I got interested interested in ESP8266 WiFi module after reading New Chip Alert: The ESP8266 WiFi Module (It’s $5) article. Why is it cool? It’s a WiFi module with an SOC, making it somewhat similar to TI’s CC300. ESP8266 is an UART to WiFi module that you can pick for less than $5 USD.
ESP8266 is a really cheap and easy way to connect any small microcontroller platform (for example Arduino) wirelessly to Internet. The microcontroller on the module takes care of all the WiFi, TCP/IP stack, and the overhead found in an 802.11 network. It’s addressable over SPI and UART, making this an exceptionally easy choice for anyone wanting to build an Internet of Things thing. You can use AT commands to connecyt to WiFi networks and open TCP connections without need to have TCP/IP stack running in your own microcontroller: You can simply connect any microcontroller to this module and start pushing data up to the Internet. This might be why it seems that ESP8266 has pretty soon become every hacker’s favorite WiFi chip.
The ESP826 module I bought from Electrodragon is simple having only the ESP8266 IC and one other IC in it. The WiFi antenna is integrated to circuit board. The whole module is just size of post stamp.
The other side of the he module des not have any components, just 8 pins I have attached wires to in this picture.
There’s a catch, right, there’s always a catch on the cheap products. One thing is that ESP8266 pretty much doesn’t exist outside China. Ordering from China is not a problem nowdays, but when all the documentation is in Chinese, that can be a problem. But fortunately there has been projects to get ESP8266 translated data sheet.
I had enough information, so I need to get one module to test. I ended up ordering ESP8266 module from Electrodragon (check module data). ESP8266 from Banggood.com would have been cheaper bit taken longer time to get because ESP8266 module was listed to out of stock at the time.
The module and IO pins run at 3.3V. For testing I used USB To RS232/TTL PL2303HX Cable Adapter and 5V to 3.3V regulator module to do the connection. I used separate 3,.3V regulator module because I wanted to guarantee that the module can get enough current (over 200 mA on peaks) (some other USB-serial adapter ICs have 3.3V regulators built in them but can’t give enough current out). Wi07c ESP8266 module data and different project examples got me started pretty well.
Test commands at 115200-N-8-1 serial port settings:
AT+RST
AT+CWMODE=1
AT+CWJAP=”SSID”,”PASS”
AT+CWJAP=”AndroidAP”,”XXXX”
AT+CIPSTART=”TCP”,”www.epanorama.net”,80
AT+CIPSEND=0,n: Where n is the length of the request string.
AT+CIPCLOSE
The results with those were promising. Wiring ESP8266 to your favorite microcontroller platform has pretty much everything you would need to do with an Internet of Things thing. That’s good enough, but things are even better.
It has turned out that it is possible to do run your own coode on the module itself: An SDK for the ESP8266 WiFi Chip turns the ESP8266 into something much better than a UART to WiFi module; now you can create a Internet of Things thing with just $5 in hardware. You can write the software using C programming language and GCC compiler to processor in the module (80MHz Tensilica). Included in the SDK are sources for an SSL, JSON, and lwIP library, making this a solution for pretty much everything you would need to do with an Internet of Things thing. Looks interesting, I just have to find time to test that out…
Review articles on ESP8266
First impression on the ESP8266 serial-to-WiFi module
The Current State of ESP8266 Development
Review on the new and cheap esp8266 WiFi module – video
The Current State of ESP8266 Development
Sites on ESP8266 information:
translation of the datasheet and AT command set
Project pages:
Using the ESP8266 module
A Development Board for the ESP8266
ESP8266 and PL2303HX-gpio adventures
Update Firmware ESP8266Cloud Update - also video
A Proof of Concept Project for the ESP8266
The ESP8266 Becomes a Terrible Browser
ESP8266 Retro Browser – Accessing a web site with an ESP8266 serial WiFi module and an Arduino Mega
Keep an Eye on Your Fermenting Beer with BrewMonitor
An ESP8266 Based Smartmeter
Checking Email With The ESP8266 – reads the subject and sender lines from the latest email and displays it on an LCD
ESP8266 Wifi Temperature Logger – using the ESP8266 and Arduino to update a remote Thingspeak server
Adding wifi to a desk lamp with the Wi07C (ESP8266)
Places to order:
ESP8266 module from Electrodragon
SDK:
An SDK for the ESP8266 WiFi Chip
The ESP8266 SDK is finally here – along with a VirtualBox image with Ubuntu that includes GCC for the LX106 core
Source code examples:
331 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
DNS Tunneling with an ESP8266
http://hackaday.com/2015/07/01/dns-tunneling-with-an-esp8266/
There’s a big problem with the Internet of Things. Everything’s just fine if your Things are happy to sit around your living room all day, where the WiFi gets four bars. But what does your poor Thing do when it wants to go out and get a coffee and it runs into a for-pay hotspot?
[Yakamo]’s solution is for your Thing to do the same thing you would: tunnel your data through DNS requests. It’s by no means a new idea, but the combination of DNS tunneling and IoT devices stands to be as great as peanut butter and chocolate.
DNS tunneling, in short, relies on you setting up your own DNS server with a dedicated subdomain and software that will handle generic data instead of information about IP addresses. You, or your Thing, send data encoded in “domain names” for it to look up, and the server passes data back to you in the response.
DNS tunneling is relatively slow
BTWifi & FON(and other hotspots) as a Free transport of IOT device data, Using DNS Tunneling.
http://yakamo.org/?p=1506
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESP Gets FCC and CE
http://hackaday.com/2014/12/17/esp-gets-fcc-and-ce/
Now the chipset is FCC certified
This announcement does come with a few caveats: the chipset is certified, not the module. Each version of the module must be certified by itself, and there are versions that will never be certified by the FCC. Right now, we’re looking at the ESP8266-06, -07, -08, and -12 modules – the ones with a metal shield – as being the only ones that could potentially pass an FCC cert. Yes, those modules already have an FCC logo on them, but you’re looking at something sold for under $5 in China, here.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESPLux – Smarts for your downlights
https://hackaday.io/project/4731-esplux-smarts-for-your-downlights
A circuit you can place inline with your existing low voltage lights to allow for wireless control
Have you ever wished you could give some smarts to your existing low voltage lighting? I have, and I have yet to find a decent solution I can put in line with my existing light fixtures. This is where ESPLux comes in. Simply disconnect your existing low voltage light, plug the transformer into the ESPLux box, and plug the light into the ESPLux. The ESPLux will come up as a wifi access point where you can configure and control the light.
The Solution
Every man and his dog is playing around with these ESP8266 boards. I thought that I would get my hands on a couple to try as well. I figured that they would be the perfect platform to build my solution on.
