Unit Fader Home Assistant Integration

This tutorial explains how to integrate Unit Fader with Home Assistant.

1. Preparation

Environment Setup

1. Follow the official Home Assistant documentation to install Home Assistant. (This tutorial uses Home Assistant 2026.2.0 or later.)
2. Follow the official ESPHome documentation to install the ESPHome Device Builder add-on. (Note: This tutorial is based on ESPHome 2026.2.2. If you encounter compilation errors, switch to this version first for verification.)

Hardware

• Unit Fader
• AtomS3R
• HY2.0-4P Grove Cable (20cm)

2. Firmware Compilation & Flashing

This section explains how to recompile the project based on the yaml configuration file, making it easier to perform secondary development, modify features, or add new features.

Create Device

1. Open ESPHome Dashboard. If the initial wizard appears, click CONTINUE.

2. Click the green + button in the bottom right to create a new device.

3. Click New Device Setup to enter the device creation wizard.

4. Enter a device name and click NEXT.

5. Select the device type and click ESP32S3.

6. Click SKIP to skip the encryption key setup.

Modify Configuration

1. Click EDIT to open the YAML editor and customize the device configuration.

Sensor Configuration

Add the Sensor component to read the potentiometer value.

sensor:
  - platform: adc
    pin: GPIO1
    name: "Fader ADC"
    id: fader_adc
    update_interval: 100ms
    attenuation: 12db
    filters:
      - exponential_moving_average:
          alpha: 0.2

Light Configuration

Add the Light component to control the LED strip.

light:
  - platform: esp32_rmt_led_strip
    rgb_order: GRB
    pin: GPIO2
    num_leds: 14
    name: "Fader LED Strip"
    id: led_strip
    chipset: ws2812

Compile Firmware

1. After editing the YAML configuration, click SAVE in the top right, then click INSTALL.

2. In the popup dialog, select Manual Download.

3. Wait for the firmware to compile, then click Download and choose Factory format (Previously Modern) to save the firmware file locally.

Flash Firmware

1. Connect AtomS3R to your computer using a USB Type-C cable. Open ESPHome Web and click CONNECT.

2. In the serial port selection dialog, select the correct port.

3. Click INSTALL.

4. Select the previously downloaded firmware file and start flashing.

3. Getting Started

1. In Home Assistant, go to Settings > Devices & Services to open the integration management page.

2. In the Discovered section, find the Unit Fader device, click CONFIGURE, and follow the wizard to complete the setup.

3. After the device is added, you can view it in the Devices list.

4. Finally, add the relevant entities to the Dashboard for control and monitoring.