In mid-2020, as COVID-19 was surging across the globe, my employer made the decision to shutter our offices in Los Angeles and Boston to become a fully distributed company. Now, with a workforce with team members all over the world, we've spent the last few years learning how to be happy and productive from our home offices.
I am a proud daddy to two children. While I love being able to spend time with my kids during the week, there are times when distraction or interruption are problematic.
Over the years, I've made several attempts at addressing this problem with technology, but this project represents the most successful, and I call it "Daddyboard."
Daddyboard is a custom, battery powered, network connected e-ink sign that allows me to communicate my status with my family. The Daddyboard is mounted to my office door at all times and features a long battery life with swappable rechargeable batteries.
- LILYGO T5-4.7 inch E-Paper Ink Screen ESP32 V3
- 3D Printed Case for LILYGO T5
- TEOEBGO 18650 Batteries and Charger
I'll leave the nitty gritty as an exercise for the reader, but the steps are roughly as follows:
- Acquire and assemble the hardware
- Install ESPHome and flash the base firmware via USB to the LILYGO
- Enable ESPHome integration in Home Assistant and create an
input_selectsensor (input_select.daddy_state) with your desired states and aninput_textsensor (input_text.daddy_state_custom) for custom state messages - Create a
secrets.yamlfile containing Wi-Fi credentials and a password for OTA firmware updates - Flash the configuration
conf.yamlfrom this repository.
Once this is done, you can control your Daddyboard using Home Assistant. If you are using iOS, you can easily build out Shortcuts to do more advanced controls and automations, including Siri support. Similarly, if you are a HomeKit user, you can enable the HomeKit integration in Home Assistant.