Most low voltage lights work between 12v and 24v from what I have seen, with the exception of a few high end LED lights I have found
Initially I was looking at using a triac for switching, considering most downlight transformers are 12VAC. I then figured LEDs like DC much better than AC, so ideally I should rectify the AC input into a PWM’d DC out. This also means you can throw a DC input on with no issues. Also, I believe that using PWM to dim an LED is a better idea than chopping an AC signal with a triac.
Alone, one of these units is pretty useless. It really needs to be integrated within a larger system. At this point in time, I am looking at using OpenHAB. It looks neat, and integrates with a bunch of other stuff I have floating around the house. This will allow me to set up geofencing, or turning the lights on and off based on other triggers.
In the first instance, my plan is to limit the unit to about 30 watts. This copes with most LED’s that I have found, but rules out using most incandescent globes
Tomi Engdahl says:
Alarm Notifies the Office When the Coffee is Ready
http://hackaday.com/2015/07/24/alarm-notifies-the-office-when-the-coffee-is-ready/
[Stian] thought it would be nice if his coworkers could be electronically notified when the latest batch of coffee is ready. He ended up building an inexpensive coffee alarm system to do exactly that. When the coffee is done, the brewer can press a giant button to notify the rest of the office that it’s time for a cuppa joe.
This momentary push button supplies power to a ESP8266 microcontroller using a soft latch power switch. When the momentary switch is pressed, it supplies power to the latch. The latch then powers up the main circuit and continues supplying power even when the push button is released. The reason for this power trickery is to conserve power from the 18650 li-on battery.
The core functionality of the alarm uses a combination of physical hardware and two cloud-based services. The ESP8266 was chosen because it includes a built-in WiFi chip and it only costs five dollars.
When the button is pressed, it sends an HTTP request to a custom clojure app running on a cloud service called Heroku. The clojure app then stores brewing information in a database and sends a notification to the Slack cloud service. Slack is a sort of project management app that allows multiple users to work on projects and communicate easier over the internet.
Office coffee alarm WiFi-button for Slack (ESP8266)
https://blog.eikeland.se/2015/07/20/coffee-button/
We have a Slack integrated coffee notification service at work. It’s basically just a few lines of Clojure w/ PostgreSQL (for brew logs and stats), notifying our Slack channel whenever someone put on a brew. It recently got upgraded with a WiFi-connected hardware button button
Requirements:
Triggered via a big physical button.
Notify office floor via slack:
Connect to WiFi
Do HTTP POST to a service running on heroku.
Battery powered.
Power down after use to conserve battery power.
Made only using parts I have available. I do not want to wait to complete this project, so we’re just going to wing it.
It makes a lot of sense to base this project on an ESP8266. It’s a newish Chinese chip that’s been quickly gaining traction with hardware hackers. 80 MHz 32 bit RISC CPU, integrated 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, reasonable amount of IO options. Best of all, it costs less than $5, and if you ask me, it’s the first real glimpse of the promised Internet-of-Things wave (or should I say tsunami?).
Latches are often made using a P-channel MOSFET and NPN transistor pair.
Turns out the circuit works, but the ESP8266 has a pretty slow boot-time before pin is set high (1+ sec – WiFi calibration?). Meaning it works if you press and hold the button for at least 1-2 second. This is a problem, we need to give the micro-controller more time to finish booting before it can take over control of the power flow.
Next up, let’s add a bit of code to make it work properly, it’s all available on github at revolverhuset/mokkameister and revolverhuset/mokkameister-button.
Tomi Engdahl says:
VentController
An IoT-enabled system for automated environmental control.
https://hackaday.io/project/7144-ventcontroller
When we had a large conservatory added to our house some five years ago, automated roof vents was essential to ensure that the room remained usable throughout the summer months. To that end, the conservatory was installed with an automated temperature controlled vent controller.
Unfortunately, due to some hardware design issues, it really doesn’t work very well and breaks down as the temperature increases(!). This project is my replacement for that system. It’s actually my second attempt; the first used an Arduino but worked in a similar way to the original. It never made it off the breadboard. This time, we’re going IoT; a separate sensor module will send environmental data to a cloud service. In turn, the service will send commands to an actuator for the vents. A mobile App will provide the essential user experience.
Code and Eagle files are at https://github.com/smorgo/VentController
I’ve designed a basic board around the ESP8266 and had three produced by Ragworm in the UK.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Get here some ideas how to prototype ESP8266 module with breadboard:
Literal Breadboard Hack Forces It to Accept Dual Pin Headers
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/18/literal-breadboard-hack-forces-it-to-accept-dual-pin-headers/
Getting a dual header into breadboard by abusing breadboard
http://headfuzz.co.uk/node/143
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hello RAMPS, meet ESP8266
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/20/hello-ramps-meet-esp8266/
The proliferation of DIY 3D printers has been helped in large measure by the awesome open-source RepRap project. A major part of this project is the RAMPS board – a single control board / shield to which all of the other parts of the printer can be easily hooked up. A USB connection to a computer is the usual link of choice, unless the RAMPS board has the SD-Card option to allow the 3D printer to operate untethered. [Chetan Patil] from CreatorBot built a breakout board to help attach either the ESP8266 WiFi or the HC-05 Bluetooth module to the Aux-1 header on the RAMPS board. This lets him stream G-code to the printer and allow remote control and monitoring.
While the cheap ESP8266 modules are the current flavor of the season with Hackers, getting them to work can be quite a hair tearing exercise.
Add ESP8266 Wifi To Your 3D Printer
http://creatorbot.com/projects/electronics/add-esp8266-wifi-to-your-3d-printer
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESP-12 ESP8266 Serial Wi-Fi Wireless Module w/ Built-in Antenna Compatible 3.3V / 5V for Arduino
http://www.dx.com/p/esp-12-esp8266-serial-wi-fi-wireless-module-w-built-in-antenna-compatible-3-3v-5v-for-arduino-403072?r=85273703
This is Wi-Fi serial transceiver module, based on ESP8266 SoC.The SOC has Integrated TCP/IP protocol stack.It is TTL serial communication interface and its parameters can be set by AT command. It is widely used in networking, smart home project when it is connected to the wifi router. It can be used for remote monitoring of home appliances, bedroom temperature and humidity, controlling home appliances and smart car by the mobile phone.
Features:
- Arduino UNO R3 and the compatible board can directly connect to this module.
- You can debug the module with the USB to TTL module, such as FT232RL, CH340G module.
