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Maker track
Home automation

A home automation course: build the devices yourself

A room multisensor, a plant sensor, a radar light, an LED strip and a garage opener on an ESP32-C3, then a hub with schedules and a dashboard.

FreeIn your browser3 courses, 15 lessons, about 12 hours
Start freeA room multisensorSee the course
Overview

How you will learn it

Store-bought smart devices do what their maker decided. Building your own means the sensor goes where you need it and reports what you want. These courses build the devices people actually put around the house, one per lesson.

Home Assistant devices shows how each reading reaches Home Assistant. Build a smart home hub makes a dashboard of your own on the ESP32-C3 that switches relays and runs schedules.

Outcomes

What you will learn

  • Build calibrated sensors for temperature, humidity, soil and motion.
  • Control an LED strip and switch loads safely with relays.
  • Report each device to Home Assistant.
  • Run a hub with schedules, automatic modes and a status screen.
Your route

The courses and lessons to take

Every lesson opens in the editor right away, signed in or not, and the simulator checks each step.

  1. Step 1 路 5 lessons 路 5 h

    Home Assistant devices

    The devices, one per lesson.

    1. A room multisensorTemperature, humidity, light and motion on one board: the sensor Home Assistant users build first, and how each reading becomes a message.
    2. A radar hallway lightAn RCWL-0516 radar, an off delay so a pause does not plunge you into the dark, and a light that only comes on when it is dark.
    3. A garage door openerA relay that presses the wall button for half a second and two reed switches that report where the door really is, with the safety rules that come first.
    Every lesson in the course
  2. Step 2 路 3 lessons 路 3 h

    Build a smart home hub

    A hub that switches and schedules them.

    1. A dashboard that switches real thingsServe a web page from the ESP32-C3 and use it to switch a lamp and a fan through relays, and to dim a porch light. Why a relay, and why it is wired the way it is.
    2. Schedules and a status screenFinish the hub: a DS3231 clock that turns the porch light on at dusk and off at bedtime, and an LCD that shows the time, the climate and every switch.
    Every lesson in the course
  3. Step 3 路 7 lessons 路 4 h

    Connected devices

    The protocols underneath: WiFi, MQTT, ESP-NOW and BLE.

    WiFi, APIs, a web server, MQTT, ESP-NOW and BLE on the ESP32, and a device that keeps going when the network does not.

    Every lesson in the course
Keep going

Guides and tools on the same subject

Track

Maker track

Follow the starter kit you already own, then build a claw machine, a balance bot, a handheld console or an LED cube, each a short course checked by the simulator.

See the whole track
Questions

Questions people ask

Do I need Home Assistant running to take the course?

No. The lessons run in your browser and show what each device sends, so you can build first and connect a real Home Assistant later.

Is it safe to switch mains power with these projects?

In the simulator, yes. On a real bench, use relay modules rated for the load, and leave mains wiring to a licensed electrician.

Which board do the devices use?

The ESP32-C3, a cheap board with WiFi and Bluetooth built in.