PocketCHIP running Home Assistant
+ + + + + +
+Over a year ago I participated in the kickstarter campain for “CHIP - The World’s First Nine Dollar Computer” by Next Thing Co.. I went for the PocketCHIP because of the idea. Display, built-in storage (thus no need for SD cards), battery-powered, and a keyboard are pretty nice features. Last week a package arrives…
Thanks to Next Thing Co. and their CHIP which is actually 9 USD the space requirement for a single board computer has decreased. No ethernet and HDMI output helped with that. But I guess that the next development cycle will allow us to put those boards in a matchbox including wired networking and a SATA interface.
+ +
+
+ Size comparison of a Cubieboard, OrangePi One, and CHIP.
+
If you start using a PocketCHIP you will definitly look like a Blackberry or a GameBoy user. Typing is done with your thumbs :-)
+ +First a couple of tweaks like setting up sudo
, upgradeing the existing installation, change passwords, enabling ssh, and removal of the annoying stuff then installation of Home Assistant. There is not much to tell…it’s straight-forward. For the sake of completeness below the notes about what I did.
A Debian installation is available by default. This means that some dependencies for Home Assistant are missing. I haven’t checked if a new build for the PocketCHIP would include them. So, after a $ sudo apt-get update
installing those dependencies take a minute or two.
$ sudo apt-get install python3-dev python3-pip python3-venv +
As usual I run Python applications in a venv.
+ +$ pvenv ha +
Let’s activate the created environment.
+ +$ cd ha +$ source bin/activate +
If you haven’t seen the next two commands already then you should definitiy visit our frontsite.
+ +$ pip3 install homeassistant +$ hass --open-ui +
With surf
the browsing experience on the low-resolution display is not that great. Most shartphones, even very cheap ones, have touchscreens with higher resolutions. Nevermind, midori
is not better.
+
+ PocketCHIP with Home Assistant frontend
+
Well, with PocketCHIP and Home Assistant you could run your home automation on a 49 USD device with a touchscreen, an integrated USP, and a keyboard. With the GPIO available on top of the display you could even connect your PocketCHIP directly to sensors and actuators.
+