“It’d be a real stretch to say I needed to automate the blinds in my apartment, but it was fun, and I’m loving the result. Blinds open automatically at sunrise and close at sundown. It’s nice to wake up to the sun!
I designed most of this setup myself, and wanted to share how I approached it. There was a lot of prior art (a particular shoutout to The Hookup’s Guide), but nothing that worked the way I was wanting. Guides I ran across either mounted a motor inside of a 2″ track (mine are 1″), or were for pull-cord style blinds.
I wanted a motor mounted on the outside of the track to drive the existing worm gear. I rent and don’t want to be kicking myself too hard when I move out. These are super easy to (un-)install.
There are few parts I’ll cover in this post:
The 3D-printed mount design w/ assembly instructions
The driver circuit PCB
Driver firmware (esphome w/ cover component) + Integration with HomeAssistant
Wiring tips”