question

Hi @usernamepasswordbs

I dont have any great suggestions, just a bit of a brain dump.

For me it would just be a tablet with as big a screen as possible, especially for node red.

From my experience multi-tasking where you have two windows open at once on a tablet has never felt flawless. Especially on the more affordable tablets that im familiar with. Maybe more modern ones are fine.

I was going to suggest a cheap tablet and just have two tabs open in a browser, however then you'd need to find an android browser that doesn't pause background tabs, that's assuming you need access very quickly without even a page refresh.

Could a raspberry pi work? Maybe running a browser in full screen mode? I imagine then you'd have a better chance of enabling background processing so whichever browser tab isn't in focus wouldn't be throttled. The touch interface would probably be worse than a tablet though.

Thanks for the input. I do want it to be always active but switching between tabs would be ok I think, even with a small delay. I basically want to know how the various automated loads are going with regard to solar production, and then adjust if necessary. The Node-Red page would be less visited than the VRM as it all should be running automatically (but of course sometimes it does not !). Node-red is currently running well on the Cerbo so I would rather avoid adding/replacing for another processor like a RaspberryPi if possible. I'll probably try a reasonably priced tablet and see how it goes, although in some of the similar threads on here one or two people have spoken highly of older iPads for a touchscreen so maybe that is a better bet than an android tab.

@matt1309 I'm coming round to thinking that a Raspberry Pi might be what I need. Would it be too much for a bit of a newb to set up ? Could it run another project at the same time, like an Alexa type project (basically to be a household intercom and music player) ?

If you plan to run venus os on the raspberry pi then it might be a bit more difficult as venus os is embedded linux. However if you mean you'll have the raspberry pi just for viewing VRM and node red. Then it should be much easier as it runs a Debian based operating system (easier to install apps for newer users).

Installing/setting up touch screens might be a bit involved if you've not messed with one before but there's plenty of guides online. And then once that's setup it'll just be messing around with software/automating windows browser windows to show the websites you want. (There was an app called full screen browser or something like that, that was popular for that type of thing).

If you're running a pi (not as a cerbo), then install additional services to run in the background then yes very easy. In terms of Alexa integration (I prefer running a full home automation software then integrating that into alexa) that can run on a pi, home assistant is very popular for this (however I prefer openhab), both can run on pi.

Thank-you for that input. I think I will cancel the Samsung tab that I ordered and get a Raspberry Pi.

Yes, I will keep the Venus on the Cerbo as it runs fine and I suppose the Node-Red as well although the Raspberry Pi would be displaying a Node-Red dash.

You could design a node red dashboard which displays the needed informations and buttons for your node red settings together on one page. You can display it for example with the app "remote red" at a tablet.

These are examples from my smartphone but this works on tablets as well and its scalable for different screen sizes. I have two pages for informations and settings but you could mix that depending on your needs.

That looks pretty good. Can that app work on a Raspberry Pi ?

Thanks everyone. I have been shopping and ordered a Raspberry 4B and a screen. I will have a go at setting up next week.

I am not planning on running Venus on the Raspberry so I wonder if a simple Ethernet cable connection from the Raspberry to my router, which is also where the Cerbo is connected, will allow me to display the VRM/Remote console with touchscreen capability or not ?

@matt1309 I don't fully understand how this all works but I suppose I wanted the generic screen to have the abilities of a Touch50 plus Node-Red dashboard available via a browser over LAN or Wifi. The Raspi is there so I can have a browser (plus eventually other projects as well) but I wanted to keep Venus separate if possible.

If none of that works I will install Venus on the Raspi and get some USB to V.E.direct converters and run everything from the Raspi (I think ?).

I will have at look at Kiosk, should have all the bits tomorrow or friday, looking forward to giving it a go! It's amazing how many times per day I am opening my laptop or phone to look at the VRM. To be able to see it at a glance will be great.

Yes i've got Matchbox and Onboard but neither will allow me to type where I need to type. The focus shifts away from the text box as soon as I touch the keyboard letters.

I tried the VNC idea but came up against another brick wall when I was required to sign in on the pi screen and of course couldn't type the email and password.

Default kiosk mode with flicking between tabs is what I want. I will look it up.

This is what I've got at the moment and I can switch tabs to use Node-red. I managed to get rid of the system title bar in Firefox so I've got a bit more screen now.