaronpk]

This is so good! Adding this to the list!

[@tinkeranddespair]

This is fantastic, thank you for sharing it and the process behind it!

[@jelleguns9439]

Looks like a synoptic board (in Dutch we say synoptisch bord). That industrial touch is amazing

[@ZWBenedict]

Great work! and thanks for taking the time to share it

[@BorisDigital]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@makerbymistake]

This is so cool! Great work!

[@BorisDigital]

Thank you!

[@alexw6863]

I like the inspiration of your design. It truly came out great and matches the cockpit and nuclear theme.

[@jaap7374]

Nice to see such a unique design. Great job and thanks for sharing

[@BorisDigital]

Thanks for watching!

[@ananshen6475]

Love your choice of using physical buttons! 😁Might consider doing something like this maybe on a much smaller scale with my HA instance in the future. Thank you the video was truly inspiring!

[@CyberbrainPC]

Absolutely love! Been looking to make something similar and you have inspired me.

[@zyeborm]

OMG I love the aesthetic even if nothing else. For printed labels make the filled parts a different part of the same model, you can do a multi colour print then, print the model as normal then do a filament change and print the infill. Also ironing will improve your surface finish on those large flat areas. That said, I'd look at getting some black anodised aluminium sheet laser cut and etched. Cut for your cutouts then etch, they don't actually take off material just kill the dye in the anodising. You can also mill the sheet traditionally and do the etch/marking on most hobby grade lasers. It really gives a super professional look to the panel.

[@redolentofmark]

I love this. I’m currently trying to transfer my SmartLife controls to route to my home server so I can manually control things from the server. It’s surprisingly hard!

[@k9elli]

Awesome setup

[@trinocerous]

Very clean. I Love all the nerdy details. Super functional. It's kinda like the tip of the iceberg. You see a nice little package but it's wired to almost every part of your home.

[@hughbugger]

Wicked build. Have a look at engraving plastic for the front UI faceplates. It's basically a multilayer plastic where once you machine off the top surface it exposes the different colour underneath. Super durable, looks great and is cheap too. Funnily enough it's how they make the UI faceplates for industrial applications.

[@PL-VA]

Love the concept and approach! Thank you for sharing.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

I'm impressed. Thanks for sharing!

[@robertfalloon]

Brilliant, best HA panel ever!

[@zygmuntpostawa1]

i really love your work!

[@BobbyFeltault]

Absolutely loved this, great work.

[@Simon_Rafferty]

Love it! That's definitely cool!

[@DuhRake]

Beautiful project, thanks for sharing!

[@NeoLords2010]

Great job, I liked everything, especially those LED buttons and safe mode.

[@BorisDigital]

Thanks!

[@daniellange4635]

I love it, great work :)

[@chad2304]

Very cool video and wow 76K views in 3 days, you are blowing up. I've watched some of your content in the past ( loved the custom pi music streamer btw ). I guess it is time to subscribe!

[@BorisDigital]

Thanks!

[@mzimmerman1988]

very cool project! thanks for sharing! You could also hook it up to a humidity and air quality sensor to let you adjust HVAC or open a window! For something a bit more complicated, you could also build something to adjust your blinds depending on the time of day/temperature. I think your water flow sensors could have a lot of interesting uses. It could let you know when you have plumbing issues or if your pipes are freezing.

[@Robert08010]

Attick temp monitoring?

[@robertdalga128]

That's amazing ! Great job and thank you for sharing !

[@MichaelArchambault]

Vintage tech AND amazing geeky projects - SUBSCRIBED!

[@OscarCarlsson1986]

Love the aesthetics!

[@shantanumathur1059]

Wow what an amazing build 👏

[@neslin99]

Dude, this is awesome!

[@MethodicalMaker]

that build is AWESOME! i love the water diagram and how it can do leak detection. for the labeling, a friend of mine has been using acrylic paint that he floods the recessed lettering with, and then wipes away the excess on top with isopropyl alcohol. it seems to work well, but his letters are also a bit smaller, so idk if it would scale - something to experiment with though. I came across a company called "concord aerospace" a while ago that makes replica switches from various generations of space rockets, as well as the space shuttle... while it might be cost prohibitive for a large panel like yours, i could totally see them fitting right at home with a smaller panel. thanks for the future project idea!

[@ragingroosevelt]

What I've seen work really well for embossed labels like yours is to thin some acrylic paint with a (plastic compatible) solvent and then use some 1mL Luer lock syringes and blunt tip dispensing needles to dispense the thinned paint into the groves. FuzzyLogic did a video on their version of the process titled "3D Print Inlay Lettering".

[@neatkefe]

I bough a bunch of bulbs at Ikea, and downloaded an app. Felt real proud about myself. This puts things into perspective I guess...

[@gary.fullstack]

Neat! I have a Hickok 209a that I've been let gather dust. Looks like a good time to gut it and add some modernity !

[@demetriomonorchio9315]

Amazing crazy. A very piece of art

[@robertvojcik463]

Great project, I love it

[@ErikS-]

Freaking awesome! I want! I especially like the modular approach you use.

[@BorisDigital]

Thanks!

[@quantuminfinity4260]

That’s super cool!

[@NoCPU]

I thoroughly enjoyed this 🎉

[@kolakowj]

Spectacular. Simply spectacular.

[@OfficialChiller]

Nice Project!

[@1nf1n1t3_]

Really great project, thanks for sharing!

[@JM-xu3cr]

This is awesome! And yes, it does look cool.

[@Karstadtdetektiv]

Awesome project was so much fun to watch

[@craigsmestad6952]

Very Cool! Well done!

[@ShivangTyagi]

Great Work, Impressed