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Using the IO Pi with Home Assistant on the Raspberry Pi
Adding up to 128 IO channels to Home Assistant on your Raspberry Pi
This tutorial will setup the IO Pi Plus to use with Home Assistant Operation System on your Raspberry Pi.
This custom component is designed to run the IO Pi Plus and IO Pi Zero Raspberry Pi expansion boards from AB Electronics UK with Home Assistant Operating System to add up to 128 input and output channels to Home Assistant to act as either switches or input sensors.
The IO Pi boards use the Microchip MCP23017 IO expanders and this library is based on the Home Assistant MCP23017 integration modified to use our own IOPi Python library from abelectronics.co.uk/kb/article/23/python-library-and-demos
Note: Microchip recommends that pin 8 (GPA7) and pin 16 (GPB7) are used as outputs only. This change was made for revision D MCP23017 chips manufactured after June 2020. See the MCP23017 datasheet for more information.
This component will enable the following platforms.
- binary_sensor: Show pin status True or False.
- switch: Switch pin status True or False.
I2C Support Required
First you will need to enable I2C support in the Home Assistant Operating System, we have a tutorial to enable I2C.
Installation and Configuration
To be able to install the custom components for the IO Pi you need to be able to edit files in your configuration directory / folder.
We recommend using either the Samba add on or Studio Code Server which allows you to use Visual Code within Home Assistant.
Download the custom component from GitHub and extract to a directory on your computer.
- Using your tool of choice, open the directory (folder) for your HA configuration (where you find configuration.yaml).
- If you do not have a custom_components directory (folder) there, you need to create it.
- In the custom_components directory (folder) create a new folder called abelectronicsiopi.
- Copy all the files from the custom_components/abelectronicsiopi/ directory (folder) to the new abelectronicsiopi directory (folder).
- Restart Home Assistant
Using your HA configuration directory (folder) as a starting point you should now also have this:
custom_components/abelectronicsiopi/__init__.py custom_components/abelectronicsiopi/binary_sensor.py custom_components/abelectronicsiopi/IOPI.py custom_components/abelectronicsiopi/manifest.json custom_components/abelectronicsiopi/switch.py
Example configuration.yaml
binary_sensor:
- platform: abelectronicsiopi
i2c_address: 0x20
scan_interval: 1
invert_logic: false
pull_mode: true
pins:
1: Pin 1 Sensor
2: Pin 2 Sensor
3: Pin 3 Sensor
switch:
- platform: abelectronicsiopi
i2c_address: 0x21
invert_logic: false
pins:
1: Pin 1 Switch
2: Pin 2 Switch
3: Pin 3 Switch
Usage
Binary Sensor Configuration Variables
The binary_sensor component uses the following variables to configure the sensor
| Key | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
i2c_address |
Hex |
True |
This contains the I2C address of the MCP23017 device. The default I2C addresses on the IO Pi Plus are 0x20 and 0x21. |
scan_interval |
Integer |
True |
This contains the scan interval in seconds between reading the device or pins in seconds. |
invert_logic |
Boolean |
False |
This boolean value (true / false) allows you to invert the polarity of the selected pin. |
pull_mode |
Boolean |
False |
This boolean value (true / false) enables or disables the internal 100K pull-up resistors for an individual pin. |
pins |
Array |
True |
This contains an array of the pins of the MCP23017 device numbered 1 to 16 with the pin number followed by the custom pin name. |
Editing the configuration.yaml file to add the binary sensor
Using the text editor of choice open the configuration.yaml for your HA configuration.
