It's obviously way too late now but esphome is a very nice easy mode solution for the whole remote upload/logging/server/mqtt/iot widget thing if you don't want to drag in esp-idf. First time bootstrap is via serial/webusb and then it's all OTA.<p>You can write custom c++ modules for bits they don't have already, although that's pretty rare. Often used with HA but it works fine standalone with MQTT too, and deployment doesn't have to be from a server.<p><a href="https://esphome.io/" rel="nofollow">https://esphome.io/</a>
I was just about to make a retractable light setup for my workshop. I hadn't thought of automating/motorizing it.<p>A simple pull reel was my goto, but that doesn't work in this application. Amazing work very smart and looks like a fun project.
I was surprised at how short the table was, after the note up top about why they needed five lights because the table's so long. It looks way too big for the table, its proportions look like it belongs over a table 1.5-2 meters longer.