I have a bunch of devices that needs to be periodically charged to help the battery life:
Kindle
DJI Osmo Action
Meta Oculus
some head light
Apparently I can buy a “20 port 5V USB charge station” but keeping the battery always fully charged is a bad idea. Therefore, I’m looking for a smarter charging station where I can control each USB port individually. Mostly like from Home Assistant
My first idea was to buy a 16-channel relay module, connect to an ESP32 and make a bunch of positive/negative USB charging cables.
This is to me not an elegant solution. A lot of wires connecting to each relay makes it a huge mess and un-maintainable.
Or, I can use many smart switches but that seems to be an overkill.
I wonder if anyone has seen a better solution? Like an integrated 5V charger that can be easily hooked to ESP32. Thanks!
I found a Ledvance Smart+ power strip once and it could be integrated in HA through LocalTuya.
Each of the 230V power plugs can be turned on/off separately and they have power metering too.
The 2x USB ports are controlled as one though.
The link says 40€, but I often see them for around 20€ and I bought mine for 10€.
Buy a few of these and avoid the hassle of setting everything up yourself. I own a couple and they’ve been extremely reliable in the ~4 years I’ve used them.
Pros:
Cheap
Portable
Can pass through both usb power & data
Handle 3.5-20v at up to 100w (so fast charging at higher usb voltages is possible)
Use regular usb cables with no need to make your own.
ESP based, so can be flashed with both Tasmota or ESPHome (but see cons)
Cons:
Pin header holes for flashing are tiny and most dupont connectors will not fit. I used bare Cat5 solid wire, but had followed this guide which recommends the ingenious use of sewing pins.
