I believe it would be worthwhile to create another add-on for the PineTab that adds smart home controller functionality to it. The expansion could support a few popular radio types, such as:
- 433Mhz, by adding a RFM69 radio module. This is already open hardware. The MySensors project supports this radio. Candle builds on MySensors, for example.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=rfm69&iax=images&ia=images
- A zigbee and Bluetooth Low Energy module (I believe the existing bluetooth chip doesn't support LE?). Recently there have been some great community developments, such as Zig-A-Zig-Ah and the Shepherd project, which underlies the Zigbee2Mqtt project. I don't know to what degree the TI chip they use can support Bluetooth LE and Zigbee at the same time.
https://www.reddit.com/r/homeautomation/..._hardware/
https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee-herdsman
- Alternatively, add/use a NRF24 chip to add Zigbee, Bluetooth LE and/or MySensors support in one chip?
- Perhaps add a Z-wave radio too?
Such a module would allow this tablet to function as a complete portable smart home controller. It would allow for the development of a more open counterpart to the "smart displays" being sold by Google, Facebook, Xiaomi, etc.
The backpack
Alternatively, a stand could be created that connects to the keyboard pins (which I read act as a USB 2.0 connector), and adds these radios that way. It could also add a speaker and microphone array to allow for fully local, privacy friendly voice control.
![[Image: pinetab_backpack.png]](https://www.candlesmarthome.com/images/pinetab_backpack.png)
But then the downside would be that the tablet would have to stay fixed to that stand for the radio modules to be connected. If there was a built-in module, it could stay mobile and control the home at the same time.
- 433Mhz, by adding a RFM69 radio module. This is already open hardware. The MySensors project supports this radio. Candle builds on MySensors, for example.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=rfm69&iax=images&ia=images
- A zigbee and Bluetooth Low Energy module (I believe the existing bluetooth chip doesn't support LE?). Recently there have been some great community developments, such as Zig-A-Zig-Ah and the Shepherd project, which underlies the Zigbee2Mqtt project. I don't know to what degree the TI chip they use can support Bluetooth LE and Zigbee at the same time.
https://www.reddit.com/r/homeautomation/..._hardware/
https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee-herdsman
- Alternatively, add/use a NRF24 chip to add Zigbee, Bluetooth LE and/or MySensors support in one chip?
- Perhaps add a Z-wave radio too?
Such a module would allow this tablet to function as a complete portable smart home controller. It would allow for the development of a more open counterpart to the "smart displays" being sold by Google, Facebook, Xiaomi, etc.
The backpack
Alternatively, a stand could be created that connects to the keyboard pins (which I read act as a USB 2.0 connector), and adds these radios that way. It could also add a speaker and microphone array to allow for fully local, privacy friendly voice control.
But then the downside would be that the tablet would have to stay fixed to that stand for the radio modules to be connected. If there was a built-in module, it could stay mobile and control the home at the same time.