- Interface logic voltage: 3.3V / 5V compatible(On-board level shift circuit)
- Working voltage: 3.2V – 5.5V (On-board 3.3v LDO Regulator)
- Working current: 240mA(MAX)
- Serial port baud rate: 115200 (default), can be modified to other values by AT command
- Serial communication format: 8N1
- On-board reset button
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESP8266 Adapter and Breakout Board Kit (Includes ESP8266-01) – DIY
http://store.hackaday.com/products/esp8266-adapter-and-breakout-board-kit-includes-esp8266-01
Programming the ESP8266 from the PC or MAC requires a USB-Serial adapter however the wiring can be fussy and requires a breadboard to get the connections right and get the levels correct (ESP8266 is 3V3 and USB is 5V0). It also requires that GPIO0 is pulled low on RESET to put the device into programming mode.
This little kit provides a nice, clean adapter that makes the connections super easy. It includes a regulator to handle the higher voltage, some jumpers to ensure it works with 3V3 and 5V0 USB-Serial adapters, and is designed for those interested in getting their hands dirty and soldering together something (perhaps for the first time).
github repository also has full schematics
https://github.com/sfgit/ESP8266-01-BREAKOUT
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fight Frost with an Internet of Things Fridge Alarm
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/23/fight-frost-with-an-internet-of-things-fridge-alarm/
The WiFi-enabled fridge alarm he built to fight this is a pretty neat hack with lots of potential for expansion.
Based on a Sparkfun ESP8266 Thing and home-brew door sensors built from copper tape, the alarm is rigged to sound after 120 seconds of the door being open. From the description it seems like the on-board buzzer provides a periodic reminder pip while the door is open before going into constant alarm and sending an SMS message or email; that’s a nice touch, and having the local alarm in addition to the text or email is good practice.
Internet Enabled Fridge: A First Foray into Internet of Things
http://www.instructables.com/id/Internet-Enabled-Fridge-A-First-Foray-into-Interne/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Make Your Own Remote Control LED Light
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/23/make-your-own-remote-control-led-light/
Want to control the colors in your home? Sure, you could just buy a Philips Hue bulb, but where’s the hacking fun in that? [Dario] agrees: he has written a tutorial on building an Arduino-controlled RGB light system that plugs into a standard light socket.
[Dario] is using a bulb from Automethion in Italy, an Arduino, and an ESP8266 shield that sends signals to the bulb.
At the moment, Automethion is the only company selling this light, but I hope that others will sell similar products soon.
Build your DIY Arduino compatible Philips Hue like LED Bulb, using LYT and Souliss
http://souliss.github.io/media/diy-your-philips-hue-led-bulb/
Recently a lot of RF light bulbs with smartphone enabled control has been on the market, the most known and expencive is the Philips Hue, but other cheaper solution like the Mi-Light has been out for a while. All offer a smartphone app to control remotely the brightness and the color, but none is Arduino compatible.
The shield is the piece of hardware that you are really looking for, is from that one that you can send radio commands to the lamps and get feedback. There are two radio, an ESP8266 WiFi SoC and a PL1167 2.4 GHz radio, the former is used to connect your Arduino with the home router and the latter is to control the bulbs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESP8266 Serial Wi-Fi Wireless ESP-01 Adapter Module 3.3V / 5V Compatible for Arduino
http://www.dx.com/p/esp8266-serial-wi-fi-wireless-esp-01-adapter-module-3-3v-5v-compatible-for-arduino-403053?r=85273703
This is a adapter module specially for ESP-01 Wi-Fi module. Onboard level conversion circuit and 3.3V voltage regulator circuit makes 5V microcontroller (such as Arduino board) easy to use ESP-01 Wi-Fi module.
- Interface logic voltage: 3.3V / 5V compatible(On-board level shift circuit);
- Working voltage: 4.5~5.5V (On-board 3.3V LDO Regulator);
- Working current: 240mA(MAX).
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESP-12 ESP8266 Serial Wi-Fi Wireless Module w/ Built-in Antenna Compatible 3.3V / 5V for Arduino
http://www.dx.com/p/esp-12-esp8266-serial-wi-fi-wireless-module-w-built-in-antenna-compatible-3-3v-5v-for-arduino-403072?r=85273703
- You can debug the module with the USB to TTL module, such as FT232RL, CH340G module.
- Interface logic voltage: 3.3V / 5V compatible(On-board level shift circuit)
- Working voltage: 3.2V – 5.5V (On-board 3.3v LDO Regulator)
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESP8266 In Commercial Products
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/25/esp8266-in-commercial-products/
The hobbyist electronics market is still tiny, and even though random companies are coming out with some very interesting hardware, these parts and components aren’t exactly meant for us. The ESP8266 WiFi module is a slight deviation from this trend, with hundreds of different ESP dev boards floating around, and weirdos buying them by the bag.
[4ndreas] finally found the ESP8266 in a product;
[4ndreas] found an RGB LED strip on Ali Express that could be controlled by WiFi. Inside, he found everyone’s favorite WiFi module, and by shorting two pins, he started up the controller in bootloader mode.
It’s not a killer project, but it does demonstrate the power of open source toolchains for cheap WiFi modules. This is only the first product found with an ESP8266 inside, but there are undoubtedly others out there just waiting to be taken apart and controlled in more advanced ways.
ESP8266 in the wild, WiFi LED controller hack.
http://chaozlabs.blogspot.de/2015/08/esp8266-in-wild-wifi-led-controller-hack.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Basically, It’s an ESP8266
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/29/basically-its-an-esp8266/
Before the Arduino, there was the Parallax Basic Stamp. It was an easy-to-use PIC chip on a PCB that you programmed in BASIC
The ESP8266 is more than a just a WiFi peripheral for a microcontroller. It is its own little computer in its own right. While it is common to run the “AT” firmware, Lua, or program the device yourself, you can now load the beast with a version of BASIC.
Of course, just running BASIC wouldn’t be very interesting by itself. The real kicker is the extra keywords that allow control of the device’s WiFi hardware, I/O pins, and a dynamic Web page interface. You could very easily and very quickly set up prototypes using the simplified BASIC language and its extensions.
ESP8266 BASIC
http://www.esp8266basic.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Portable environmental monitor
https://hackaday.io/project/4977-portable-environmental-monitor
A handheld, battery powered, sensor array unit for environmental monitoring focused mostly on air quality using a global infrastructure.
The portable environmental monitor addresses pollution, the kind that we are unable to see but directly affects our health and can cause life threatening diseases. Airborne toxic chemicals, radioactive dust and radioactive radon are correlated with cases of pulmonary cancer and asthma.
Since our biological senses can do little to warn us of such possible dangers, we plan to design the Portable environmental monitor as a first line detection and warning system.
