I built something like this but more special-purpose. It just switches a USB-A power source on/off. I wanted it to control my 5-volt fish-tank lights. I didn't want to use a 120VAC smart switch for each light because I prefer to use a single USB hub to power them all, and a bonus feature was being able to PWM the lights so the fish aren't freaked out when the lights suddenly turn on 100% in the morning.

I ordered PCBs from JLCPCB and components from LCSC. I think each one cost around $5 in parts, and I hand-assemble them as I need more around the house.

https://github.com/sowbug/smart-usb-switch

Picture: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sowbug/smart-usb-switch/ma...

I made lights using ws2812b leds and simulated sunrise, sunset, and a dim blue throughout the night.

I used ws2812b leds, wemos d1, and a level translator since the d1 has 3.3v gpios but ws2812b technically requires a 5v signal.

That sounds awesome, can you do a write-up about it please?

For the software part, WLED [0] really does just about anything you’d want to do with those led strips.

I drive the wemos d1 and led’s from a 12V battery with a 12-5V stepdown converter. I attach the 5V to the esp and the led’s. The 3.3V logic level works on the first led and is repeated at 5V to all subsequent led’s.

[0] https://github.com/Aircoookie/WLED