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.
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.
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 !
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.
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…
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.
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!
This type of content, video quality and presentation is why youtube was developed. Thanks for this great video, I am very impressed and its very nostalgic how you have minimal editing and pure content. Keep it up :)
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? 😊
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!
This is the best HMI I’ve seen in a long time! I wish companies would still use such designs when designing them. These days even the HMI on complex machines and industrial robots is a Touchscreen, it’s ridiculous! I’m an engineer and I learned on machines from the 80s and 90s and their HMIs where my absolute favorite! A screen to show you what’s going on, but every function has a physical control. To me that is still by far the best way to design a human machine interface!
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.
@@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...
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.
I've actually had the best results by printing face down with two separate files - one being the text only on the first layer, then the rest of the print which prints immediately after a color change on the same layer. No collision issues and it all meshes together extremely well and is very crisp. I know, face down isn't always feasible, but it also works very well (like previously mentioned) to print a 2-3 layer label flexible sheet which you can just glue on.
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
10 seconds into the video and I'm thinking "this is either the most amazing actual home automation tool or it's a modern take on the retro/turbo-encabulator." I'm hooked already. Good job.
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.
I really hope you documented all of the components and how they all work together, because in a couple of years no one (as well as you) would actually know 😉 Great setup though! Awesome combination of software, hardware and SKILLS!
Even better when something changes and all the code breaks, or there is some update to a dependent library. I’ve had my RaspberyPI projects end up bricked because of issues that took days to figure out. I love fun little projects like this, but at this point I just want to use things and not mess around with stuff every few months because some new bug is happening
Genuinely, what an incredible project. Great design and thank you for running through how it controls everything. I think something like this would certainly be overkill for myself but being able to remotely shut off the water main wasn't something I ever considered
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!
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.
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.)
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.
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!
I love that it has safe mode so smart. I would love to tell kids no then set up a camera and see how long it takes them to try something. And put a alarm that goes off when they do just to scare them, like house self destruct sequence indicated.
If you are still looking for labeling solutions one trick I use is to print the whole object in white filament with the labels extruded out from the panel, I then spray paint the whole panel my desired color and file away the paint from the label. Works pretty well and there are also more color options. Awesome project!
There’s guys who recreate aircraft switches who have perfected the two tone printing. They are the light up buttons with the text inside the lamp, so more informative. I think I would have used two screens, one for status and a second touch screen to interact. Then power it down if everyone was asleep. Nice build 👍
That has to be the coolest thing I have seen yet. I was a programmer for Butler in a Box by Master Voice. It was a marval between 1984-2004 and is in the Smithsonian Institute. I programmed two hoses before my boss got cold feet and gave it up. I like your control panel better because of the screen and buttons. Besides we have come a great deal farther than Butler in a Box by far.
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. ❤
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.
You are my God! You are an artist! The pannel you created is not only beautiful but alive with intention and function. Some sculpt in marble, others in electronics.
Nice control panel. I am one of those people who avoid touch screens and touch panels by all means. And I think YT knows to much about my habits at this point to find this hidden gem of a video)))
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.
Legendary 🏆 This is something straight out of my dreams! Thank you for making this video and sharing your project and process. I'd love to know your back story and how these projects became your passion. I also think that would make for a great video! I'm the son of an HVAC contractor (soon to be one myself), I've been doing HVAC since I was 12 in Tampa Florida. I started working on the simplest equipment and naturally gravitated towards more and more advanced systems finally landing at CaptiveAire the most amazing and complex systems on the market. I build electric motorcycles and custom control setups as a hobby and my passion is energy efficiency, electronics, and software automation. Liked and subscribed. Hope to see more of your awesome projects soon! 🏆🖖👍
Awesome Panel! On 3D Printing panels , I usually model my text and flow lines by raising them up .4mm-.8mm and hit pause on the printer and change the filament color and it looks spectacular! Know you can insert a M600 in your slicers G-code at layer height too. Super Cool Project!
