In this project, I setup a proper OctoPrint server for my 3D printer, and integrate it into the enclosure I already built. I also add some RGB flair to make it look nice, and set it up to integrate with Home Assistant. I’m very pleased with the results, so follow along for how I set it up. Building the Circuit Since I want to use WS2812 LED strips to show the printing status, I need a small circuit.

In 2018 I bought a Prusa i3 MK3s kit, and I’ve been very happy with it. However, I’ve found that it really struggles with early layer curling, even with PLA, in my cold basement. The solution to this problem is to build a box around the printer. The box will retain more of the heat generated by the printer, hopefully resulting in less warping due to cooling of the printed parts.

My bedroom faces to the West. As with most McMansions in the United States, the architect had absolutely no consideration for the angles of the sun in each room throughout the day. In fact, the architect wasn’t even involved in building this house, the plans were purchased as a set. As a result, I get blasted in the mid afternoon summer sun, greatly raising the temperature in my room and causing far too much screen glare for my taste.

The quest for the best camera/angle for my 3D Printer My original plan was to use Octoprint with a USB camera (since that’s the cool thing to do, right?). I got a Logitech C270 USB webcam and was very underwhelmed by the image quality. I found that the field of view was just too narrow to get a good shot of the entire 3d print, especially if I was printing something big.

After my experience with FreeBSD Jails and LXC containers, I wanted to get into ‘real’ virtualization - and all of the advantages that come with it, like VM snapshot and restore features, moving VMs around between my workstation and production environment, and separating my storage from my compute. To this end, I built the Minilab, a small scale virtualization lab that will be at home in any house or appartment.

This project describes my process of building a home security camera system using Dahua PoE cameras and ZoneMinder. Overall the system is functional, but Zoneminder leaves a bit to be desired. I will revisit this project in the future. The Beginnings of a Camera System The real OG camera system was installed by my dad a decade ago using analog ‘960H’ cameras (which are grossly misleading in their advertising since they market the horizontal resolution instead of the usual vertical resolution, they are actually 480x960 at best).

After setting up my 1-Wire Temperature Network, my next sensory target was my AC breaker panel. I watched reviews for products such as the Sense energy monitor, The Energy Detective, and a few others, and felt like none of them did what I wanted. I know that big loads in my house use a lot of power (duh), I want to know how much power specific people and rooms in the house use, so I can improve my home energy modeling skills.

Inspired by Jonathan Oxer’s Air Quality project, I decided to build my own, but with my own twist and my own software. This project was an adventure bridging my long-held Arduino skills with modern Ethernet microcontrollers, object-oriented programming, and a lesson in how important mechanical design is. Concept Design Jon’s sensor uses a Plantower PMS5003, and later adds a Bosch BME680 air quality sensor. I decided to use the similar Plantower PMS7003, Bosch BME680, and also a CCS811 environmental sensor which measures eCO2 for comparison to the BME680.

I’ve long followed the videos and episodes of Jonathan Oxer of SuperHouse, and decided to design my first true automation system around his design ideas. This project describes the basic setup of the automation system I setup and explored, and replaces the dabblings I’ve had with EmonCMS in the past (See the One-wire Project). Software Stack Jon is big on the use of MQTT for transport, having developed a lot of his own hardware before it was easily available (especially so in Australia where he is located) and standardizing on the protocol for its general and flexible nature.

This project is my entry into data collection at home. I learned a lot about what not to do, but I got a decent sensor network out of it, which continues to be (mostly) reliable to this day. Dallas One-Wire Sensors See the Wikipedia Article on the subject for a brief overview. I started this project with the goal of proving that my bedroom (located on the southeast corner of the house) was notably colder in the winter than other rooms.