This is not the regular detector: packed with powerful sensors capable of detecting both the chemical and the physical harmful factors, these devices are designed with Internet connectivity thanks to a 802.11B/G wifi module, and will share all readings to the Global uRADMonitor network.
Online data allows us to build graph, stats and send automated notifications when certain thresholds are reached. The infrastructure has been developed for the uRADMonitor project, semifinalist of HaD 2014 http://goo.gl/aoWZmC
Components
1 × atmega128 Microprocessors, Microcontrollers, DSPs / ARM, RISC-Based Microcontrollerst
1 × esp8266 esp-04 WLAN802.11 module
1 × 320×240 ILI9341 TFT LCD with touchscreen colour qvga lcd with touchscreen
1 × WLAN Antenna detachable antenna
1 × Aluminium enclosure rugged compact enclosure
1 × BMP-180 temperature and pressure sensor
1 × LND-712 Alpha, Beta and Gamma Radiation Geiger tube
1 × Sharp GP2Y10 dust sensor photoelectric air dust sensor
1 × MiCS-VZ-89 air quality sensor CO2 and VOCs advanced sensor
1 × Lithium Ion rechargeable battery Internal battery
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESP8266 Web Server Farm
http://hackaday.com/2015/09/05/esp8266-web-server-farm/
There seems to be a hacker maxim that whatever gadget you are working with, it would be better to have several of them running together. That might explain the ESP8266 web server farm that [Eldon Brown] has built. Yup, a web server farm made from three of everyone’s favorite WiFi dongle, the humble ESP8266.
Eldon’s server farm is currently serving web pages here, running on three ESP8266 boards.
http://wa0uwh.blogspot.jp/2015/08/more-esp8266-web-server-farm.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
The ESP8266 is slowly becoming a board that’s as easy to use as an Arduino. Now there’s a board that turns it into an Arduino.
WeMos D1 WiFi uno based ESP8266 for arduino Compatible
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/WeMos-D1-WiFi-uno-based-ESP8266-for-arduino-Compatible/32455782552.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
LED Ring Around the ESP8266
http://hackaday.com/2015/09/12/led-ring-around-the-esp8266/
The world needs more blinky lights, and [Bertus Kruger] has created a neat way to make lights blink wirelessly. He has a footprint in the middle of the board for soldering the castellated ESP8266 module, and an LED ring around it to create the WiFi Pixel. It’s an LED ring that can be controlled over a WiFi connection. His design is based on a combination of the ubiquitous ESP8266 WiFi chip and a NeoPixel ring from AdaFruit, so there are already great examples of how to code and control the hardware
WifiPixels are a combination of a ESP8266 Wifi unit combined with a NeoPixel(Addressable RGB) LED ring all in one.
http://wiki.protoneer.co.nz/WifiPixels
https://github.com/Protoneer/WifiPixels
Tomi Engdahl says:
Debug An IKEA Lamp Hack, Win A Lamp Controller
http://hackaday.com/2015/09/14/debug-an-ikea-lamp-hack-win-a-lamp-controller/
[Limpkin], aka Hackaday alum [Matheiu Stephan], is at it again, converting an IKEA lamp into a visual wake-up light. He wants to build an alarm that can be remotely triggered, He’s basing this project around a combination of an ESP8266 that handles the communication and timing, and a pile of 10-watt RGB LEDs. However, he is having a problem: every time he initializes the PWM (pulse width modulation) signalling that will control the level of the LEDs, his ESP8266 dev board reboots.
A Connected Lamp to Wake Me Up
http://www.limpkin.fr/index.php?post/2015/08/30/A-Connected-Clock-to-Wake-Me-Up
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wifi controlled light switch
https://hackaday.io/project/5141-wifi-controlled-light-switch
So far I use a servo with an ESP8266 to control the lightswitch
The goal of this project is to be able to remote control the lights in my apartment.
Because I currently didn’t want to tinker with the mains, I used a servo to press the light switch, but I plan to upgrade to a radio based relay solution.
The servo is controlled by an ESP8266 which connects to my wifi an hosts a very simple webinterface.
The servo is now directly controlled by the ESP8266.
To control the ESP, I used nodemcu and I plan to opensource my code on Github.
Tomi Engdahl says:
VFD clock with ESP8266 NTP sync
https://hackaday.io/project/7732-vfd-clock-with-esp8266-ntp-sync
VFD clock using opto-copplers as drivers and an arduino as the multiplexing
Description
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0sF5Qcm6kc
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Semifinalist: Helping Out In The ER
http://hackaday.com/2015/09/18/hackaday-prize-semifinalist-helping-out-in-the-er/
[Moldovanu] and [Radu] are out to fix emergency medical care in their native Romania. They’re developing a very inexpensive bracelet that keeps track of heartbeat, blood oxygen, and temperature of a patient, either in an ER or in the waiting room.
The Health Mate, as the guys are calling it, is a small bracelet loaded up with IR LEDs, photodiodes, a temperature sensor, and a WiFi module. They’ve wired all these parts up on a home made board, connected a battery, and are starting to measure their vitals.
Health Mate
https://hackaday.io/project/4836-health-mate
A device that is changing the bad medical care in Romanian hospitals.It’s does so by monitoring Heartbeats Oxigen Temperature of a pacient.
The Health Mate bracelet is a device that allows hospitals and/or individuals to track their pacients/self status in real time remotely for a better understanding of what the underlying body metrics (heart rate, temperature, humidity, oxygen levels) mean, and analyze the data for diagnosing or prioritizing pacients in real time when needed
First connection of the Health Mate bracelet to the programming interface using ESPlorer and NodeMCU flasher, using the API to check the values of the fotodiode used for pulse detection.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Transparent ESP8266 WiFi-to-Serial Bridge
http://hackaday.com/2015/09/18/transparent-esp8266-wifi-to-serial-bridge/
These days, connecting your microcontroller project to a WiFi network is pretty easy — you connect up an ESP8266 to your microcontroller project and pretend it’s a WiFi modem, using these old-school-style AT commands. But what do you do if you need to flash new code into the microcontroller? You can’t reprogram the micro remotely through the ESP8266 because those stupid AT commands get in the way.
The solution? By flashing the esp-link firmware into your ESP8266, you talk directly to the microcontroller over WiFi as if it were connected by a serial cable: the ESP8266 becomes a totally transparent WiFi-serial bridge. Now, with a serial bootloader and an ESP8266 in Wifi-to-serial bridge mode, you can reflash your microcontroller wirelessly, and then telnet in to interact with and debug the system remotely. Once you’ve fixed the bugs, you can re-flash the microcontroller: all over WiFi, without having to climb up a ladder to reach your IoT attic-temperature sensor.