Is this project overkill, yes. Do I want to build something similar myself, absolutely. This is a great project and video explainer. It show's clearly what can be done, and gets the level of detail just right to keep it entertaining. Thanks for taking the time to do this video, and putting all the links in the description. I'll be saving this one.
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
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.
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.
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!
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.
I know absolutely nothing about things like this, but the thumbnail image startled me , because the other night I had a very detailed dream that featured a similar wall control panel . Luckily for my dream self, all the controls were very well labeled,with visual images as well as descriptions of what they controlled. I guess my dream self isn't as much of a technical dunce as my waking self.😂
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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!
OMG, this is awesome. I'm thinking of making this for my wife & putting near her bedside table so she can be reminded of how smart I am 😁- You know what they say; happy wife, happy life 😂
Amazing build sir. I have thought of building something like this myself. I think if it was me I would add an input port for the fan on the raspberry pi so it can get fresh air more easily.
Love this! You Could try to print the front panel with hollow letters and put some white material on the back. It would resolve the smudging problem and might look nice with the depth it would add.
So for the labeling, you can do 2 color with any printer by making 2 files & configuring it in your slicer to print one at a time 1. all text ( that is on one layer ) this must have only the text models 2. the rest of the panel like normal but without any of the text so it doesn't collide with #1 i.e text has to be a negative volume in this part theoretically there shouldn't be any errors thrown by the slicer, as both files should fit perfectly inside one another ( disabling auto-arrange features might be neccesary to avoid it moving them out of alignment)
This is an absolutely awesome project(I'm also fascinated by all of the water shut-off and monitoring systems you have set up). My only thought/suggestion, would be to have a decorative(maybe with an inexpensive piece of art) hinged front-face cover. At least that's what I would do(to live to see another day in respect to my wife) if I had a panel like this in open view of the house. This would absolutely look awesome in my safe closet or garage though.
Wow!! I've recently started down the Home Assistant rabbit hole. I've seen some impressive Home Assistant dashboards for tablets, but I like physical switches and buttons. I'm in the very early stages of learning to do a fraction of what you've done. I currently have an ESP32 module on a bread board with one button that turns a couple of lights on and off. I'll be expanding the prototype as soon as some additional supplies I ordered, including some better bread board buttons, arrive. My first control panel will probably just be a bank of toggle switches in a small project box on an end table next to my recliner.
This looks fantastic! You could raise the text on the labels above the rest of the design so you can pause the print and switch filament. That way, it won't smudge.
I need this even for my desk. I knew the design inspirations before he even said. But, I am not proficient enough to build one. I would add several metal toggle switches to the board.
I used the wiring from the old security panel to install a Qi charger behind a blank wall plate and put an Amazon Fire 8 Plus there to be the HomeAssistant dashboard. Already in a central location deemed to be good for home control, constant power but removable and replaceable without dealing with wires if you need to quickly grab a tablet for something. Sleek and useful - high wife approval factor if she doesn't share the retrotech vibes or if that's just not your thing. I've got a writeup on Reddit if you want to see it! [Wireless Tablet Replacement for Home Security Panel]
such a fantastic project and well done to you, sir. the response time on the touch screen panel definitely has some delay. but this is far better than anything I could ever make. A+
From the bottom of my heart... this is a nerd heaven project... now combine this with a photovoltaic system and energy storage, a home server for movies, music, and data, and make incoming messages look like some system bleep from the Alien Nostromo and we are in the money:))
This is awesome. Personally I’d really like to add some interactive e-ink displays around my home. Really cool brining the virtual into the physical :)
As impressed as I am, the wife has just seen me watching the video and said (screamed) "don't even think about it."
@@hackersofbattlefield8357just wait until realize some of the components used for that are made by women
For once, your wife may be correct. 1950's industrial is ugly as sin. (I run HA too, the project is cool, but NOPE)
Who cares about the looks despite women? This project is awesome as fuck
🤣🤣🤣
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
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.
Immediately reminded me of the Airbus cockpit too haha
Yeah, I love the button choices. A few toggle switches would have really put it over the top.
He shredded my ideas of spiteful comments in less than a minute 😅
I showed this to my wife, and she's like I'm glad there's people out there who are crazier then you. Little does she know this is my next project
she probably said, yeah free.. after $2000 in electronic components.
