[BrandoElFollito]

My journey to IoTs was through home automation, specifically using Home Assistant.

It allows to quickly integrate some hardware through a unified protocol (MQTT, or worst case HTTP) and your van write hardware code easily if you have any dev experience. Or just use ESPHome and YAML.

Coupled with 3D printing you can build near stuff (I will have the surprise of a 3D printer for Christmas :))

[sebazzz]

That's fun but I'm still missing some fundamentals I can't exactly put my finger on. Like: how to prevent microchip overload, how to stabilize a circuit, prevent rush-in current, handle different voltage levels, etc. I know how to drive a servo with an Arduino, but this still doesn't help me truly engineer a circuit.

[BrandoElFollito]

Ah ok - well I was in the same place as you a few years ago and asked a very similar question here - and got interesting answers: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16920476

5 years later I did not proceed with the electronics part. For one I did not have time but even now I realize that learning to properly do things in electronics requires serious studies. A typical problem I had was: how should I connect a loudspeaker (which resistor, capacitator, etc. to add and where). I found out that it is better to use "building blocks" that include all the electronics and require cabling and coding.

For instance, as we speak, I am connecting a NodeMCU to a relay module and all I need are cables and a 3D-printed case.

This is really a matter of personal taste though - I prefer to code than to design electronics gven that I have limited time.