Home automation system — from the chip to the browser.
I'm a first-year computer engineering student and this is a home automation system I built from scratch — every layer of it. The C++ firmware runs on the chips inside commercial switches, the Python backend runs on a Raspberry Pi, and the Vue frontend serves as the single control panel for every device in the house.
I got tired of needing different apps to control my house. Every brand has its own cloud and its own account, they hardly talk to each other, and if you want a specific device behaviour — like closing a blind to 20% on first press instead of fully closed — there was no way to do it. So I built my own system, one that lives entirely on my local network.
Everything here is:
- Local — no cloud needed, everything runs on my home network
- Understandable — no black boxes, I designed and built each piece, all fully documented
- Customizable — for example, the blind stops at 20% on first press instead of 0%
- Unified — one screen shows every device in the house
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ frontend/ │
│ Vue 3 frontend · Tailwind CSS │
│ Hosted via Docker on Raspberry Pi │
└────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────┘
│ HTTP / WebSocket
┌────────────────────────▼────────────────────────────┐
│ api/ │
│ FastAPI backend · MQTT orchestration · SQLite │
│ Hosted via Docker on Raspberry Pi │
└────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────┘
│ MQTT (binary protocol)
┌────────────────────────▼────────────────────────────┐
│ firmware/ │
│ C++ firmware for ESP8266 / BK7231N smart switches │
│ Flashing over factory firmware │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
|
Custom C++ firmware for proprietary chips, built with PlatformIO. Replaces factory software on commercial blind controllers and light switches with a fully local MQTT-based control layer. C++ · PlatformIO · Arduino |
FastAPI backend running on a Raspberry Pi alongside a Mosquitto MQTT broker, managed with Docker. Handles device management, state persistence, OTA firmware serving and real-time WebSocket events. Python · FastAPI · Docker · SQLite |
Vue 3 frontend served by Nginx behind a Caddy reverse proxy, also hosted on the Raspberry Pi. Renders an interactive SVG floor plan where you can see and control every light and blind in real time. Vue 3 · Tailwind CSS · Nginx |
A typical interaction — pressing "down" on a blind from the frontend:
Frontend sends POST /commands/B0101/down
│
▼
API publishes 0xC1 to tp/B0101/c via MQTT
│
▼
ESP8266 chip receives command, activates relay, starts motor
│
▼
Chip publishes 2-byte state (position + motor_state) every second
│
▼
API parses binary payload, updates SQLite, pushes WebSocket event
│
▼
Frontend updates position in real time
No cloud involved at any point. The entire system works on the local network.
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Firmware language | C++17 |
| Firmware framework | Arduino (ESP8266 Core / LibreTiny) |
| Firmware build | PlatformIO |
| API framework | FastAPI · Python 3.11 |
| API database | SQLite via SQLModel |
| API broker | Mosquitto (MQTT) |
| Frontend framework | Vue 3 · Composition API |
| Frontend styling | Tailwind CSS 4 |
| Frontend state | Pinia |
| Hosting | Docker + Nginx + Caddy · Raspberry Pi |
git clone https://github.com/mtaibo/tphome
cd tphome
cp .env.example .env # fill in WiFi, MQTT and API values
docker compose up --build -dThat's it. Caddy, Nginx, the API, and the MQTT broker all start together.
Firmware is flashed separately — it runs on the physical chips, not in Docker:
cd firmware
./build.sh # compile blind_esp8266 (default)
./build.sh all # compile all environments
./build.sh flash # compile and flashSee firmware/README.md for wiring and first-flash instructions.
MIT — see LICENSE