You could try letting her pick the backplate color
Now that's an amazing PUI implementation (Physical user interface) for Home Assistant! Retro and futuristic at the same time! I'm seriously impressed.
In the industry you'd call it a HMI (human machine interface)
@@a-aron2276a PUI is a type of HMI
@@a-aron2276PUI sounds funnier though
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.
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
@@neatkefe haha thanks. I actually, truly appreciate that.
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 !
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.
@@Deveyus thank you for that.
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…
you probably need to get yourself a really nice analog synthesizer with some knobs buttons and sliders"""
You sir are my new "geek superhero"
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.
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!
Water flow monitoring only requires an esp32 under esphome and a hall effect flow sensor in the water line you want to monitor.
@@Scaliad thank you i will have to look into that :D
This type of content, video quality and presentation is why youtube was developed. Thanks for this great video, I am very impressed and its very nostalgic how you have minimal editing and pure content. Keep it up :)
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? 😊
💯 exactly!
Because that is an end unto itself!
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!
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 :)
This is the best HMI I’ve seen in a long time!
I wish companies would still use such designs when designing them.
These days even the HMI on complex machines and industrial robots is a Touchscreen, it’s ridiculous!
I’m an engineer and I learned on machines from the 80s and 90s and their HMIs where my absolute favorite!
A screen to show you what’s going on, but every function has a physical control.
To me that is still by far the best way to design a human machine interface!
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.
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
@@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...
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.
I've actually had the best results by printing face down with two separate files - one being the text only on the first layer, then the rest of the print which prints immediately after a color change on the same layer. No collision issues and it all meshes together extremely well and is very crisp. I know, face down isn't always feasible, but it also works very well (like previously mentioned) to print a 2-3 layer label flexible sheet which you can just glue on.
I have never subscribed to a channel so fast. I absolutely adore this panel and it's inspiration.
I'd love to do something with a touch screen tablet, but... there is just something so sweet about retro buttons and switches, and LEDs! So cool!
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
That's super cool!
Sounds neat!
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.
Added this to my wish list of things to build.
10 seconds into the video and I'm thinking "this is either the most amazing actual home automation tool or it's a modern take on the retro/turbo-encabulator." I'm hooked already. Good job.
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.
I really hope you documented all of the components and how they all work together, because in a couple of years no one (as well as you) would actually know 😉 Great setup though! Awesome combination of software, hardware and SKILLS!
Even better when something changes and all the code breaks, or there is some update to a dependent library. I’ve had my RaspberyPI projects end up bricked because of issues that took days to figure out. I love fun little projects like this, but at this point I just want to use things and not mess around with stuff every few months because some new bug is happening
This is interactive wall art!! Amazing work!
Thank you!
Wow 🤯 this is epic. Will be even better when you add some solar and rain catching basins.
Absolutely, another project to add to my long list!
In my current living arrangement I am often forced to live vicariously through others. I’m definitely adding you to the list. 😁👍 Nicely done!
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.
Genuinely, what an incredible project. Great design and thank you for running through how it controls everything. I think something like this would certainly be overkill for myself but being able to remotely shut off the water main wasn't something I ever considered
This is brilliant. Loved the big mushroom switch which stops the complete water flow. Wonderful work.
Thank you!
this is really inspiring. love the industrial look!
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!
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.
and you can even print that as the first layer to get a nice build-plate-textured finish
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.)
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.
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!
I love that it has safe mode so smart. I would love to tell kids no then set up a camera and see how long it takes them to try something. And put a alarm that goes off when they do just to scare them, like house self destruct sequence indicated.
If you are still looking for labeling solutions one trick I use is to print the whole object in white filament with the labels extruded out from the panel, I then spray paint the whole panel my desired color and file away the paint from the label. Works pretty well and there are also more color options. Awesome project!
Thanks for the tip!
