Hello everyone, I wanted to share my recent experience with integrating smart blinds into my home automation setup. I’ve been using the 28BYJ-48 stepper motor with ESPHome, following a design from a YouTube channel, and it’s been a fascinating journey. While I’ve managed to get the system working, I’ve encountered a few challenges along the way, and I’d love to hear your thoughts and tips.First, let me give you an overview of my setup. I’ve installed the stepper motor to control my dining room blinds, aiming for a seamless automation experience. The motor is connected to an ESP32 module, and I’ve written some code to handle the opening and closing of the blinds. The code includes functions to report the motor’s position, set targets, and publish the state to Home Assistant. I’ve also implemented logging and API functionality to keep track of everything.Now, the issue I’ve been facing is with the motor’s range. When I click the ‘open’ button, the blinds only go up to about 65%, and when I click ‘close,’ they stop at around 15% instead of fully closing. This has left me wondering if there’s something wrong with the motor’s strength or if it’s a software issue. I’ve tried adjusting the code to shift the range, but I’m not entirely sure where to make the changes. I’m also curious if manually pushing the blinds to their full positions would help calibrate the system.One thing I’ve considered is whether the motor isn’t strong enough for the blinds, but I’ve heard that the 28BYJ-48 is a reliable motor for such applications. I’m leaning more towards the idea that it’s a software or configuration issue. Perhaps the endstop value in the code needs adjustment, or there might be a miscalculation in the position reporting. I’ve been experimenting with different target values and observing how the motor responds, but I’m still not entirely clear on the solution.I’d love to hear from anyone who has experience with stepper motors and ESPHome. Have you encountered similar issues? How did you resolve them? I’m also curious if there are any best practices for calibrating stepper motors in home automation projects. Any insights or tips would be greatly appreciated!On a positive note, I’ve found the community incredibly helpful, and I’m excited to continue learning and improving my setup. It’s amazing how much you can achieve with a bit of coding and some trial and error. I’m also considering exploring more advanced features, like integrating voice control or creating custom scenes for different times of the day.If anyone has any advice or has faced similar challenges, please don’t hesitate to share. I’m sure there’s a solution out there, and I’m determined to find it! Let’s keep the conversation going and help each other out as we navigate the world of smart home automation.