So, you have a 3D printer and a smart home, and want to combine the two.Today I'm going to show you five unexpected ways that you can combine your love of extruding plastic and making your smart home more accessible.NFC tags disguised as decorative household objects NFC can be used to trigger smart home automations, but the tags don't have to look ugly Close Home Assistant can use NFC better than basically any other smart home platform.
So, if you're wanting to use NFC to trigger automations in your smart home, then 3D printing is actually perfect for the task.Sure, you can just put NFC stickers in random places around your home and then tap them with your phone, but a white circular sticker stuck to the wall doesn't look all that pleasing.That's where 3D printing comes in.
You can 3D print NFC housings, as the NFC tags can still work through a few thin layers of plastic.There are a ton of models online for 3D-printed NFC housings, and you can find things like this cassette tape that houses an NFC tag.This would be perfect for using to trigger whole-home audio playback.
Another option would be something like this Wi-Fi sign that can house an NFC tag for people to connect to your guest Wi-Fi.Or, you could 3D print one of these little houses and put an NFC tag in it for various tasks.Custom enclosures that make ESPHome projects look like finished products ESPHome is super versatile, but nobody wants random circuit boards and connectors lying around the house ESPHome has to be one of the best features of Home Assistant.
You can use small Espressif-based microcontrollers to create your own sensors or systems for Home Assistant with it.However, if you want more than just a circuit board and a few sensors sitting on a shelf, 3D printing can save the day.The ESP Smart Home Case project on MakerWorld has a slew of pre-designed cases for multiple Espressif-based controllers that you might use with Home Assistant.
These cases come in all shapes and sizes and offer a sleek housing for whatever project you're working on.Of course, if you want more than just the board and a few sensors, there are a number of other ESP32-based projects to find 3D prints for.Take Deskbuddy as an example.
Deskbuddy is designed to use an ESP32 and a display to give you a personal dashboard that just sits on your desk.Really, if you can think of an ESP32 project for your smart home, there's likely already a 3D print out there to solve it.But, if you can't find an existing print, it's easy enough to design your own and make something completely custom for the project.
Physical control panels with buttons for common automations Sometimes all you need is a button to trigger an automation Another project (that actually could use an ESP32 and ESPHome) where 3D printing meets smart home is physical control panels.You could easily 3D print a housing to hold some arcade-style buttons that trigger various automations in your smart home.I can just see it now—a dashboard full of arcade buttons or keys with labels so you can do things like trigger the lights to turn on or off, start or stop a movie, or do any other automation.
3D printing is one of the best ways to make a housing for a project like that, as you can fully customize the layout, size, and even labels to whatever task each button will do.Custom wall mounts for smart home control tablets That old Kindle Fire? It's the perfect smart home command center with a simple 3D print Building a smart home control center requires two things: the device to build the control center with, and a place that it will actually be used.An old Kindle Fire sitting in a drawer isn't a very useful control center.
Even a tablet sitting on your desk is only usable by you, and not very helpful to others.There are quite a few 3D prints out there that allow you to wall-mount an old tablet to use as a smart home command center.Many of the mounts even allow for routing of power cables so the tablet is always charged.
So, find whatever tablet you haven't touched in years, turn it into a smart home hub, and 3D print a wall mount for it.Desk presence sensors that detect when a workstation is occupied A 3D printed housing is the perfect place for a project like this If your office is kitted out with the latest smart gear to do things to control your lights, fans, air conditioner, music, and more, then a presence sensor is the perfect smart home tool you're missing.The problem is, like the projects above, you probably don't want to just leave the circuit board exposed.
So, 3D printing once again comes to the rescue.Whether you want to flush mount the project under your desk, make it face where you sit, or make it something that sits on your desk as an accent piece, 3D printing can make it happen.Just find the model that corresponds to how you want to use the presence sensor and start printing.
3D printing is about more than just making knickknacks and toys I've found that 3D printing is way more useful than just making toys.These projects here show that it can actually become a little manufacturing facility to make custom smart home gear that otherwise wouldn't exist.So, take some time to think through how you want to use 3D printing in your smart home and get started.
It'll take your smart house to the next level.
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