Our phones got smart, then our cars; it’s a logical progression to make our homes smart too. That wasn’t on the table when I started but now it’s front and center. I started out thinking I could use a Pi to show some pictures and mavideos too. too. What I have built will become very common from here on out. An always on home based, brain and repository for storing and automating our digital lives. Our own private services, data and media available safely and securely from anywhere we can access the internet. There are products in this space that will lock you into subscriptions, fees and their walled garden. I wanted to go subscription free for as long as I could. So far the only fees have been hardware and power. This also means I have to be my own tech support. Thankfully Gemini3 has been a great asset.
To build this smart home takes some hardware. I chose low powered Pis due to their meager power consumption, 4 Pis, 23 watts. Another popular option are micro micro computers.
When the hardware is ready you will need software to provide services. FOSS, Free Open Source Software offers many many options to fill every niche. gitHub is a collection of repositories & collaborators building well vetted, tested and used software, it’s where almost all my software comes from.
Once you have your software up and running you will want to access it from outside the house or share with others on the outside. That’s where connectivity comes into play. and yet another learning experience.