espectre

Francescopace built ESPectre to turn your existing Wi-Fi network into a motion detection system—no cameras, no sensors, no batteries required. It works by analyzing CSI (Channel State Information), which is basically how Wi-Fi signals bounce off objects and change when someone moves through a room. Your router already knows this data exists, it just doesn't do anything with it. ESPectre taps into that and says "yeah, we can use that to tell if someone's home."

The integration with Home Assistant is the whole point. Once ESPectre detects motion, it fires events directly into your HA instance, so you can trigger automations—lights on when you walk in, thermostat adjust when you leave, security alerts when you're out. It's privacy-friendly too, because there's no camera footage to hack, just radio waves. Perfect for people who want presence detection without putting sensors in every room.

This is the kind of project that makes the smart home crowd excited—not because it's flashy, but because it solves a real problem (where IS everyone in the house?) with stuff you already own. No hardware to buy, no cloud subscriptions, just code that works.