[Dominic Buchstaller] wanted a neat, tidy entryway keypad that actually looked good. Prime goals were something slim, wireless, and with no visible screws. Dependency on the cloud was also a no-go. With few ready-to-go options available on the market, he set about whipping up his own.

The heart of the build is an ESP32-C6 microcontroller devboard. This device has the benefit of including Zigbee communication functionality baked right into the chip. It’s hooked up to an MPR121 capacitive touch controller, which allows different segments of the touchpad PCB to act as capacitive buttons for numerical entry. The number labels are directly printed on the PCB solder mask, so there’s no overlay or other label required on top. Power is courtesy of a 1300 mAh lithium-polymer cell which gives a useful lifespan of six months between recharges. A simple 3D-printed case holds everything together and completes the clean and simple look. [Dominic] notes that it’s possible to also use the device via Matter or Thread without a lot of changes, as the ESP32-C6 can easily handle those protocols, too.

If you’re looking for a cheap, handsome keypad for your Home Assistant setup or similar, you might find this useful. We’ve explored DIY keypad entry systems before, too. If you’ve come up with some other creative way to get into your house, car, or bank vault, be sure to notify us via the tipsline.