Our homes are becoming smarter and smarter but are they any fun? The Adufruit Funhouse aims to change that. This Wi-Fi-enabled microcontroller based around the new ESP32-S2 is ready to start helping monitor and control your environment.
The Funhouse combines temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, and light sensors, giving you the basics of a weather station or room monitor. Use it to make sure there aren’t mold-favoring-conditions in your basement, or to create a sweater-alert for those cold mornings. In addition to these built-in sensors, the Funhouse has pinouts for digital, analog, and I²C sensors, adding the ability to become an alarm system, doorbell, light control system, or whatever else you can imagine.
One the primary reasons to purchase the Adafruit Funhouse are the input and output options. While many weather station boards might contain sensors and inputs, you often need another board, a computer, or internet connection to find out what those sensors are saying. With its built-in TFT display you can quickly get a read out of any sensor. For a simple project or when debugging and developing this display might be all you need. If the stamp-size display doesn’t grab your attention there are 5 RGB LEDs and buzzer to alert you to what the board is up to.
The Funhouse is designed for Circuit Python and Adafruit provides a library just for the board allowing for easy programming of its sensors, screen, and buttons. It is also possible to flash an Arduino program by following the documentation.
With its house-shape board and illustrated screen printing this board is designed to be seen. You may not need any enclosure at all for your project given the screen, capacitive buttons, and touch interface are right on top . If you do choose to enclose the board there are mounting holes and you may want to mount it to a backing plate if installing on a wall or other surface.
If you have a smart home project in mind this might cover your needs without purchasing a lot of separate components. Keep in mind that the Funhouse’s processor is the new ESP32-S2 that supports Wi-Fi like its predecessor, but not Bluetooth.
Documentation: learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-funhouse/overview
