This guide lets you create a custom 3D-printed wall panel controller for your home, meaning smart control is brought visibly into the house. Home Assistant, which I’ll be basing this guide on, does a brilliant job of making all those apps and smart devices accessible to your home, so this will be a great way to bring it all to your fingertips.
Materials You’ll Need:
- Amazon Fire 10 tablet
- 3D-printed mount – you can pinch mine here if you fancy! It fits the Kindle Fire 10 HD perfectly
Optional:
- USB Connector – to redirect your USB wire where you need it to go: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maxhood-Extension-Converter-Connector-Nintendo/dp/B0B1J3QHL7/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=usb+u-bend+connector&qid=1686510869&sr=8-2
Key Steps:
Before you begin – 3d print the tablet mount and embed some small neodymium magnets in the mount and the cover. Make sure you get the polarities right! I used a dab of superglue to then permanently fix them.
Step 1: Pick your spot
Decide where on your wall you want your panel controller to be. It should be in a high footfall area where you are going to quite frequently pass – this ensures that you will maximise the utility of the panel. I had a great spot on the wall at the bottom of the stairs in our hall. Every time people come into the house, down the stairs or moving between rooms, they’d be in easy range of the device.
Once you’ve decided, mark the corners of where the mount will go with a pencil, and use the spirit level to ensure it’s perfectly level.
Step 2: Cut out the mounting area
Now you can either mount it directly to the wall, or you can embed it into the wall. I chose the latter as it looks much neater and it’s not really a huge amount of work – remember these devices are super thin, so you’re really cutting into plaster.
As I was going into brickwork, I used a chisel and an SDS drill to cut out a shallow groove for the wire run and for the tablet itself to be embedded. Don’t worry about being messy, it’d pretty easy to tidy up later!
Step 3: Insert the Mount
I used a couple of wall fixings to firmly attach the mount to the wall – be careful to ensure your USB cable is popping out where you need it for later!
Step 4: Repair your mess!
Now the mount is in place, use a bit of plaster or filler to fill all the rough gaps and the wire run that you’ve cut out. You can be pretty rough here as the cover is designed to extend over a bit anyway, so it’ll cover any imperfections. Give it a coat or two of paint and no one should be able to tell what you’ve been up to… 
Step 5: Prepare the tablet!
Now you just need to prepare the tablet to be a wall panel. Two bits of software I’ll highly recommend:
- Fully Kiosk: https://www.fully-kiosk.com/
Great app that lets you use your tablet as a wall panel – let’s you set a URL that will display when the tablet awakens (in this case the Home Assistant url) and lots of other neat settings, eg wake when someone passes using the camera, sleep at night time and more! - Fire Toolbox: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/windows-linux-tool-fire-toolbox-v30-2.3889604/
This is an awesome bit of software that basically lets you unlock the fire tablet, remove all the bloatware and optimise it in lots of ways.
Step 6: Mount Your Tablet
Once the plaster is dry and your tablet is set up, connect the USB cable to the tablet, and place it in the 3D-printed mount.
Step 7: Let There Be Power
Plug the USB cable into the wall charger and power it up. Your wall-mounted tablet should come to life, ready to control your smart home devices!
Step 8: Enjoy Your Smart Home
Voila! You now have a custom, sleek wall panel controller for your Home Assistant.
Congratulations! You’ve not only upgraded your home but also made it “smarter”. And remember, with great power comes great responsibility – use your new home automation powers wisely, but you’re allowed to feel just a bit god-like as you control your home…!
cool