#diy

A gallery post presents a densely designed Home Assistant dashboard. In replies, the builder says it is written entirely in custom JavaScript rather than standard cards, that the network map reads data from TP-Link Deco routers, that a Flightradar integration shows planes passing near the house, and that most of the configuration was done with an open-source AI tool connected to Home Assistant. The builder adds that it is too custom to reuse and is meant as inspiration.

About 700 upvotes in a 386,000-member community. The top reply calls it the most beautiful dashboard the commenter has seen; others say the layout is too crowded for daily use, with each card a different design to learn, and one argues that a good smart home should need so little intervention that it barely needs a dashboard at all.

A London commuter shares a framed e-ink display that, at 5:20 every morning, shows whether their train is on time, the Jubilee line's service status and the day's weather, styled to look like a vintage newspaper or flyer. They write that they built it on Home Assistant with a Seeed E1004 frame and used Claude to get a working prototype, then made themes based on a Victorian newspaper, a 1950s magazine cover and Star Wars; AI tools refused to help with the Star Wars theme over copyrighted material, so they designed that one by hand. In replies, the builder says the frame wakes once a day, downloads one image and goes back to deep sleep, so a charge should last six months or more, and that a script converts each image to the screen's six ink colours.

About 1,300 upvotes in a 386,000-member community. Many replies ask for the code (the builder says they will try to post it); some call the look generic AI style, which the builder rejects at length, and several say the frame's price put them off.

A photo gallery post shows a smart-home control panel assembled from vintage hardware. The builder writes that everything in it works and runs on Home Assistant, including a voice assistant, but that they wanted to draw attention to the physical side: every part they could buy is an original from the 1960s and 70s, some of it iconic to people who remember communist-era Poland, and whatever they couldn't find they built themselves. They describe the panel as one piece of a bigger retro project.

It was the top thread of our sweep relative to community size: about 5,000 upvotes in a 386,000-member community. The replies are almost entirely admiration ("completely over the top," one top comment says, approvingly); one praises it as a break from AI-generated projects, and many ask for a detailed video, which the builder says they will make.

A video post shows a robot vacuum parked inside a kitchen island behind a flap door. The builder writes that the door opens according to the cleaning schedule and closes when cleaning is done, using a 12V linear actuator, an LED strip that shows the actuator and robot status, and an ESP32-C3 microcontroller managed in Home Assistant.

The most-upvoted reply jokes about meeting the door with an ankle at 3 a.m.; others warn that it closes fast enough to worry about children, toes and pets. The builder replies that an infrared sensor reopens the door if anything is in its path, that it sends a notification if the flap stays open too long, and that an emergency stop can cut power to the actuator. Others asked for a write-up. About 2,500 upvotes in a 386,000-member community.