After moving Node-RED from my Raspberry Pi to my Synology NAS, I realised there was one part of the setup I had not rebuilt. Manual control. Most of the models in the lab are already controlled using MQTT, including KITT,…
Sometimes the smaller projects are the most fun. I wanted a simple browser-based tournament page for retro fighting games: enter a group of players, choose a game, randomise the opening matches and then work through a knockout bracket until one…
I recently revisited the lighting setup on my Executor model. The original system worked, but it had evolved into several separate Python scripts for turning the LEDs on, turning them off and running a breathing effect. It was functional, but…
Monitoring Realm Labs didn’t start as one big project. Like most things in the home lab, it grew. Initially, I just wanted to know whether a Raspberry Pi was getting hot. Then I wanted to know what Proxmox was doing.…
Portainer is probably one of the longest-running pieces of software in Realm Labs. Long before the current Synology, Proxmox, Home Assistant and centralised automation setup existed, I was already using Docker on a Raspberry Pi. And almost immediately, I put…
When I first started experimenting with Active Directory in Realm Labs, the obvious platform was Windows Server. That’s what Active Directory is built around, after all. I already had Windows Server running virtually under Proxmox, which gave me somewhere to…
Most AI projects start with a chatbot. This one started with KARR. I wanted to build a local AI assistant inspired by the Knight Rider universe, but rather than creating another web page connected to a cloud API, I wanted…
I wanted to create a control panel for my home, so I decided to recycle an old tablet, host Home Assistant on my Docker engine, and connect my various devices through HACS or standard integrations. Here is the final dashboard…
If you’ve spent any time tinkering with home automation or DIY electronics, you know how easy it is to fall down the rabbit hole. What starts as a simple single-board setup—like running Home Assistant or Node-RED routines off a Raspberry…
There is nothing quite like having friends over for a sim-racing session. Between Gran Turismo 7 on the PlayStation 5 and the F1 games on PC, it doesn’t take long before a casual session turns into a competition over tenths…
