Custom Home Touchscreen Controller¶
Overview¶
This project presents a custom-designed touchscreen controller for home automation, engineered to be both cost-effective ( less than $100) and highly adaptable. The device is powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero or an equivalent single-board computer, operating on a minimized base OS to ensure optimal performance. The system is running either native Qt applications or a web-based interface.
Key Features¶
- Cost-effective hardware solution (total cost under $100)
- Operates on Raspberry Pi Zero or comparable single-board computers
- Highly optimized, minimal operating system for rapid boot and robust reliability
- Supports both native Qt applications and web-based user interfaces
- Handmade wooden enclosure for a refined, custom appearance
- Enables control of a wide range of smart home devices and media systems
Detailed Description¶
The development of this project was motivated by the objective to create an affordable, reliable, and highly customizable touchscreen interface for my home. The hardware enclosure was designed to accommodate a Raspberry Pi Zero and a compatible touchscreen display, resulting in a compact and aesthetically pleasing device suitable for integration into any living space.
Rear view.
The rear of the unit show the assembly, featuring a Raspberry Pi Zero and a display controller, both powered through a single USB-C connection to minimize cabling.
To achieve maximum performance and minimal boot times, the operating system was stripped to its essential components and run mostly in RAM, with all superfluous services removed and startup processes optimized. The software stack is primarily developed with Python and Qt for fast development. The system interfaces directly with the Spotify and Bose APIs for music control. Additionally, real-time surf and weather data are retrieved from the Surfline web API using a custom-built web scraper to display wave forecast in orange county.
This device functions as a centralized control hub for my smart home devices, media playback, and automation routines. The enclosure was custom-built, and the entire solution was realized for under $100.
Construction of the handmade wooden enclosure.