There’s guys who recreate aircraft switches who have perfected the two tone printing. They are the light up buttons with the text inside the lamp, so more informative. I think I would have used two screens, one for status and a second touch screen to interact. Then power it down if everyone was asleep. Nice build 👍
That has to be the coolest thing I have seen yet. I was a programmer for Butler in a Box by Master Voice. It was a marval between 1984-2004 and is in the Smithsonian Institute. I programmed two hoses before my boss got cold feet and gave it up. I like your control panel better because of the screen and buttons. Besides we have come a great deal farther than Butler in a Box by far.
Thanks! Somehow I had not heard about Butler In A Box but it's a fascinating story.
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
Wow! A 3Com Audrey in the background. Haven't seen one of those in quite a few years.
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. ❤
Thanks! Good idea about the handles!
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.
commenting w/o finishing the vid first: I love the easy access button to shut down the reactor in case of a pending meltdown.. :)
You are my God! You are an artist! The pannel you created is not only beautiful but alive with intention and function. Some sculpt in marble, others in electronics.
Thank you!
Nice control panel. I am one of those people who avoid touch screens and touch panels by all means. And I think YT knows to much about my habits at this point to find this hidden gem of a video)))
SO TRUE .. i spending years atm trying to buy button things.. proper big knobs dials and control knobs.. man sick of touch
Thank you, UA-cam algorithm, for showing me this awesome creation
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.
Thanks! I considered ribbon cable and connectors but ran out of time...
It's so cool to see the customization you're creating with such tight integration with your home. Awesome video, thank you!
Legendary 🏆 This is something straight out of my dreams! Thank you for making this video and sharing your project and process. I'd love to know your back story and how these projects became your passion. I also think that would make for a great video! I'm the son of an HVAC contractor (soon to be one myself), I've been doing HVAC since I was 12 in Tampa Florida. I started working on the simplest equipment and naturally gravitated towards more and more advanced systems finally landing at CaptiveAire the most amazing and complex systems on the market. I build electric motorcycles and custom control setups as a hobby and my passion is energy efficiency, electronics, and software automation. Liked and subscribed. Hope to see more of your awesome projects soon! 🏆🖖👍
Thanks for subscribing and sharing your story - mine is similar, been playing with electronics (and soldering - yikes) since I was 10.
Awesome Panel! On 3D Printing panels , I usually model my text and flow lines by raising them up .4mm-.8mm and hit pause on the printer and change the filament color and it looks spectacular! Know you can insert a M600 in your slicers G-code at layer height too. Super Cool Project!
I really like the 7 segment displays.
I like the water meter setup, I have been wanting a shut-off system like this
Is this project overkill, yes. Do I want to build something similar myself, absolutely. This is a great project and video explainer. It show's clearly what can be done, and gets the level of detail just right to keep it entertaining. Thanks for taking the time to do this video, and putting all the links in the description. I'll be saving this one.
Thanks!
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
Would love to see this set up but for home defense! Imagine the possibilities. The panel gives some 90s movie vibes which is awesome, very impressive!
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.
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.
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 ;-)
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!
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.
Attick temp monitoring?
That is one gorgeous DEC Mini on the background!
I know absolutely nothing about things like this, but the thumbnail image startled me , because the other night I had a very detailed dream that featured a similar wall control panel . Luckily for my dream self, all the controls were very well labeled,with visual images as well as descriptions of what they controlled. I guess my dream self isn't as much of a technical dunce as my waking self.😂
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.
Overcomplicated , expensive and ridiculous !!
I bloody LOVE it !!
Have a sub from me
This is the most impressive home assistant system I’ve ever seen!
Looks like the old-school home automation! That's so extremely cool.
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
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.
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
Great job, I liked everything, especially those LED buttons and safe mode.
Thanks!
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.
I still have my first gen pi too! the old RCA output never fails to come handy
insanely cool, literally been thinking about this for years
absolutely amazing! This is a real panel, and has really good UI. I hope that I can reach this level of engineering someday.
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!
OMG, this is awesome. I'm thinking of making this for my wife & putting near her bedside table so she can be reminded of how smart I am 😁- You know what they say; happy wife, happy life 😂
Amazing build sir. I have thought of building something like this myself. I think if it was me I would add an input port for the fan on the raspberry pi so it can get fresh air more easily.