Configuration to allow the ESP8266 to join your WiFi network takes place on a self-hosted webpage that uses [Sprite_tm]’s esp-httpd standalone server, which makes setup pretty painless. And then after that you can simply telnet to the ESP8266 at port 23 and type away, or do anything else you would with a wired serial connection.
esp8266 wifi-serial bridge, outbound TCP, and arduino/AVR/LPC/NXP programmer
https://github.com/jeelabs/esp-link
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Semifinalist: Sharing Pollution Analytics
http://hackaday.com/2015/09/19/hackaday-prize-semifinalist-sharing-pollution-analytics/
A while ago, [Joshua Young] had a conversation with an environmental scientist. There aren’t many government-funded pollution monitoring stations around Texas, but there are a lot of well-off home owners associations in Houston that have the sensors to collect the data. Air quality monitoring is important, and more data is usually better, and without these HOA’s providing the data for free, these environmental scientists wouldn’t have the data to do their job.
[Joshua]’s project is taking the idea a few members of those HOA’s had and expanding it to the entire world. For his entry to the Hackaday Prize, he’s creating a system to share local pollution data with the entire Internet.
The system [Joshua] is building uses a suite of air quality sensors to measure sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone and particulate matter. These sensors connect to the Internet through either an ESP8266 WiFi module or a LoRa radio module, push the data onto the cloud, and let the entire world know what the air quality is.
Using tens of thousands of individual base stations to gather data has been done before; Weather Underground uses ten times as many weather stations than the National Weather Service
PASS: Pollution Analytics Shared Socially
https://hackaday.io/project/5530-pass-pollution-analytics-shared-socially
A community pollution monitoring system aggregating pollution data from individual station users to get information on the environment.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Prize Best Product: WiFi Location Services
http://hackaday.com/2015/09/22/hackaday-prize-best-product-wifi-location-services/
GPS-based location services will be around with us forever. If you’re in the outback, in the middle of the ocean, or even just in a neighborhood that doesn’t have good cell coverage, there’s no better way to figure out where you are than GPS.
If you’re in a parking garage, you’re not using GPS to find your car.
[Blecky]’s entry for the Best Product competition of the Hackaday Prize aims to solve this problem. It’s an indoor location service using only cheap WiFi modules called SubPos. With just a few ESP8266 modules, [Blecky] can set up a WiFi positioning system, accurate to half a meter, that can be used wherever GPS isn’t.
The answer to this question came in the form of a cheap WiFi module. Each of the SubPos nodes are encoded with the GPS coordinates of where they’re placed. By transmitting this location through the WiFi Beacon Frame, along with the transmitted power, any cell phone can use three or more nodes to determine its true location, down to a few centimeters. All of this is done without connecting to a specific WiFi network; it’s a complete hack of the WiFi standard to allow positioning data.
The price point [Blecky] sees is around $15 a node.
SubPos – Positioning System
A “dataless” Wi-Fi positioning system that can be used anywhere GPS can’t.
https://hackaday.io/project/4872-subpos-positioning-system
SubPos is an indoor positioning system that can be used in various environments such as metro lines, shopping malls, carparks, art galleries or even conference centers; essentially anywhere GPS doesn’t penetrate.
The SubPos Standard defines an accurate method for subterraneous positioning in different environments by exploiting all the capabilities of Wi-Fi. SubPos Nodes or existing Wi-Fi access points are used to transmit encoded information in a standard Wi-Fi beacon frame which is then used for position trilateration. The Nodes, while not necessary part of the SubPos standard, provide a pre-calibrated device that is easy to configure and can be dotted about with ease.
The SubPos Standard has been designed for backwards compatibility with existing access points and client devices in mind.
When a user enters an area littered with one or more SubPos Nodes, they are able to determine their position with a simple smartphone application.
Unlike traditional Wi-Fi location techniques, which map out an area of Wi-Fi signal strengths while storing it in a database, SubPos Nodes operate much like GPS satellites. In this case however, instead of using precise timing (for time of flight) to calculate distance between a transmitter and receiver (GPS), SubPos uses coded transmitter information as well as the client’s received signal strength to determine the distance from this known point.
Tomi Engdahl says:
VPN Light Switch
A Wi-Fi based LED switch to check that your VPN is running on your router and control it.
https://hackaday.io/project/5909-vpn-light-switch
Have you ever wanted to control your OpenVPN client daemon at the click of a button, as well as know whether it is running correctly or not from a glance? If you use this VPN Light Switch, you can do just that!
The OpenVPN client daemon is quite a versatile little dude. Unfortunately, if you use it on a WRT based router to enable it for all devices on your network, it can be quite difficult to control, expecially if you use devices that don’t have web browers.
In that sense, the VPN Light Switch solves this issue by creating an easy to use interface that enables you to view your VPN status, as well as pause and resume it.
By using an ESP8266 module, the NodeLUA firmware and enabling the management interface on your VPN client daemon, you can create a very simple interface for interfacing to the daemon, in an all in one nature.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Dictionary: The ESP8266
http://hackaday.com/2015/09/24/hackaday-dictionary-the-esp8266/
In August of 2014, something new started showing up in the markets of Shenzen, the hi-tech area of China where the majority of the world’s electronics components are made. This is the ESP8266, a WiFi SoC (System on a Chip) that can connect to 802.11b/g/n networks on the 2.4GHz band. It can be addressed with SPI or a serial connection, and has an AT command set that makes it behave rather like an old-style modem. Basically, it has everything you would need to connect a device to a WiFi network, with the ESP8266 chip itself handling the complicated business of finding, joining and transmitting/receiving over a WiFi network.
That’s nothing particularly new in itself: WiFi connection devices like the TI CC3000 have been around for longer, and do much the same thing. The difference was the price. While the TI solution costs about $10 if you buy several thousand of them, the ESP8266 costs less than $7 for an individual board that can plug straight into an Arduino or similar. Buy the chip in bulk, and you can get it for less than $2.
The ESP8266 is more than just a WiFi dongle, though: it is a fully fledged computer in itself, with a megabyte of flash memory and a 32-bit processor that uses a RISC architecture. This can run applications, turning the ESP8266 into a standalone module that can collect and send data over the Internet.
Why Is the ESP8266 Important?
The ESP8266 almost achieves the holy trifecta of electronics: cheap, powerful and easy to work with. Before this, if you wanted to add a wireless connection to a project, you had to use more power-hungry devices like USB WiFi dongles, or squish everything into a serial connection and use a wireless serial link.
And the ESP8266 did this all at a very low cost: do some digging on eBay and you can get an ESP8266 board for less than $2. So, it is no surprise that we are starting to see the ESP8266 showing up in commercial products.
