Exclamation Point Indicates Worthy Notifications
As far as punctuation goes, the exclamation mark is perhaps the most eye-catching of the bunch. That’s why [Conrad Farnsworth] thought this form would be perfect for his Home Assistant notifier build.
The key to this build is the large bi-color printed housing in the shape of an exclamation mark. It makes for an attractive wall-hanging, but it also perfectly serves the purpose [Conrad] had in mind. Inside the enclosure is an ESP32, hooked up to a string of 16×8 LED matrixes which are commanded over I2C. These sit behind a white panel in the enclosure to nicely diffuse the light and make their output more readable. The ESP32 displays notifications on the LEDs that are fed from Home Assistant, such as when the mailbox sensor is triggered or if a vehicle is detected in the driveway. There’s also a bell on the unit to provide audible notifications, which us dinged with a solenoid fired via a 2N2222 transistor switching a 12-volt supply from a boost converter.
It’s a neat build that fits nicely into [Conrad]’s daily life and appears to have some genuine utility. If you’re looking for other ways to neatly display notifications where you can see them, you might consider whipping yourself up a smart mirror. Video after the break.
youtube.com/embed/C5UuRmCwZ78?…