Explore Realm Labs home automation projects, smart devices, workflows, lighting, sensors and connected systems.
MQTT is one of those services that quietly becomes more important the longer you use it. At first, I was only using it for a few simple messages. Then more things started depending on it. The Raspberry Pi used it.…
Some of the best home lab problems are the ones that look completely ridiculous once you finally understand what happened. This was one of them. During the earlier versions of my Raspberry Pi TARDIS project, Node-RED was responsible for triggering…
This guide shows how to migrate Node-RED Raspberry Pi hardware without losing GPIO, audio or local Python control. I moved the automation logic into a central Docker setup and left a lightweight MQTT agent on the Pi. At first, Node-RED…
Move Eclipse Mosquitto from a Raspberry Pi to a Synology DS224+ using Docker and Portainer, with persistent storage, authentication, testing and practical MQTT examples.
Node-RED home automation has become one of the key systems behind Realm Labs. It provides a visual way to connect Home Assistant, MQTT and physical hardware without forcing every automation to live on the same device. The project began with…
Home Assistant Container NAS storage solves a simple problem in Realm Labs: the container itself can remain disposable while the important configuration stays persistent, visible and easy to back up. Home Assistant Container runs through Portainer on the Synology infrastructure,…
A Tuya Home Assistant automation is a useful way to bring inexpensive Smart Life and Tuya devices into the same system as the rest of a smart home. Instead of opening a separate manufacturer app, the device can appear on…
A good smart-home dashboard should do more than display a collection of switches. It should make the house easier to understand and control at a glance. I wanted one permanent interface for Realm Labs, so I repurposed an older tablet…
A Raspberry Pi is excellent for Home Assistant, Node-RED and other central automation services, but it is excessive when the job at the far end of the network is simply switching an LED, relay or model light. That is where…
Some of the most rewarding technology projects are the ones where engineering meets something completely unnecessary but genuinely fun. The Realm Labs TARDIS started as a static display model and gradually evolved into a network-connected automation project with programmable lighting,…