Adafruit also has a nice ESP8266 board that breaks out all of the signals for easy breadboard use, and adds a 3.3V output, so it can drive an external device. It is also FCC approved, which is important if you are looking to sell or use the devices you build commercially.
On the software side, the easiest way to get into the ESP8266 is to use the Arduino compatible mode. This involves loading custom firmware that turns the chip into a mid-range Arduino board
To get access to the full capabilities of the ESP8266, you’ll need to go to the source, and use the SDK that the manufacturers offer.
The third option is to flash NodeMCU to the ESP8266 module. This turns it into a Lua interpreter. Scripting can be done in real-time to prototype your program, then flashed to the EEPROM to make your program persistent and remove the need for a serial connection.
Beginners will be comfortable with both the Arduino and NodeMCU approaches
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESP8266 is a great module.
I suggest you this also great application: Fishino.
Fishino is an Arduino compatible platform with WiFi, RTC and SD card, ALL in ONE.
But Fishino uses a modified version of ESP8266 module. The firmware inside the wifi module is modified to comunicate with ATmega328 using SPI.
More info about this project are available on
http://www.open-electronics.org/fishino-arduino-become-wireless/
http://fishino.it/en/
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESP8266 In Commercial Products
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/25/esp8266-in-commercial-products/
The hobbyist electronics market is still tiny, and even though random companies are coming out with some very interesting hardware, these parts and components aren’t exactly meant for us. The ESP8266 WiFi module is a slight deviation from this trend, with hundreds of different ESP dev boards floating around, and weirdos buying them by the bag.
[4ndreas] found an RGB LED strip on Ali Express that could be controlled by WiFi. Inside, he found everyone’s favorite WiFi module
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESP8266 modules pinouts
http://www.pighixxx.com/test/portfolio-items/esp8266/?portfolioID=360
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESPrint
ESP8266-based web server for 3d printers and routers.
https://hackaday.io/project/7826-esprint
ESPrint is an ESP8266-based embedded web server that can be used to control any serially-controlled 3D printer or router. While any web-browser can be used to access the server it is specifically designed for mobile phones and/or tablets, thus allowing the user to initiate the print whilst standing next to the printer and then monitor ongoing progress elsewhere.
The main controller is a Pro Mini running a version of the Teacup firmware. An SD breakout board provides storage for gcode files.
An ESP8266 provides the WiFi link and contains an embedded web server. The server code is based on JQueryUI mobile and uses AJAX calls to send standard SD-related gcodes to the controller via the serial connection.
Four stepper controllers are provided on the example board for control of the printer’s axis and extruder motors. The final board layout is expected to also support the extruder heater drive transistor and thermistor circuitry.
Tomi Engdahl says:
WiFi Power Monitor
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/04/wifi-power-monitor/
Building your own hardware to measure AC power isn’t a simple task. There’s a number of things to measure, including voltage, current, power, and power factor. The Atmel 90E24 is a single chip solution designed for this exact purpose. Connect a few components, and all the power data is available to a microcontroller over SPI.
Aside from the Atmel 90E24 device, a high power and low resistance resistor is needed for shunt sense current measurement.
[hwstar] built a custom power monitoring board based on this IC. His AC-Emeter will give you all the measurements you’d want, and includes an ESP12 module for data collection and WiFi connectivity.
Hardware for an ESP8266 or Arduino based AC power meter using the Atmel 90E24 energy management chip
https://github.com/hwstar/HW-AC-Emeter
Tomi Engdahl says:
Maximizing a Solar Panel
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/04/maximizing-a-solar-panel/
Solar panels seem like simple devices: light in and electricity out, right? If you don’t care about efficiency, it might be that simple, but generally you do care about efficiency. If you are, say, charging a battery, you’d like to get every watt out of the panel.
The solution is a technique called MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking). Despite sounding like a Microsoft presentation add on, MPPT uses a DC to DC converter to present a maximum load to the solar cell while providing the desired current and voltage to the load.
In addition to the solar panel and DC to DC converter, [Abid’s] project uses an Arduino, an LCD, some indicator LEDs, and some discrete components. He even included an ESP8266 to provide wireless data logging.
ARDUINO BASED MPPT SOLAR CHARGE CONTROLLER
http://www.electronicslovers.com/2015/09/arduino-based-mppt-solar-charge.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Push Blood Pressure Data To The Cloud Via ESP8266
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/11/push-blood-pressure-data-to-the-cloud-via-esp8266/
[Eduardo] contacted us about his success at connecting a blood pressure monitor to the web. He pulled this off by locating the chip responsible for storing the blood pressure data after being measured. It was a simple I2C EEPROM from which he dumped the data a sniffed communications with a 4 bit logic analyzer.
What this hack from [Eduardo] does provide is evidence of a much cheaper route for connecting vital medical data from a geographically distant, and perhaps technophobic family member.
Hacking a Blood Pressure Monitor
https://www.edusteinhorst.com/hacking-a-blood-pressure-monitor/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet-Connected Box Displays Emotion, Basement Dwellers Still Unaffected
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/12/internet-connected-box-displays-emotion-basement-dwellers-still-unaffected/
For one reason or another, Twitter has become the modern zeitgeist, chronicling the latest fashions, news, gossip, and irrelevant content that sends us spiraling towards an inevitable existential ennui. This is a Twitter mood light. It tells you what everyone else on the planet is feeling
The moodLight is currently a Kickstarter campaign, with a $30 pledge getting you an unassembled board with an ATMega328, an ESP8266, a few RGB LEDs, and a laser cut enclosure
These emotions are graphed in real time, placed on a server, correlated and corroborated, and downloaded by a moodLight
http://moodlighting.co/stats/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Push Blood Pressure Data To The Cloud Via ESP8266
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/11/push-blood-pressure-data-to-the-cloud-via-esp8266/
Tomi Engdahl says:
ESPecially Easy AVR Programming
Program your AVR over WiFi using the standard ISP header already on your board!
https://hackaday.io/project/8103-especially-easy-avr-programming
Using the ESP-Link Project (https://github.com/jeelabs/esp-link) as the software, I tried to see if I could squeeze an ESP8266-based AVR programmer into a square inch for the #The Square Inch Project! With a standard 6 pin ISP header, it’s ready to interface to all your existing projects
Tomi Engdahl says:
WiFi Fob Acquaints OLED with ESP
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/16/wifi-fob-acquaints-oled-with-esp/
When you think of WiFi in projects it’s easy to get into the rut of assuming the goal is to add WiFi to something. This particular build actually brings WiFi awareness to you, in terms of sniffing what’s going on with the signals around you and displaying them for instant feedback.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Use the Esp As a Serial Adapter
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/23/use-the-esp-as-a-serial-adapter/
One of the most useful tools in the hardware hackers toolbox is a USB to serial adapter. With this, you can flash new firmware to routers, and ply the vast binary seas of embedded hardware. The common form of the USB to Serial adapter is an FTDI breakout board. This requires drivers, though, and there is actually a simpler – and wireless – solution: the ESP8266 WiFi module.
