Book excerpt: A step-by-step guide to building cost-effective and complete home automation DIY projects using tools such as Home Assistant, Raspberry Pi, IoT devices, the Tasmota sensor, ESP32, and Grafana Key Features Learn by doing using real-life practical examples to build your own home automation system Create, hack, and configure IoT devices through hands-on projects to be used with or without Home Assistant Customize your home automation system using Home Assistant, Node-RED, InfluxDB, and Grafana Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook Book DescriptionPicture a home where you can adjust the lighting based on the time of day or when movement is detected. In this same home, you can also detect when a door is unexpectedly opened or an alarm is triggered in response to any suspicious activity. Such automated devices form part of a smart home, and the exciting part is that this book teaches you how to create and manage these devices all by yourself. This book helps you create your own ecosystem to automate your home using Home Assistant software. You’ll begin by understanding the components of a home automation system and learn how to create, hack, and configure them to operate seamlessly. Then, you'll set up Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi to work as a home automation server, build your own IoT sensors based on ESP32/ESP8266, and set up real-life automation use cases using hands-on examples and projects. The chapters will also guide you in using software tools such as Node-RED, InfluxDB, and Grafana to manage, present, and use data collected from your Home Automation devices. Finally, you’ll gain insights into new technologies and trends in the home automation space to help you continue with your learning journey. By the end of this book, you’ll be able to build your own creative, IoT-based home automation system using different hardware and software technologies.What you will learn Understand the fundamental concepts of home automation systems Set up a home automation system using Home Assistant and Raspberry Pi Create and configure ESP8266-based sensors to work with Home Assistant Hack a commercial actuator to work with Home Assistant using Tasmota Create automations, customize, and use applications with Home Assistant Leverage IoT software tools to take your home automation to the next level Work on hands-on projects, including LED strip lights and an ESP32 five-zone temperature logger Explore home automation FAQs, emerging technologies, and trends Who this book is forThe book is for engineers, developers, students, makers, and enthusiasts who’re working on or interested in working with electronics and IoT devices, embedded systems, systems integration, computer software, and coding to develop their own smart home automation systems. Technicians, teachers, and other professionals who want to learn home automation–related technologies will also find this book useful. Prior experience of working with Raspberry Pi, creating hardware prototypes, and software programming will be beneficial.