(05-30-2020, 06:31 PM)pfeerick Wrote:(05-20-2020, 03:28 AM)eaglecup Wrote: 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.
Maybe use something like an ESP32 in the base as an access point, have the PineTab auto-configure to use it when it's docked (i.e. no user configuration required). Then the PineTab can connect to it when it detects that it is removed from the dock. Therefore you get the best of both worlds - essentially 'hard-wired' when docked, or wireless when it's not docked.
That's a pretty nice idea. The PineTab could detect the USB hub in the backpack. A slight variation on your theme: the tablet could have a built-in Zigbee radio, and the user could add additional radio modules in the dock (e.g. Z-wave usb stick).
It would make a lot of sense with voice. The builtin microhone could be used for voice control when mobile, and when docked it could switch to a cheap $10 conference microphone or a more advanced ReSpeaker USB Microphone.
Similarly with audio, it could connect to a USB audio card and some bigger speakers in the backpack when connected.
My point was mostly that such a USB hub back-pack could be something the Pine foundation could offer as a way to seemlessly and attractively expand the tablet's functionality in all kinds of directions.
