Inspired by https://www.v1engineering.com/forum/topic/mpcnc-electronics-case/ . I decided to finally mount this touchscreen on something. I kept trying to find a nice, neat, box like enclosure for it, and I decided instead to embrace the detail, and just mount it with some EMT. I really like it. I plan on mounting it to the wall behind my desk, and I think it will be very useful.
TV Link: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2856360
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So nice. There is some room on the Pi rail for a little something extraā¦Voice commands? ācomputer, run system diagnosticsā
I would like some buttons or switches. I was definitely thinking this was just the first draft.
Thatās pretty slick. Good job!
Needs more LEDs. Not enough flashing lights to distract you from real work.
I was pretty disappointed when I searched āarduino fog hornā on amazon.
I have some neo pixels I could throw on there, but it seems like a screen is a better indicator.
I am currently running this from the command line (tty1) without starting the graphics. Itās not responding to my touch inputs (not surprising). I am going to spend a little time seeing if I can read it directly and then Iām going to look at mounting some buttons. I want to have more detailed screens for different diagnostics, weather, printer stuff, thermostat, sprinkler system, etc. Iāll need a way to switch screens, but Iād also like to be able to launch some music, or clock into work or something like that. These are all in the brainstorming stage right now.
Could you wire in a google home mini? I have one if you want it.
Thatās a nice offer. Iām sure I could use it, but Iām not really ready to have an internet connected listening device. Especially where I work. Maybe Iām paranoid. I bought an Amazon fire stick and it has a button that will call Alexa. Iām thinking of desoldering the mic, because I donāt trust them to not listen even if I donāt push the button.
All my home automation stuff is made by me and I am hoping that will make it more secure. Who would want to write an exploit that only works on one house?
I seriously feel the exact same wayā¦I donāt think it is paranoid. I think it is stupid to have an internet connected microphone in your house all the time. I put tape over my web cam as well. All for whatā¦āgoogle, whatās the weather?ā Open the door, no thanks. It came with my phone and it is just unopened collecting dust.
I actually like the idea of those Bluetooth key chains that lock you computer when you are too far awayā¦Maybe we are both paranoid.
Ehh, I have two echoes in the house. If you have a smart phone, itās always listening, even if the activation stuff is disabled. My phone responded to a radio commercial the other day. I have ok google disabled.
That, and itās cool to be able to tell Alexa to turn on the great room lights, and they do.
I do a lot of yelling at my computerā¦Who knows what would happen if I added a few microphones.
So many kinds of Awesome, very nice work.
My RPi running My Home Automation stuff is just all wood screwed to a piece of pine 
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Take a look at Kivy for python.
I used it for an app using a much smaller touchscreen for my aquarium. it works quite well for adding buttons to a touch screen without running a full-on GUI.
Regarding Alexa/Googleā¦ We have two echoās in our house and weāll probably be adding at least 1 or 2 more. Mine are setup to run quite a bit of the house through the local HASS.io Iām using. I tell Alexa to turn on the 3d printer. Then I can push the gcode with octoprint and start the job without leaving the couch. I plan on adding one to the garage so I can turn the volume up/down without going to get the remote. Will be nice for when Iām under the car and the wife is trying to talk to me.
Home automation turns into quite a black hole, though. The more I do, the more I see can be done. I still need to get some better thermostats that Alexa can control.
All my home automation stuff runs on a separate VLAN with no access to the main network and full QOS on outbound speed set to a minimal amountā¦
At this point in my life, I donāt care who listens to me.
You need to run an X server for this, right? Iām really trying to keep the terminal appearance, and I donāt want to run all of X, even if I canāt use a touch screen.
We all already knew that. She tells us everything.
āAlexa, please drown my wife out with louder musicā
Relay Control OctoPrint Wanhao i3 by Jeffeb3 - Thingiverse You can control the power of your printer with octoprint too.
Thanks for the tips. Iām sure Iāll use kivy for something in the future. Like maybe if I put one of these in the kitchen, for non-Linux users.
I donāt believe kivy requires X. I know I donāt run X on my pi. It boots to a terminal and then Kivy takes over the screen. I had to do some odd stuff in the OS to make the touchscreen work. My screen uses the GPIO for the display and I had to run a screen-mirror app to mirror the HDMI screen to the GPIO pin.
The Text output is very terminal looking. You can define the sizes of the buttons to be whatever you want. I donāt do any of the graphical stuff on mine.
Hereās an āokā picture of what my āGUIā looks like. I have everything centered, but you could put the text however you want. The text size can be configured bigger or smaller too.
Clicking one of the two bottom buttons takes you to another screen for further options.
Ughā¦ I forgot this site insists on linking image URLās with httpsā¦ which I donāt have on my site.
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Huh. That is interesting. I will have to check that out then.
Nice build. I think Iāve seen that before. Maybe you shared it here?
I have three Echos at the house and am thinking when I can finally get back in the garage to put a fourth one in. Itās kind of a tradition in waiting to try and stump her with requests for really esoteric music. āAlexa, play some Spider John Koernerā.
(update: I see that it may be out of topic)
Jeff,
Did you try Octoprint with touch UI plugin?
It does not run full X and has a nice looking interface. I used it in one project.
