ESP 360 Remote Connects IR and 433 MHz Appliances to Home Assistant

Adding infrared and 433 MHz devices to a Home Assistant network will get much easier thanks to a device from Italian engineer Alessandro Alfonzetti. The ESP 360 Remote is an all-in-one IoT remote that controls your infrared and 433 MHz appliances with Home Assistant and ESP Home.

The ESP 360 Remote is a two-board solution. When stacked together, the PCBs have a 5 centimeter diameter and a 3.5 centimeter height. Alfonzetti has also provided user-printable files for a two-piece enclosure. The top piece screws onto the bottom piece without any additional hardware.

One of ESP 360 Remote's PCBs contains the Espressif ESP32-WROOM-32E SoC module, temperature and humidity sensor, light sensor, USB-C interface, and a high-efficiency DC-DC buck converter. The USB-C port powers the device and offers a programming interface for the ESP32 module.

The other PCB contains nine IR LEDs in a circle, hence the "360" part of the project's name! This board also has the IR receiver and connections for a 433 MHz transmitter and receiver board.

This array of sensors, LEDs, and RF boards means ESP 360 Remote can help with home automation tasks like operating an IR-based Air Conditioning unit, controller audio/video equipment, or accepting RF doorbell signals. You can control these directly or use ESP 360 Remote as a relay device.

To achieve all of this capability, you might think you need to program it using the Arduino IDE or MicroPython. And while that is an option, Alfonzetti is instead heavily relying on two projects, ESPHome, and Home Assistant, to eliminate the need to write any complicated code.

ESPHome controls devices with simple yet powerful configuration files. All of the actions mentioned above are possible using only ESPHome! Currently, ESPHome supports ESP32, ESP8266, and RP2040 microcontrollers. It communicates via microcontroller interfaces to various sensors popular in home automation environments.

One such environment is Home Assistant. It is an open-source (software) project for home automation. One of the key features is the ability to run 100% locally to a (home) network, making it a non-cloud-based solution. In addition, there are over 1,000 compatible devices and services. Finally, the highly active community of users further strengthens its ecosystem.

ESP 360 Remote is an open-source project with an OSHWA Certification (UID IT000012). You can download the schematic, EasyEDA files, and STLs for the enclosure in this GitHub repo. Alternatively, you can buy the assembled PCBs when the ESP 360 Remote Crowd Supply campaign goes live.