Hi everyone,
I wanted to share a hardware/software project I’ve been working on for the past few months. Like many of you, I love the power of Hubitat’s local processing, but I was constantly frustrated with physical dashboards.
Repurposing old Android tablets meant dealing with Wi-Fi dropping to sleep, horrible wake-up lag, batteries swelling on the wall, and the likes.
I wanted a true "appliance"—something that just sits there, stays connected, and works instantly. So, I built the Hub Monitor.
It’s built on top of the robust Seeed Studio SenseCAP D1 hardware (ESP32-S3 with a beautiful 4-inch touch screen). I wrote custom firmware for it and paired it with a dedicated Hubitat Groovy Companion App to handle the communication layer.
Here is what it does under the hood:
- Zero Wake-Up Lag (Event-Driven): There is no HTTP polling. It uses an event-driven architecture. When a physical switch is flipped or a rule runs on the hub, the screen updates in milliseconds.
- Zero On-Device Config: I hated dragging and dropping tiles on a tiny screen. All configuration is done inside the Hubitat Companion App. You just assign your devices to specific "Slots" (up to 16), and the monitor automatically generates a clean, optimized Dark Mode UI (4x4 architecture across 4 swipeable screens).
- 100% Local Logic: Device control and event processing operate entirely on your local Wi-Fi. (Note: Currently, it briefly pings an NTP server for initial time sync on boot, but I plan to move that completely to Hubitat in a future OTA update).
- Always-On & Safe: It’s strictly USB-C powered. No lithium batteries inside, meaning zero fire hazard for wall mounting and true 24/7 operation. CE and FCC markings.
US/UK Availability vs EU
Currently, I have a small initial batch of pre-flashed, ready-to-use hardware units available for EU users (I'm based in the EU).
For our US/UK friends: I know that shipping hardware across the Atlantic (or the English Channel) makes absolutely no financial sense for you (shipping costs + taxes would kill the value).
However, I am currently evaluating a "Software-Only / Web Flasher" licensing model. The idea is that you could buy the SenseCAP D1 hardware locally in the US/UK (from Mouser, DigiKey, Amazon for cheap), plug it into your Chrome browser via USB, and flash my Hub Monitor firmware directly onto it using Web Serial API.
I'm looking for feedback:
- EU folks: If anyone is interested in being an early adopter for the pre-flashed hardware, let me know (I have a small batch for early adopters).
- US/UK folks: Would you be interested in the "Web Flasher" software-only route if I build it?
- Everyone: What do you think of this approach to physical dashboards? What core features would make this a "must-have" for your specific setup?
Looking forward to your thoughts and happy to answer any technical questions about the implementation!
) might tend more towards plug-flash-play. 
