We know, it's been quiet, Node-RED Con 2026 went a bit silent after the CFP closed. The truth is the submissions were so good that the team really struggled to pick. The agenda is coming together now.
I’ve been experimenting with Node-RED as the backbone of a manufacturing monitoring system combined with a 3D/VR production simulation.
The system connects production data to a 3D dashboard for monitoring OEE, machine status, target vs. actual production, and operator activity.
The VR side simulates a CNC production process, including material handling, machining, inspection, and finished goods handling.
Node-RED handles the data flow between the production simulation, database, and dashboard, making it possible to visualize the manufacturing process in real time.
I’m exploring how Node-RED can be used beyond traditional dashboards for interactive 3D manufacturing visualization and VR-based production simulation.
Sharing a short demo curious to see what other interesting manufacturing use cases people are building with Node-RED.
I'm a huge fan and proponent of Node-RED, it has been running my smart home for years, and will continue to for many more!
I'm also a heavy python user and maker of many computer vision pipelines. NR didn't lend itself to this kind of work, with OpenCV, pytorch, yolo models, etc. etc. it's not designed for that kind of use case.
Thanks to Claude, I was able tackle something that's been on my todo list for ages, a pure python node-based flow engine and editor inspired by Node-RED. Got it working pretty well last year. Now I've added a UDP node to pynode so I can seamlessly move data between platforms!
To make it absolutely clear this isn't me trying to compete with NR, it's a ground up implementation designed to be familiar to NR users that want to build python heavy flows. I figured if I find this useful there are probably a few others in this community that might too!
I'm building a pipeline that takes in recorded calls and outputs transcripts with speaker labels and word level timestamps over a webhook. I've been running Whisper locally, but adding diarisation on top and scaling past a few hundred files a day has become a problem I'd rather like to avoid.
What hosted Whisper based APIs support speaker labels, structured JSON, webhooks on completion, and reasonable concurrency without delays?
so basically a bit of context i had been trying for 2 hours BUT WHEN IT FINALLY CONNECTS IT REFUSES TO ACCEPT MY KEY THINGYS and i feel im goin insane so yea i really need help
With Raspberry Pi the obvious fan-favorite SBC for thinkering, an enclosure that's easily 3D printed within a few hours on an A1 Mini, and using the Edgeberry ecosystem for essential IoT robustness, ... . I'm not done yet, but too excited not to share: https://github.com/ThatRedBox
I built a DIY 6-DOF robot controlled using Node-RED, ESP8266, and Modbus TCP, with a real-time 3D visualization using Three.js.
The Node-RED dashboard can control each joint, save robot positions, and run movement sequences. The 3D model also includes the multi-link gripper, so the physical robot and virtual model can move together.
I’d be interested to hear your feedback or suggestions for improving the system.
I've been working on an open-source project called Sekalum around a problem that becomes more noticeable when Node-RED is part of a larger automation environment:
Credentials start living in many different places.
Node-RED may have credentials for APIs and services, while Home Assistant, n8n, AI tools or custom applications maintain their own copies and OAuth connections.
Sekalum explores a different architecture:
Provider → Sekalum → authorized consumer
Credentials and their lifecycle are managed in a separate self-hosted service. Consumers are explicitly granted access and resolve only the credential data they are authorized to use at runtime.
This isn't intended to replace Node-RED's own credential handling. The interesting use case is when Node-RED is one of several consumers that need access to external services.
I'm currently looking at a dedicated Node-RED integration, but before building it I'd be interested in how Node-RED users see this approach.
Would an external credential lifecycle layer be useful in your setup, or would it just add unnecessary complexity?
Sekalum is open source and self-hosted. Architecture, security model and technical details are documented here:
I built an interactive 3D visualization of a 4-machine CNC production line using Three.js and FlowFuse Node-RED Dashboard.
Each machine shows its status, OEE, target and actual output, with simple door and spindle animations.
The monitor is also interactive, so clicking a machine can trigger a detailed information popup through Node-RED.
The data is currently simulated, but it can be connected to real-time data from PLC, MQTT, or a database.
