Software program developer and maker Krzysztof Strehlau has created his personal Zigbee gateway, constructing round an Espresiff ESP32-S3 and a Silicon Labs EFR32MG1 system-on-chip to ship a {custom}, compact, customized system for house automation.
“However why simply [not] purchase a Zigbee USB stick,” Strehlau asks, rhetorically, of the impetus behind his undertaking. “I wish to have full management over units, management over the move between Zigbee and the web, and voice notifications in a single system. In my previous residence I had fundamental energy outlet setup managed through a 433MHz radio managed by [An Espressif] ESP8266. Nevertheless, as we’re reaching one other life milestones with my superb spouse, some inspiration [has] grown in my head and I’ve challenged myself to construct my very own Zigbee gateway.”
While you desire a sensible house gateway with full management and voice notifications, it is time to roll your personal. (📷: Krzysztof Strehlau)
Strehlau’s design makes use of two modules mounted on a custom-designed PCB: an Espressif ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 and an EBYTE E18, which contains a Silicon Labs EFR32MG1 system-on-chip. Between the 2, the gadget has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 Low Vitality (BLE), and Zigbee 3.0 help — with the EBYTE module offloading the work of Zigbee processing from the ESP32 host processor. To ship audio notification,s the board additionally options an Analog Units MAX98357A digital to analog converter (DAC) and 3W amplifier — whereas there’s an on-board temperature sensor for good measure.
“Probably the most difficult half was soldering the DAC chip,” Strehlau explains, “after which a bit simpler was USB [Type-C] soldering. Just lately I’ve been primarily concerned in firmware improvement,” the maker continues, detailing enhancements together with a power-saving clock-speed adjustment that down-shifts the ESP32-S3 from 240MHz to 80MHz when not enjoying audio, automated baud-rate detection, over-the-air updates, audio playlist help, and, most not too long ago, a 3D-printed housing — although this may should be revisited, as a design mistake positioned the mounting factors on the surface of the case.
The undertaking, which remains to be a work-in-progress, has been written up on Hackaday.io.