Add a new binary_sensor with the following code:
binary_sensor: - platform: abelectronicsiopi
Add the following attributes to setup the component:
i2c_address: 0x20 scan_interval: 1 invert_logic: false pull_mode: true
Add the pins array for the component:
pins: 1: Pin 1 Sensor 2: Pin 2 Sensor 3: Pin 3 Sensor 4: Pin 4 Sensor 5: Pin 5 Sensor 6: Pin 6 Sensor 7: Pin 7 Sensor 8: Pin 8 Sensor 9: Pin 9 Sensor 10: Pin 10 Sensor 11: Pin 11 Sensor 12: Pin 12 Sensor 13: Pin 13 Sensor 14: Pin 14 Sensor 15: Pin 15 Sensor 16: Pin 16 Sensor
The completed YMAL code should look like this:
binary_sensor:
- platform: abelectronicsiopi
i2c_address: 0x20
scan_interval: 1
invert_logic: false
pull_mode: true
pins:
1: Pin 1 Sensor
2: Pin 2 Sensor
3: Pin 3 Sensor
4: Pin 4 Sensor
5: Pin 5 Sensor
6: Pin 6 Sensor
7: Pin 7 Sensor
8: Pin 8 Sensor
9: Pin 9 Sensor
10: Pin 10 Sensor
11: Pin 11 Sensor
12: Pin 12 Sensor
13: Pin 13 Sensor
14: Pin 14 Sensor
15: Pin 15 Sensor
16: Pin 16 Sensor
After a restart you can now add the sensor into the user interface.
Switch Configuration Variables
The switch component uses the following variables to configure the switch
| Key | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
i2c_address |
Hex |
True |
This contains the I2C address of the MCP23017 device. The default I2C addresses on the IO Pi Plus are 0x20 and 0x21. |
invert_logic |
Boolean |
True |
This boolean value (true / false) allows you to invert the polarity of the selected pin. |
pins |
Array |
True |
This contains an array of the pins of the MCP23017 device numbered 1 to 16 with the pin number followed by the custom pin name. |
Editing the configuration.yaml file to add the binary sensor
Using the text editor of choice open the configuration.yaml for your HA configuration.
Add a new switch with the following code:
switch: - platform: abelectronicsiopi
Add the following attributes to setup the component:
i2c_address: 0x21 invert_logic: false
Add the pins array for the component:
pins: 1: Pin 1 Switch 2: Pin 2 Switch 3: Pin 3 Switch 4: Pin 4 Switch 5: Pin 5 Switch 6: Pin 6 Switch 7: Pin 7 Switch 8: Pin 8 Switch 9: Pin 9 Switch 10: Pin 10 Switch 11: Pin 11 Switch 12: Pin 12 Switch 13: Pin 13 Switch 14: Pin 14 Switch 15: Pin 15 Switch 16: Pin 16 Switch
The completed YMAL code should look like this:
switch:
- platform: abelectronicsiopi
i2c_address: 0x21
invert_logic: false
pins:
1: Pin 1 Switch
2: Pin 2 Switch
3: Pin 3 Switch
4: Pin 4 Switch
5: Pin 5 Switch
6: Pin 6 Switch
7: Pin 7 Switch
8: Pin 8 Switch
9: Pin 9 Switch
10: Pin 10 Switch
11: Pin 11 Switch
12: Pin 12 Switch
13: Pin 13 Switch
14: Pin 14 Switch
15: Pin 15 Switch
16: Pin 16 Switch
You can now add the sensors into the user interface.
Demo UI Cards
type: entities entities: - entity: binary_sensor.pin_1_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_2_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_3_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_4_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_5_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_6_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_7_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_8_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_9_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_10_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_11_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_12_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_13_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_14_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_15_sensor - entity: binary_sensor.pin_16_sensor title: IO Pi Inputs type: entities entities: - entity: switch.pin_1_switch - entity: switch.pin_2_switch - entity: switch.pin_3_switch - entity: switch.pin_4_switch - entity: switch.pin_5_switch - entity: switch.pin_6_switch - entity: switch.pin_7_switch - entity: switch.pin_8_switch - entity: switch.pin_9_switch - entity: switch.pin_10_switch - entity: switch.pin_11_switch - entity: switch.pin_12_switch - entity: switch.pin_13_switch - entity: switch.pin_14_switch - entity: switch.pin_15_switch - entity: switch.pin_16_switch title: IO Pi Outputs
Related Articles
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Install Home Assistant on your Raspberry Pi and enable I2C
Adding up to 128 IO channels to Home Assistant on your Raspberry Pi
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Adding up to 32 analogue channels to Home Assistant on your Raspberry Pi
Using the IO Pi interrupts with the Raspberry PI GPIO interrupts
Reading the GPIO pins on the IO Pi Plus using MQTT Message Queue Telemetry Transport
Control the GPIO Pins on the IO Pi Plus using the MQTT Message Queue Telemetry Transport
Using the IO Pi Plus or Zero with relays or opto-isolators
