About Wltd

Wltd is a home technology publication focusing primarily on DIY. We have designed multiple projects from the ground up, documenting everything along the way. We hope that readers will find these projects inspiring and that they will learn something along the way allowing them to find success in their endeavours.

Many people are interested in making their home smarter but since many of them don't have extensive technical knowledge they are stuck using ready-made systems. Commercially installed systems have their benefits but they also have a big drawback in the form of lost ownership and additional cost. This places the entire responsibility for new features or support for additional ecosystems on the manufacturer and removes that control from owners.

We firmly believe that anyone can build a home automation system using individual products they choose instead of accepting a ready-made solution that likely isn't optimal for their needs. Those that are looking to learn have come to the right place. Every article covers varying levels of difficulty from total beginner to advanced user which should get you going in no time!

Topics we cover

We cover a vast number of topics but our current focus is around home automation and the following.

  • Smart devices
  • Home automations
  • Writing custom software
  • Home Assistant
  • HomeKit
  • Z-Wave
  • Zigbee
  • DIY electronics
  • Siri
  • Alexa
  • Arduino
  • ESP8266
  • Python
  • C++
  • Smart lighting
  • Cloud privacy
  • Internet of Things (IoT)
  • Bluetooth

... and a lot more! Can't find what you're looking for? Try searching for it. If it doesn't exist, shoot us an email at [email protected]!

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About Raphael

I am a Software Engineer with a passion for smart devices and their integration in smart homes. I've had an interest in home automation for many years but had a hard time getting started because it can be expensive especially in my home country of Canada. That's why I created this site - to help others discover the various ways they can build automation without breaking the bank and demystify smart technology.

Building things is what I love to do, whether it be hardware or a software project. I've built countless things varying in complexity from a day's work all the way to a year's work. My biggest project was an application that re-created core aspects of the video game Minecraft with a twist - it worked autonomously! It took forever to get working, but once it did, everything felt totally worth it.

Combining my two favourite hobbies, electronics and dance music, I built a RGB LED controller for use on the big stage. I've designed light shows for various local DJs which involves more tech than you probably think! It's a lot of fun and a challenging technical process quite similar to home automation. Light shows aren't just for the stage though, you can do them yourself at home with basic automation knowledge.

I often find solutions to problems that others could not. That isn't really because I'm a genius as much as it's because I always keep working until the problem is solved or I have proof that it's impossible to solve. Another big project was getting cloud-only devices to work locally, which is a great example of something that took a lot of work. That's okay, though because I love the process!

Raphael

My projects

Here are some of my projects. Many of these were designed, modeled, printed, and built by me. I hope people can use my designs to build my projects or maybe something even better!

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