Security Alarm Panel

Security Alarm Panel

Once at school, we went to the storage room for waste and discarded items, since I’m studying at a technical school, there was mostly electronics there. Basically, an entire security system had been discarded there—it was still functional, but had already been taken out of service. I really liked the security keypad, and since I’d seen a few videos showing that I could build an entire security system using Home Assistant—and since I have Home Assistant—I took the keypad with me to try connecting it to an ESP and integrating it into Home Assistant. In the end, I found out it wouldn’t work because the communication is encrypted and runs on 12V. So it actually came to me—why not create my own security keypad? And not just a keypad, but an entire control panel that would control not only the security system but also other things in smart home.

I really enjoyed this project, it was probably my biggest and longest project yet. Mainly because of the PCB-it’s probably the most complex one I’ve ever designed. And I actually learned a few new things along the way.

Made in Fusion360

Features

• it uses the ESP32-S3 as the main microcontroller
• Many options for disarming the system: with a passcode, fingerprint, or by tapping an NFC/RFID card
• Motion radar for accurate detection of people even when they are not moving
• Automatic brightness adjustment based on lighting in room
• LED strip Backlight
• 3.5inch TFT touchscreen display
• 5-12V optional input voltage
• Built-in battery for backup power when the main power supply is disconnected
• Port for connecting a door sensor
• Tamper protection against the cover and panel being torn off the wall
• Durres Code and finger print
• Option for a wired connection to another control unit
• The option to add sensors, etc. thanks to the expansion connector
• Programming via USB-C
• Wireless communication at 868 Mhz when Wi-Fi is being jammed by a jammer
• Buzzer for audion feedback
• Monitoring the main power supply, battery charging, UPS, etc.
• And more

CAD model

Everything is housed in a nice panel consisting of two parts: the bottom part, witch is screwed to the wall, and the top cover, witch snaps onto it. The modules and PCB are secured inside with M3 screws and heat inserts. The entire panle is set back 15 mm from the wall to allow for smooth backlighting. The dimensions are: height 173 mm, width 179 mm, and depth 28 mm.

Made in Fusion360

PCB

Schematic

PCB

Made in KiCad

Poster

Made in Figma

Firmware

This alarm panel uses ESPHome firmware. It is programmed via the USB-C port. A lot of things can be configured directly in Home Assistant. Once the project will be finished, I’ll publish a detailed description of the features, functions and instructions on how to set it up. You can view the entire code here. The code is quite long—it has 848 lines. Here is an example from the code that automatically adjusts the brightness of the panel backlight and display based on the room lighting:

Made in ESPHome Device Builder

BOM

You can find it in .csv format here.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU GPL v3.

Matyas604/Security-Alarm-Panel - Smart Security Panel for Home Assistant
Copyright (C) 2026 Matyáš Caha

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

Made with ❤️ by @Matyas604