Despite being the best little IoT device on the block, the ESP8266 was originally designed to be a USB to WiFi adapter. In our haste to build WiFi throwies, WiFi blinkies, and freaking WiFi server farms, we seem to have forgotten that there’s still a use for a device that turns a 3.3V TTL into a WiFi connection.
This project uses jeelabs’ ESP-link firmware for the ESP8266. It’s a simple bridge between WiFi and serial, and can function as an AVR programmer in a pinch.
esp8266 wifi-serial bridge, outbound TCP, and arduino/AVR/LPC/NXP programmer
https://github.com/jeelabs/esp-link
Tomi Engdahl says:
Better, Smaller WiFi Throwies
http://hackaday.com/2015/10/26/better-smaller-wifi-throwies/
Because the world doesn’t have enough electronic junk floating around, [Victor] has improved the WiFi Throwie.
A decade ago, when strong, cheap magnets, bright LEDs, and small coin cell batteries were materials fresh to hacking, someone had a great idea: tape all these items up and throw them on bridges and overpasses. The LED throwie was born, and while we’re sure the biggest installation of LED throwies looked cool, it’s really just a small-scale environmental disaster.
Since then, the ESP8266 was created, and the world now has a tiny WiFi-enabled computer that’s the size of a postage stamp. Yes, WiFi throwies already exist, but coin cells don’t work with the ESP. This means the compact and tiny ESPs are laden down with heavy lithium cells.
Wifi throwie : improved version – faster, smaller, cheaper
http://iotests.blogspot.fr/2015/10/wifi-throwie-improved-version-faster.html
He could not make it work with button cell batteries (the ESP8266 draws too much current) so he ended using a 3.7 LIPO battery, which is quite bulky
What if you could use instead a cheap mini drone battery you can find for half a euro on eBay ?
Bingo !
Introducing the “wifi throwie 2.0″, using a micro 100 mah lipo battery recycled from a broken minidrone. According to espressif data (http://bbs.espressif.com/viewtopic.php?t=133), the ESP only burns 15 mah in “Modem sleep mode” – which can last 6 hours with a 100 mah battery.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Robot Light Switch
http://hackaday.com/2015/11/06/the-robot-light-switch/
Automating your home is an awesome endeavor — but playing with mains AC can be risky business if you don’t know what you’re doing. So why not play it safe and make use of your light switch?
Admittedly, it wasn’t because [Tyler Bletsch] didn’t want to mess around with AC directly, but rather out of necessity.
AC power control without touching AC power
http://discspace.org/easy-servo-control-of-wall-switch-gives-ac-automation/
In this article I’ll show a simple 3D design for a servo mount to control a light switch for about $3, plus some electronics to drive it with a neat little interface. This article explains how I used it to regulate my air conditioner, but the basic bracket allows control of any U.S. standard wall switch.
First, I designed a simple bracket in SketchUp to be 3D printed. It uses the normal lightswitch faceplate screws to hold a cheap 9g servo next to the switch to flip it on command.
The screws go into slots, which allow you to fine-tune the location of the servo. The horn on the servo is the straight kind (===O===), which will be perfectly vertical when not flipping the switch. This means you can still totally use the switch normally without interference. The servo can turn -90 or +90 degrees to hit the switch on command.
To run it, I got an Arduino Nano, a small OLED display, and some tactile buttons to form a user interface.
I also got an early version to work with an ESP8266 programmed with Arduino
This means that you could slap this servo bracket on to any light switch to get web-enabled control almost immediately. The downsides include web security and the need for both 3.3V and 5V supply
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Latest, Best WiFi Module Has Been Announced
http://hackaday.com/2015/11/06/the-latest-best-wifi-module-has-been-announced/
A little more than a year ago, a new product was released onto the vast, vast marketplace of cheap electronics. It was the ESP8266, and this tiny and cheap WiFi module has since taken over the space of hobbyist electronics and become the de facto standard for connecting tiny microcontrollers to the Internet.
Now there’s an upgrade on the horizon. [John Lee], the public face of Espressif, the makers of the ESP8266, has announced the next product they’re working on. It’s called the ESP32, and if the specs given are correct, it looks to be the next great thing for the Internet of Things.
The ESP32 will now contain two Tensilica processors running at 160MHz, compared to the ‘8266’s one processor running at 80 MHz. The amount of RAM has been increased to 400 kB, Bluetooth LE has been added, WiFi is faster, and there are even more peripherals tucked away in this tiny piece of silicon.
documentation in English.
Right now, Espressif is beta testing the ESP32
https://twitter.com/EspressifSystem/status/662205725125414912
Tomi Engdahl says:
Upgraded version ESP-01 ESP8266 serial WIFI wireless module wireless transceiver
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-ESP8266-serial-WIFI-wireless-module-wireless-transceiver/32341788594.html
US $1.79 / piece
Tomi Engdahl says:
Interesting looking new board:
WeMos D1 WiFi ESP8266 Development Board Compatible Arduino UNO Program By Arduino IDE
http://www.banggood.com/WeMos-D1-WiFi-ESP8266-Development-Board-Compatible-Arduino-UNO-Program-By-Arduino-IDE-p-1011870.html?p=27131452996820140438
WeMos D1 WiFi ESP8266 Development Board Compatible Arduino UNO Program By Arduino IDE
Feature:
based on the ESP-8266EX.
Arduino Compatible, you can use it on Arduino IDE.
11 Digital I/O pins
1 Analog Input pin
OTA — Wireless Upload (Program)
On board switching power supply — Max 24V input, 5V 1A output
After installing the hardware package, the direct use of Arduino IDE development, the same operation with Arduino UNO
Installation Tutorial:
http://www.wemos.cc/d1/Getting_Started
Tomi Engdahl says:
Audio-coupled Smoke Alarm Interface Sends Texts, Emails
http://hackaday.com/2015/11/16/audio-coupled-smoke-alarm-interface-sends-texts-emails/
The Internet of Things is getting to be a big business. Google’s Nest brand is part of the trend, and they’re building a product line that fills niches and looks good doing it, including the Nest Protect smoke and CO detector. It’s nice to get texts and emails if your smoke alarm goes off, but if you’d rather not spend $99USD for the privilege, take a look at this $10 DIY smoke alarm interface.
