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RPi SD card image for DIY standalone light and automation controller

free RaspberryPi SD-Card Image for Makers/DIY - P44-LC-X

P44-LC-X is not a commercial product! It is a free SD card image for Do-it-yourself

P44-LC-X is a free offer from plan44 to "makers" who want to create DIY lighting and automation projects, using the mature plan44 subsystems for controlling various hardware with little effort (To extend a Digital Strom system in the same way, there is also the P44-DSB-X image).

Thanks to the integrated matter bridge (currently beta), the P44-LC-Xcan also be integrated into matter-enabled SmartHome systems.

You can download the image, copy it onto a SD card (see README contained in the downloaded .zip archive) and use it to boot a RaspberryPi Model B, B+, 2, 3 or 4. A precise step-by-step guide with videos is available here.

What you get is a box that is essentially a small smart home controller - it has a web interface to manage lights and other devices by putting them into "zones" and orchestrate them with "scenes". It allows you to use RPi GPIOs, external i2c hardware, WS28xx LED chains, DMX peripherals and whatever you can pack into a script or a unix daemon program as input or output devices, and adds "triggers" to establish automatic actions based on events, sensor values, button clicks and time.

However, please note that P44-LC-X is not a commercial product, and thus is not eligible for support, automatic firmware updates or any kind of warranty!

With just a few clicks in the web interface you can define GPIO based buttons, lights, relays etc.. Even peripherals connected to the i2c can be defined as dimmers or even RGB lights via the web interface.

For more complex integrations, the scripted devices are available. This allows to create your own devices with the built-in script language p44script. p44script offers support for sockets, http-APIs, websockets, digital and analog inputs and outputs, a comfortable control of DC motors with current measurement and limit switches and much more. Some examples can be found in the plan44 tech-docs.

Since the P44-LC-X is based on OpenWrt, you can also use an OpenWrt build environment to create your own version of the vdcd build. Or you can use the plan44 vdcd external device API to build your own device integrations using a language/script of your choice.

Device integrations supported out of the box

FunctionalityProfile(s)Status
matter bridging
Full color lights or with color temperature settingcolor control

Supported as beta version

Devices with a 0..100% level, such as dimmable lightslevel control

Supported as beta version

On/off deviceson/off

Supported as beta version

SensorsSensors

Supported as beta version

Custom devices implemented in p44script on-device
custom devices implemented in p44script via web interfacep44script devices

full support, standard behaviour

Philips hue
hue tunable white (ambiance) lampambiance

full support, standard behaviour

hue color lamphue

full support, standard behaviour

LivingColors mood lightLivingColors

full support, standard behaviour

hue lux warm white lamplux

full support, standard behaviour

Addressabe smart LED chains
Segments of WS2812 LED chains as color lightsRGB LED chain segment

Available in Special/Custom P44-xx device versions (please enquire), as well as in P44-xx-X images (free, DIY)

WS2812 based LED chain's DataIn can be connected directly to RPi GPIO18/PCM (P1 pin 12)

WS281x LED matrices as projection plane for feature lightsRGB LED chains and matrices

Available in Special/Custom P44-xx device versions (please enquire), as well as in P44-xx-X images (free, DIY)

WS281x based LED chain's DataIn can be connected directly to RPi GPIO18/PCM (P1 pin 12)

External Devices with custom implementation
devices implemented as external code/scripts connected via TCP/IP APIExternal Devices

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

i2c peripherals (Linux)
direct i2c accessgeneric

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

via scripted devices and p44script, the i2c bus can be accessed directly to control i2c devices.

Temperature SensorLM75

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

16 Inputs (with optional pull-up) or outputsMCP23017

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

Inputs can used for Buttons or Automation inputs.

Outputs can be used as on/off lights or relay outputs.

1 analog inputMCP3021

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

Input can used as sensor. Sensor type, scaling, offset and poll interval are configurable.

16 PWM OutputsPCA9685

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

Each PWM output can be used as a simple dimmed light device or a heating valve output. Groups of 3 (RGB) or 4 (RGBW) outputs can be grouped to form a full color light.

8 Inputs or OutputsPCF8574

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

Inputs can used for Buttons or Automation inputs.

Outputs can be used as on/off lights or relay outputs.

16 Inputs or OutputsTCA9555

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

Inputs can used for Buttons or Automation inputs.

Outputs can be used as on/off lights or relay outputs.

SPI peripherals (Linux)
direct SPI accessgeneric

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

via scripted devices and p44script, the SPI bus can be accessed directly to control SPI devices.

General Purpose I/O (Linux)
digital inputinput

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

Can be used as button or automation input.

SPI peripherals (Linux)
16 Inputs (with optional pull-up) or outputsMCP23S17

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

Inputs can used for Buttons or Automation inputs.

Outputs can be used as on/off lights or relay outputs.

2 analog inputsMCP3002

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

Inputs can used as sensors. Sensor type, scaling, offset and poll interval are configurable. The 2 inputs can also be used together for a differential signal.

8 analog inputsMCP3008

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

Inputs can used as sensors. Sensor type, scaling, offset and poll interval are configurable. Inputs can also be used in pairs for differential signals.

General Purpose I/O (Linux)
digital outputoutput

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

Output can be used as on/off light or relay output.

DMX512 via OLA
multi-channel DMX512 for RGB, RGBW or RGBWA lampsDMX512 color dimmer

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

RGB, RGBW or RGBWA devices can be configured as a single full color light and appear as a single device with color controls in the dSS

single channel DMX512 dimmerDMX512 dimmer

DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions

  • full /
    partial support, standard behaviour
  • full /
    partial support for use in evaluators and scripting (advanced configuration)
  • Supported as beta version
  • Available in Special/Custom P44-xx device versions (please enquire), as well as in P44-xx-X images (free, DIY)
  • DIY/Experimental, non-commercial integration in free / open source versions
  • Integration planned for a future firmware release

Open Source - the basis of P44-LC-X

P44-LC-X's Digital Strom functionality is implemented in plan44.ch's "vdcd" virtual device connector daemon open source project. If you are experienced with building Linux software, you can compile your own versions of vdcd in a OpenWrt build environment.

The vdcd project on github contains documentation describing how to build and run vdcd on Linux