Ultimate Smart Home Sensor Case

Makerworld

Please read the disclaimer at the bottom before printing

Hello everyone 👋. When I started building my smart home, I quickly realized that most devices only address very specific use cases. To achieve full functionality in each room, you typically need to combine several different sensors and devices. This complexity motivated me to start designing my own smart home sensor that combines multiple sensors into one device using 3D printing.

After releasing my first All-In-One Smart Home Sensor Case and a subsequent Version 2, my primary focus shifted toward improving sensor reliability—specifically reducing false positives from the PIR sensor and significantly improving still-presence detection.

This effort took more than a year and involved testing multiple sensor combinations, iterating on the enclosure design, and continuously refining the software stack. The result of that work is what I am releasing now: the Ultimate Smart Home Sensor Case.

My goals were the same as with the previous case, but to improve every aspect of it — creating the ultimate DIY smart home sensor device that integrates all the essential sensors needed to achieve the following:

🎯 Goals

1. Control the lighting in a room by turning it on when motion is detected and keeping it on as long as someone is present (even if the person is not moving).
2. Monitor the brightness in the room and only turn lights on if needed (and off again when no longer required).
3. Measure air quality, humidity, and temperature.
4. Use a status LED to indicate air quality or other system states
5. Use Bluetooth to track a person’s smartphone and thereby determine which room they are in, so the smart home can react accordingly.
6. Keep the footprint as small as possible.
7. Powered by a single cable. USB-C in particular.
8. Ensure the design is unobtrusive and blends seamlessly into the living room.
9. Integrate with Home Assistant.
10. No cloud dependency.

If you have any questions about the project please ask them in the comments then I can answer them and everyone can learn from that.

🖨️ Print Instructions

• Material: PLA/PETG
• Layer Height: 0.20 mm
• Nozzle: 0.4 mm
• Infill: 15 % Gyroid
• Walls: 2
• Bottom Layers: 4
• Brightness sensor shield: print with transparent material, or omit it entirely. It’s not required but hides the sensor a bit and improves the look.

🛠️ Assembly Instructions

1. Download the Ultimate assembly instructions PDF from below
2. Follow the assembly instructions in the PDF file

🆕 Changelog

v1.0.1

1. Occupancy LED color adjusted to a lighter, more neutral warm white
2. The Occupied sensor now turns back on if presence is detected within 10 seconds of it turning off
3. Update ESPHome to 2026.6

What it does better than the All-In-One Smart Home Sensor Case V2

1. Multi-person, zone-based presence tracking: The LD2450 allows tracking multiple people simultaneously and triggering automations based on their position within defined room zones.
2. Improved still-presence detection: The C4001 sensor provides significantly more reliable detection of stationary occupants, even at greater distances.
3. Reduced false positives: The Panasonic PIR sensor is substantially less prone to false triggers compared to the PIR used in the previous version.
4. True CO₂ measurements: The SCD40 measures actual CO₂ concentration. In contrast, the BME680 used previously only estimated CO₂ based on VOC readings and responded more slowly to changes.
5. More capable MCU: The ESP32-C6 adds Wi‑Fi 6 support and integrated Zigbee hardware (Zigbee is not yet enabled in software).
6. Status LED integration: A built-in status LED can be used, for example, to provide immediate visual feedback when indoor air quality degrades.
7. Higher accuracy and stability for environmental sensing: The SHT41 (temperature & humidity) and SGP30 (VOC) replace the BME680 to achieve faster response times, better long-term stability, and more reliable measurements.

What it does worse than the All-In-One Smart Home Sensor Case V2

1. Slightly larger physical footprint.
2. Higher overall cost (approximately €60-70 for the sensors excluding shipping).
3. Increased power consumption.
4. Greater assembly complexity due to a higher number of sensors and solder joints.
5. Limited board compatibility: only ESP32 Super Mini and DFRobot Beetle are supported (no D1 Mini or ESP32 Large variants).

⚠️ Disclaimer

This project is not easy: you have to solder a lot. In comparison to the previous case the sensors have normal pin sizes and are therefore a bit easier to solder. Nevertheless you have been warned — I’d love to see people build it 😊