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Interesting ESP8266 WiFi Module
Posted: Monday 17 November 2014 18:30
by SweetPants
Just saw this
https://nurdspace.nl/ESP8266 module. Looks interesting and very cheap. Ordered a set to experiment with it.
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Tuesday 23 December 2014 20:51
by ThinkPad
Have you already done anything interesting with it?
I found this page:
http://harizanov.com/2014/11/esp8266-po ... r-reading/
I am now using a relay connected to the GPIO pins of my Raspberry to control my thermostat:
http://domoticz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4447
But someone said this module could also do that (with GPIO pins). I think that is a great example of the power of such a module
Also handy to create your own smart bulbs or something

Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Tuesday 23 December 2014 21:20
by Derik
Looks great.....
For all my rooms @ home..
A very cheap sensor..
I hope.......
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Wednesday 31 December 2014 9:31
by SweetPants
Derik wrote:Looks great.....
For all my rooms @ home..
A very cheap sensor..
I hope.......
Just received two to experiment with. The chip itself also has GPIO/SPI/SDIO/I2C pins for other use. It's factory loaded with modem like (AT commands) software, but you can load your own software on the chip, if you want, using the SDK.
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Wednesday 31 December 2014 15:51
by ThinkPad
Some project with the ESP8266 i find quite interesting for domotica purposes is this one:
http://gizmosnack.blogspot.nl/2014/10/p ... -hack.html
That way you can make your own cheap version of
Plugwise. Awesome

Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Wednesday 31 December 2014 22:42
by Derik
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Wednesday 07 January 2015 12:25
by ThinkPad
Some other ideas that i thought of:
ESP8266 with LDR photo resistance module
I have one of these modules, and with the trimpot you can configure the light intensity level where it should trigger. If it is light it returns a high signal (5V or 3V3, depending on supply voltage), when under set level it is low (0V).
Combined with an ESP8266 and a small phone charger, this could be a cheap way to create a dusk/dawn sensor
ESP8266 with DS18B20 & DHT22
Use the ESP8266 with an DS18B20 temperature sensor and DHT22 humidity sensor to create a cheap sensor for measuring temperature & humidity in a room.
ESP8266 to read P1 port of Smart Meter
Use the ESP8266 to read the P1 port of your smart meter. Should not be too hard, as the ESP8266 is designed as a serial-to-wifi module, and the P1 port of a smart meter is in fact a simple serial port (9600 / 115200 baud, sometimes inverted data).
Could be very nice for people that don't have their Domoticz setup in their meter cabinet.
ESP8266 to tell status of device to Domoticz
A lot of devices have USB port that is powered when the device is on. For example my TV. Unfortunately it isn't a smart TV, so i can't ping it. But if i would power the ESP8266 from the USB port, i can ping the ESP8266 and see if the TV is on.
I thought i would just share them with you. Maybe i will start working at some of these ideas, but that will be later this year, i am very busy this month.
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Wednesday 07 January 2015 12:55
by SweetPants
ThinkPad wrote:I thought i would just share them with you. Maybe i will start working at some of these ideas, but that will be later this year, i am very busy this month.
Thanks for sharing. I myself was thinking of a mains plug measuring power (via ACS712 hal effect sensor and external I2C ADC), switching on/off the attached device (relais) and have the ability to connect an external temp/hum sensor (DHT22). Therefore I need more GPIO pins like the ESP8266-07/12, the ESP8266-01 has only two and one is used to get into UART bootloader mode.
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Wednesday 07 January 2015 13:52
by ThinkPad
Have you seen this link:
http://gizmosnack.blogspot.nl/2014/10/p ... -hack.html (also posted a few messages ago higher above).
He tapped into a cheap power meter and is reading the power usage with an Arduino. Shouldn't be too hard to convert that to an ESP8266 solution. Add a relay to switch the load, and the temperature & humidity sensor.
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Wednesday 07 January 2015 14:42
by SweetPants
I have seen that, but I want to make a single PCB wich fits into a standard enclosure and use a standard 5V/1A power supply. I don't want to connect my logic directly to the mains which is done frequently in 'cheap' solutions. The article also warns you about that frequently. This will make it a little bit more expensive, but better save that sorry!!!
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Wednesday 07 January 2015 14:44
by ThinkPad
But what does it matter if all data is transfered over WiFi, so there is no physical contact with the electronics? And if you have everything inside a good enclosure? Danger is minimalised then..
But your approach sounds interesting, keep us updated pelase

Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Thursday 08 January 2015 15:13
by ThinkPad
I found this tutorial:
http://www.instructables.com/id/ESP8266 ... /?ALLSTEPS
WiFi temperature logger with DS18B20 and Arduino Pro Mini. Sketch seems to be quite easy, as far as i can see it calls an URL of ThingSpeak (using GET) and puts the temperature in the URL (&field1=).
Shouldn't be too hard to get it to call a domoticz JSON URL to update a virtual sensor... Or store it in MySQL. I use the same approach for the Arduino that was logging my central heater for a long time:
http://thinkpad.tweakblogs.net/blog/110 ... highcharts (i now have the DS18B20 directly connected to the Pi).
Edit: Yup, storing temperature in Domoticz is very easy:
Code: Select all
/json.htm?type=command¶m=udevice&idx=IDX&nvalue=0&svalue=TEMP
Source:
http://www.domoticz.com/wiki/Domoticz_A ... emperature
So put that URL in the sketch, and you would be done

Gonna try this when i have some spare time. I have all the required components lying around somewhere.
Maybe it is also possible with a DS18B20 connected directly to the ESP8266, without using an Arduino. But i don't know, and the Arduino route is the easiest for me, as i have worked with it before, and have zero experience with programming the ESP8266.
Shouldn't be too hard to create a dusk/dawn sensor also, you could use 90% of the Arduino sketch, together with a cheap LDR module.
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Thursday 08 January 2015 17:40
by Raspberry Piet
Yes very interesting modules! (ordered some)
Why make use of an Arduino AND ESP8266?
Run a script at your Domoticz machine to get the values through HTTP API.
http://harizanov.com/2014/12/wifi-iot-3 ... g-esp8266/
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Thursday 08 January 2015 17:44
by ThinkPad
Real cool, but that MQTT seems a bit too technical for me to understand at this moment

Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Thursday 08 January 2015 17:48
by Raspberry Piet
Don't need MQTT necessarely. (Maybe in future when it is natively supported by Domoticz)
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Thursday 08 January 2015 17:49
by ThinkPad
Ah, that's perfect

Now just wait for his code to become available

Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Thursday 08 January 2015 17:54
by Raspberry Piet
Isn't it already? (haven't read all yet) Hope it will before my ordered modules arrive.
There is also a nice PCB layout!
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Thursday 08 January 2015 17:59
by ThinkPad
Once I get all this working the way I imagine it, I will make the board design files and source code available on Github, and will offer a limited number of pre-built boards in my shop. You want one, trust me..
But this code is available:
http://harizanov.com/2014/11/esp8266-po ... r-reading/
With that code, controlling GPIO and reading temp & humidity is already possible. I am going to try that now

But i use Windows instead of linux, so i hope i manage to upload the firmware
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Thursday 08 January 2015 18:24
by Raspberry Piet
It's the URL you already posted yourself!
Pull values from the ESP8266 is nice but would be nicer to choose between push/pull in a web gui.
Maybe that is already possible? Keep us informed!
Re: Interesting WiFi Module
Posted: Sunday 11 January 2015 11:27
by dannybloe
I just ordered 3 of those ESPs and a couple of DHT-22 temp/humid sensors. Would be a very cheap way to have all kind of sensors around the house.
Very interesting indeed...