Room presence is one of those Home Assistant upgrades that changes everything. Not “someone is home”, but who is in which room, in real time, with automations that feel instant: You can do this without cameras, without Wi-Fi triangulation, and…
The ESP-01 (and ESP-01S) is the smallest, most annoying, and most misunderstood ESP8266 module. It can be incredibly useful (Wi-Fi bridge, tiny sensor node, UART→Wi-Fi device), but only if you wire it correctly and respect its boot pins. This guide…
The ESP8266 is the chip that kicked off the Wi-Fi microcontroller revolution. Even today it’s still a great choice for simple IoT devices: cheap, small, and supported everywhere. But it has quirks (boot pins, one ADC input, weak power rails…
The ESP32-DevKitC V4 is the “classic ESP32” dev board most tutorials assume. But the internet is full of half-truths: pinout posters without context, ADC guides ignoring Wi-Fi conflicts, and “use GPIO0” recipes that break boot. This guide is meant to…
The ESP8266 started life as a tiny Wi-Fi module but quickly became a full microcontroller platform. Under the metal cans, almost all modules use the same chip (ESP8266EX) – what changes is: This guide covers the most common variants you’ll…
If you followed our Bluetooth Proxy Guide, you probably have an ESP32 sitting behind a sofa or plugged into a wall, doing a great job listening for Bluetooth signals. But it’s wasted potential. That ESP32 is a powerful microcontroller running…
So, you’ve followed our Bluetooth Proxy 2025 Guide and have an ESP32 piping Bluetooth signals into Home Assistant. Amazing, right? But maybe you’re noticing your Xiaomi thermometer batteries are draining faster than usual. Or perhaps your SwitchBot Lock keeps showing…
Integrating KNX with Home Assistant (HA) is the “gold standard” for professional-grade smart homes. While Wi-Fi and Zigbee are great for hobbyists, KNX offers a hardwired, decentralized backbone that works even if HA is offline. To bridge these two worlds,…
When people say “ESP32 vs STM32”, they’re really comparing a Wi-Fi SoC (ESP32) with a huge family of general-purpose microcontrollers (STM32). They overlap, but they’re not aimed at the same sweet spot. If you’re starting a new embedded project today,…
Both ESP32-S2 and ESP32-S3 are “second-wave” ESP32 chips: they add native USB and more modern security features compared to the original ESP32. But they target slightly different use cases: If you’re deciding what to base a new board or project…
Espressif’s ESP32 family has exploded with variants, but for most makers and IoT projects the real question is simple: Should I use the classic ESP32, or the newer ESP32-S3? Both chips are dual-core Wi-Fi + Bluetooth SoCs, both are cheap,…
Understanding the Adafruit_PCF8575 Button Example Microcontrollers never seem to have enough pins. That’s where the PCF8575 comes in: a simple I²C 16-bit GPIO expander that gives you 16 extra digital pins using only 2 wires (SDA/SCL). The Adafruit example you…
The BME280 is a tiny environmental sensor that measures: From pressure, you can also estimate altitude, which is exactly what the Adafruit example you posted does. In this guide we’ll: 1. What is the BME280? The Bosch BME280 is a…
Understanding the Adafruit ADS1X15 Example The ADS1115 (16-bit) and ADS1015 (12-bit) are very popular external ADC chips. They talk over I²C, give you 4 analog inputs, and include a programmable gain amplifier (PGA) so you can measure both tiny and…
If you want one “single source of truth” for indoor air quality, the most useful combo is: With an ESP32 you can build a compact air quality station that reports to Home Assistant and gives you: This guide shows wiring…