I’ve been diving into the world of DIY home automation lately, and I’m thrilled to share my latest project with the community! Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working on creating custom Raspberry Pi touchscreen controllers to mount around my house. The goal is to simplify the process of arming and disarming my home security system (HSM) as I come and go, which has proven to be a bit of a hassle in the past.
The idea came to me after a minor mishap last weekend. My spouse accidentally set off the HSM multiple times while I was away, and the process of disarming it each time was less than convenient—requiring them to pull out their phone every single time. It was clear that a more streamlined solution was needed.
So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I’ve set up Raspberry Pi 7” touchscreens housed in 75 mm VESA mount kits, powered by a centralized 12v CCTV power supply located in the basement. To simplify the wiring, I’ve been experimenting with Pi HAT boards that accept 12v power directly, paired with 12v to 5v step-down converters. The system is still in the testing phase, but the early results are promising!
While the touchscreen controllers will initially be used primarily for arming and disarming the HSM, I can already see the potential for expanding their functionality in the future. However, I’ve encountered a bit of a roadblock in terms of integration. Ideally, I’d love to have a Virtual Keypad Dashboard Object that I could easily drop into a dashboard, tying into the Lock Code Manager for authentication. Unfortunately, this feature isn’t currently available, so I’ve been forced to get creative.
I’ve been working on using the Maker API to push HSM status changes to a Middleware server, which would then handle authentication PINs and push updates back to the Hubitat Elevation. While this approach is certainly doable, it’s requiring a significant amount of additional work compared to what would be possible with a pre-built Virtual Keypad solution. I can’t help but wonder if others in the community have faced similar challenges or have suggestions for simplifying this process.
On a more positive note, the project has been a fantastic learning experience, and I’m genuinely enjoying the process of bringing this vision to life. I’ll be sure to share more updates as the project progresses, including photos and a detailed walkthrough of the setup. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts—does the idea of a Virtual Keypad Dashboard Object resonate with you? What features would you like to see in a solution like this? Let’s keep the conversation going!
Cheers,
[Your Name]