I bough a bunch of bulbs at Ikea, and downloaded an app. Felt real proud about myself. This puts things into perspective I guess...
Looks like a synoptic board (in Dutch we say synoptisch bord). That industrial touch is amazing
This is stunning, im totally flashed and amazed and definetly jealous. You did an insane job, congrats!!
Thank you!
I love the emergency smash button on the bottom right. Great build!
Nice, the E-stop for the water is an awesome idea!
Love this! You Could try to print the front panel with hollow letters and put some white material on the back. It would resolve the smudging problem and might look nice with the depth it would add.
OMG! Dude, you are my hero. This is exactly what I have been looking for. Thanks for leading the way.
Your nerdiness is beautiful and intoxicating!
So for the labeling, you can do 2 color with any printer by making 2 files & configuring it in your slicer to print one at a time
1. all text ( that is on one layer ) this must have only the text models
2. the rest of the panel like normal but without any of the text so it doesn't collide with #1 i.e text has to be a negative volume in this part
theoretically there shouldn't be any errors thrown by the slicer, as both files should fit perfectly inside one another ( disabling auto-arrange features might be neccesary to avoid it moving them out of alignment)
This is an absolutely awesome project(I'm also fascinated by all of the water shut-off and monitoring systems you have set up).
My only thought/suggestion, would be to have a decorative(maybe with an inexpensive piece of art) hinged front-face cover.
At least that's what I would do(to live to see another day in respect to my wife) if I had a panel like this in open view of the house.
This would absolutely look awesome in my safe closet or garage though.
Nothing beats a real button, cool build man!
Wow!! I've recently started down the Home Assistant rabbit hole. I've seen some impressive Home Assistant dashboards for tablets, but I like physical switches and buttons. I'm in the very early stages of learning to do a fraction of what you've done. I currently have an ESP32 module on a bread board with one button that turns a couple of lights on and off. I'll be expanding the prototype as soon as some additional supplies I ordered, including some better bread board buttons, arrive. My first control panel will probably just be a bank of toggle switches in a small project box on an end table next to my recliner.
Sounds like a good start!
This looks fantastic! You could raise the text on the labels above the rest of the design so you can pause the print and switch filament. That way, it won't smudge.
I'm afraid of ever pausing my printer!
Excellent work, Boris!! Always impressed to see how innovative people get with HA! Cheers! ~OMG
Very interesting. I have something very similar. I used custom pcbs (from jlcpcb) to make up a 10cm by 10cm grid layout.
Holy crap, we need more super nerds like this. Good work man!
This was a great demo and build video. Excellent! Straight to the point without the fill.
Thanks!
I need this even for my desk. I knew the design inspirations before he even said. But, I am not proficient enough to build one. I would add several metal toggle switches to the board.
as a fulltime RVer, I would definitely install one of these.
I used the wiring from the old security panel to install a Qi charger behind a blank wall plate and put an Amazon Fire 8 Plus there to be the HomeAssistant dashboard.
Already in a central location deemed to be good for home control, constant power but removable and replaceable without dealing with wires if you need to quickly grab a tablet for something.
Sleek and useful - high wife approval factor if she doesn't share the retrotech vibes or if that's just not your thing. I've got a writeup on Reddit if you want to see it! [Wireless Tablet Replacement for Home Security Panel]
such a fantastic project and well done to you, sir. the response time on the touch screen panel definitely has some delay. but this is far better than anything I could ever make. A+
Wow, this is awesome! If I could finish a project, I sure wouldn't be able to put together a video to explain it.
Good music too!
I love it, showed it to my wife, she said she’ll divorce me if something like that was on the wall 😢
From the bottom of my heart... this is a nerd heaven project... now combine this with a photovoltaic system and energy storage, a home server for movies, music, and data, and make incoming messages look like some system bleep from the Alien Nostromo and we are in the money:))
This is awesome. Personally I’d really like to add some interactive e-ink displays around my home. Really cool brining the virtual into the physical :)