Gitlab pipelines
As a later post will show, I've been using gitlab pipelines to validate some of my code for me. As a security conscious person, I've been interested in building security in to pipelines.
Automation
Welcome to the Automation section of PHP Systems Blog. Here you’ll find guides, projects, and experiments in making technology work for you - from home automation with Raspberry Pi and Home Assistant to workflow orchestration with Kestra and Ansible. I share practical setups, real-world configs, and the lessons learned while automating my own systems.
eMotion and Modbus
As I write this, Paul Hibbert released this video on youtube 3 days ago. The video features a very smart sensor doing presence detection. The company linknlink were new to me and following the recommendation from Paul, I bought a couple of eMotion sensors.
M5stack Echo with a hex light
With all my playing around with home assistant, I've bought myself a M5stack Echo. The echo is the variant of choice for home assistant's "Year of the voice". The other day, I did come across a 37 led array in the shape of a hexagon on Aliexpress.
My Ender 5
I have been 3D printing since COVID. Like many others, I decided I needed a new hobby to spend my time at home on. Shame it was still tied to computers, but it was sufficiently different to distract me. The printer I chose was an Ender 5 pro.
I'm off to bed...
Further to my post about the sensors I have, I
My smart sensors
One of the YouTube channels on home automation is Paul Hibbert's. I love Paul's humor although it seems some people find it a bit "smutty". Some one once commented to Paul that home automation was merely turning lights on and off. I suppose to an extent this is true.
Getting started with automation
So, you want to get started with the wonderful world of automation but don't know where to start? Well, lets take a look at what you need to kick things off.
Epaper Displays and waste management
So, if you have read any of my other posts you may have already setup your waste management reminders and your epaper display access point(s) and tags. So if we have both of these things, why not combine them?
Bin Reminders
Ah the bins... Do you forget to take them out?
My hobby desk
For some time now, I've needed a bit
About the author
Tim Wilkes is a UK-based security architect with over 15 years of experience in electronics, Linux, and Unix systems administration. Since 2021, he's been designing secure systems for a telecom company while indulging his passions for programming, automation, and 3D printing. Tim shares his projects, tinkering adventures, and tech insights here - partly as a personal log, and partly in the hopes that others will find them useful.
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LinkedIn: [phpsytems]
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