The secret to keeping the cost of [Team SimpleIOThings’] interface at a minimum is leveraging both the dirt-cheap ESP8266 platform and the functionality available on If This Then That. And to keep the circuit as simple and universal as possible, the ESP2866 dev board is interfaced to an existing smoke detector with a simple microphone sensor.
$10 DIY Wifi Smoke Alarm Notifier (Roost & Nest Alternative) (Full Tutorial)
http://www.simpleiothings.com/10-diy-wifi-smoke-alarm-notifier-roost-nest-alternative-full-tutorial/
However with the emergence of IoT devices, now there are some cool products on the market right now that will send you a smartphone notification when your smoke detector goes off.
Nest Smoke Alarm + Carbon Monoxide Monitor ($99, Nov 2015) – A replacement for the traditional smoke alarm that sends an alert to your phone when it detects smoke.
Roost Smoke Detector Smart Battery ($40, Nov 2015) – 9V Battery you can install in any traditional smoke detector, which will notify you via a smartphone app if your alarm is going off. Battery lasts for 5 years, at which point the non-smart portion of the device needs replacement.
These look like great devices, but for some consumers they will be too expensive. Especially if you need multiple devices, it starts to get very expensive very fast. What if I told you you could build yourself a simple sound sensor that sends you a smartphone notification, SMS, and even call your phone when your current smoke detector rings. You could also build this for about $10 bucks. If that sounds interesting to you, read on!
I know you’ve seen these types of tutorials on the internet before, and usually they say something like, just buy a breadboard, soldering iron, breakout board, serial adapter, etc. etc. and after you’ve spent about $50 dollars you can build a cheap Internet of Things (IoT) device. Well, sorry internet. We nerds sometimes forget that most people don’t really have these things lying around. That’s why I built this website around the idea that IoT devices can be built without coding knowledge, soldering, or complicated prototyping.
One of the reasons why IoT devices can be built so easily now is because of the ESP8266 development board. IoT enthusiasts have been excited about the ESP8266 because its a full system on a chip (SoC) that has onboard wifi connectivity that can cost as low as 3 dollars. The IoT community has been building with Raspberry Pi and Arduino microcomputers for a while now, and while capable these computers cost up to $35 dollars, don’t have onboard wifi, and aren’t easily powered with common ports like microusb. The standalone ESP8266 chip is great, but doesn’t have an easy to use power supply and it’s hard to configure without special cables.
To make building IoT devices both easy and cheap, I recommend using the ESP8266 development board.
The Wifi Smoke Alarm Notifier, and all of the projects on SimpleIOThings use an internet service called If This Then That (IFTTT). IFTTT executes an action, like sending an SMS or posting a Tweet, when an event takes place.
Using the Maker Channel
For SimpleIOThings projects we’re going to use IFTTT recipes that use the Maker Channel. The Maker Channel allows people to create recipes that interact with DIY devices. The DIY devices you can build using tutorials from SimpleIOThings will send messages over the internet to the IFTTT Maker Channel, which then triggers actions like phone calls and SMS messages. The Maker Channel can also send messages to DIY devices to trigger actions on the device as well.
Once you connect to the Maker Channel, take note of your “Maker Key,” which is an alphanumeric code that identifies you and your DIY devices when they send web messages. You can jot it down somewhere, or you can always go back to https://ifttt.com/maker to find it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IFTTT Smart Button © GPL3+
This is a V2 of my original Staples Easy Button project. It is WAY more energy efficient, plus it has a first-time OTA wifi configuration.
https://www.hackster.io/noelportugal/ifttt-smart-button-e11841?ref=platform&ref_id=5755_trending___&offset=4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Retro-fit #IoT to your washing machine or home appliance
https://www.hackster.io/fablabeu/retro-iot-home-appliance-75cc7e?ref=platform&ref_id=5755_trending___&offset=10
Why buy a new “connected” washing machine if you can add a little like $10 and 1hr time to make it a connected one? #ESP8266 #IFTTT
Another #MakerWeekend make me thought you can I use the low cost #ESP8266 to make my home appliances talking to me, e.g. just letting my know if the washing machine is ready to take out washed clothes? Oh which home appliance allows to interact with the famous IFTTT application on your Smartphone to receive machine status where every you are or allow to trigger other events … what ever your like: send a tweet to your kids … doing the job
Get your #ESP8266 ready with nodeMCU, check out my other tutorials on getting ready with #ESP8266.
#IoT made easy #ESP8266 and IFTTT (If This Then That) app
https://www.hackster.io/fablabeu/first-esp8266-and-ifttt-integration-69dc3d?ref=platform&ref_id=5755_trending___&offset=11
Trigger IFTTT Maker channel on a Smartphone using the IF application while feeding data events from ESP8266 … super easy! #SENSableTHING
IFTTT Smart Button © GPL3+
https://www.hackster.io/noelportugal/ifttt-smart-button-e11841?ref=platform&ref_id=5755_trending___&offset=4
This is a V2 of my original Staples Easy Button project. It is WAY more energy efficient, plus it has a first-time OTA wifi configuration.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Networked Analog Clock
http://hackaday.com/2015/11/19/a-networked-analog-clock/
Even in the face of an Internet of Things grasping for a useful use case, an Internet-connected clock is actually a great idea. With a cheap WiFi module and a connection to an NTP server, any clock can become an atomic clock. [Jim] decided to experiment with the ESP8266 to turn a cheap analog clock into something that will display network time using a bunch of gears and motors.
The clock [Jim] chose for this build is an extremely cheap clock pulled right from the shelves of WalMart. This clock uses a standard quartz clock mechanism, powered by a single AA cell. The coils in these quartz movements can be easily controlled by pulsing current through them, and with a few a few transistors and diodes set up in an h-bridge, an ESP8266 is quite good at setting the time on this clock.
The software for this clock first connects to the WiFi network, then checks an NTP server for the true time. Once the ESP8266 gets the time, it starts hammering the coil in the clock movement until the hands are where they should be.
ESP8266 WiFi Analog Clock
https://sites.google.com/site/wifianalogclock/home
This project uses an ESP8266 module to connect to a NIST Internet Time Service (ITS) server to automatically retrieve and display the local time on a inexpensive analog quartz clock. The ESP8266 reconnects to the NIST server every 15 minutes which keeps the clock accurate. The clock also automatically adjusts for daylight savings time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
WiFi Serial Transceiver Module Breakout Board w/ ESP8266
http://store.hackaday.com/products/wifi-serial-module-breakout-board
WiFi Serial Transceiver Module w/ ESP8266
http://store.hackaday.com/products/wifi-serial-module-esp8266