What do you think does 3D visualization add value compared to a traditional 2D manufacturing dashboard?
When you do use a "Link Call Node", you set what "Link Inn Node" it goes to, You can not see this in Node Red. When you have a simple "Link Inn Node" and "Link Out Node", you see a dotted line when one of the two nodes is selected. I would love to see the same with "Link Call Node". Or is it just me that miss some :)
I've been working on a 3D warehouse visualization using Three.js and the FlowFuse Node-RED Dashboard. Instead of viewing inventory in a traditional table, users can interact directly with the 3D warehouse by selecting pallets to see information such as material ID, material name, supplier, storage location, and current status.
The goal is to create a more intuitive way to monitor warehouse operations while staying connected to real-time data from Node-RED.
I’m using a Radxa board as a small Node-RED HMI. It can run a self-hosted Node-RED instance or display a dashboard from a remote server. The system includes a built-in PostgreSQL database, a database explorer, a VNC server, and an MQTT broker.
I've been working on integrating Three.js with the FlowFuse Node-RED Dashboard to build a more interactive production monitoring system.
Instead of only displaying a 3D production line, each machine can be clicked to open a detailed dashboard with real-time production information, including:
OEE (Availability, Performance, Quality)
Hourly production output
Production charts
Machine-specific status and metrics
The idea is to combine the strengths of a 3D Digital Twin for plant visualization with a traditional 2D dashboard for detailed analysis. Users can quickly navigate from the overall production line to machine-level information without leaving the 3D scene.
This is Part 8 of my Three.js in FlowFuse Node-RED Dashboard series.
I'd love to hear your feedback or ideas for improving this approach!
I've been experimenting with Three.js inside the FlowFuse Node-RED Dashboard to build interactive industrial dashboards.
This project is a 3D Greenhouse Monitoring Dashboard featuring animated fans, ventilation turbines, lights, doors, water level visualization, weather station, multiple camera views, and clickable monitor screens.
To make it closer to a real industrial application, I use Modbus TCP. Device status is stored in Coil Registers, while sensor values are stored in Holding Registers, making it easy to replace the simulation with a real PLC or Modbus device.
Having a hard time coming up with what I think should be a simple thing to solve. Basically I have a set of alarms for freezer/fridge temperatures coming from temp sensors. Each sensor has an "alarm" temp where I want to receive a notification. I have the alarm working well using a function node, but what I cannot seem to make work correctly is issues where the sensor is unstable or cycles quickly. For some reason I'm having a mental block about how to solve this in node-red either with existing nodes or better in a javascript function.
But the gist is that when I temp violates the alarm parameter I want to wait 5 minutes to make sure it is still "alarming" before sending the notification. The same thing on the other end... when a sensor exits alarm I want to make sure it is actually below the threshold for 5 minutes before resetting.
What is the easiest way to do this? Timers? Delay node?
I've been experimenting with building a browser-based Virtual Reality manufacturing dashboard using Three.js, WebXR, and FlowFuse Node-RED.
The goal is to make industrial monitoring more immersive without requiring a dedicated VR application. Features include: • Walk around the production line in VR • Animated industrial robots • Live machine status • Tower lamp visualization • Interactive machine selection • Large virtual dashboard displaying OEE, Availability, Performance, Quality, and Hourly Output • Data can come directly from PLCs or databases
Everything runs inside the browser, so users simply open the dashboard URL and enter VR mode.
I've been experimenting with combining AR.js, Three.js, and FlowFuse Node-RED Dashboard to create a browser-based Augmented Reality Digital Twin.
The application runs directly from the Node-RED Dashboard, so there's nothing to install on the client side. Features: • Hiro marker tracking • Animated production line • Robot motion • Tower lamp status • Live production data • Machine selection • OEE dashboard (Availability, Performance, Quality) • Hourly output charts
The data can come directly from a PLC or a database, making it suitable for industrial monitoring and digital twin applications.
I have a garage door from Horman. Works well, I can open it with Bluetooth from my phone but I can't from nodered. Any experience connecting a supramatic 4 to nodered? Needs a module or I can do it with Bluetooth alone ? Thanks!
