SmartBug is an Italian startup, which has just has launched a crowd-funding campaign to produce its eponymous gadget utilizing the power of ESP32 to pack numerous features into existing wall boxes. So, SmartBug is also the name of a drop-in smart wall-switch and smart-home sensor. SmartBug offers a range of features from remote appliance control to environmental sensing.

According to SmartBug’s CEO Maria D’ Olica: “SmartBug is a single device, but it is also a collection of devices that can automate complex and engaging scenarios. With a set of SmartBugs, you can regulate the temperature, operate your air conditioner, create an alarm system, monitor your power usage and much more. Its artificial intelligence learns from your behaviors and discreetly supports you as you go about your day”. In the following YouTube video, presented by SmartBug’s Joy McKenna, you can learn more about the SmartBug technology.

Furthermore, according to technical author Gareth Halfacree, “the SmartBug itself is a small smart switch designed for installation into standard wall sockets. Rather than a physical switch, it uses a capacitive sensor to support tap, double-tap, and long-press interactions — giving the single switch a number of control capabilities.

Inside there is more than a simple touch-sensitive switch, however. The Espressif ESP32-based SmartBug also includes temperature and humidity sensors, a microphone, a voltage and current meter, along with Wi-Fi for internet connection and inter-node mesh connectivity plus Bluetooth Low Energy for connection to external hardware. An infrared transmitter is also included, together with a user-controllable RGB LED and buzzer for feedback”.

“SmartBug is an open-source platform”, CEO D’ Olica emphasizes and goes on to explain: “The idea of making the technology behind SmartBug an open platform for developers was to give the device maximum flexibility. Therefore, if the app doesn’t have a particular plugin that the user needs and the user is or knows a developer, they can improve the possibilities unleashed by the device by creating the plugin they need […] This will truly make the device limitless and will easily support new features that can automate your entire household”.

SmartBug is currently being funded on Kickstarter. Hardware shipping is expected in October this year. The company has already received double the amount of its original funding target.