http://franfabrizio.dev/tags/smarthome/ Recent content in smarthome on franfabrizio.dev Hugo en-us Mon, 03 Nov 2025 10:41:23 -0600 http://franfabrizio.dev/posts/open-sourcing-my-window-shades/ Mon, 03 Nov 2025 10:41:23 -0600 http://franfabrizio.dev/posts/open-sourcing-my-window-shades/ <h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2> <p><figure class="post-image"> <a href="http://franfabrizio.dev/posts/open-sourcing-my-window-shades/intro.webp"> <img src="http://franfabrizio.dev/posts/open-sourcing-my-window-shades/intro_hu445514991920478729.webp" srcset=" /posts/open-sourcing-my-window-shades/intro_hu18090827679682995676.webp 480w, /posts/open-sourcing-my-window-shades/intro_hu445514991920478729.webp 800w, /posts/open-sourcing-my-window-shades/intro_hu2362509318242868313.webp 1200w " sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 800px" width="800" height="601" alt="Tools You&rsquo;ll Need" loading="lazy" decoding="async"> </a> </figure></p> <p>The shades on these three large windows in our living room behind a couch were difficult to manually open and close, so a few years ago we splurged on an upgrade to motorized battery-powered, RF-remote-controlled Motiva shades from Smith and Noble. These worked great for a few years, with the only annoyance being that as the batteries discharged they would start to move at different speeds, making it difficult to stop them in the same location. As long as we remembered to charge them every few months, this mostly wasn&rsquo;t a big issue, but recently one of them developed a problem where the motor battery would no longer recharge. It still works, but only if we keep it plugged into its charging cable at all times, which is inconvenient and unsightly. I&rsquo;ve been meaning to get around to a fix, but six months later the charging cable was still hanging off of it&hellip; you know how that goes.</p>