Typically, a WiFi network has a range that’s above 45 meters. The signals are strongest near the router. The further away you move, the weaker the signal. The same is true of thick walls or additional floors in a home or building. The WiFi signals could be completely lost on other floors of a premise. …

Connecting embedded microcontrollers to the internet is a crucial task in modern applications. The embedded controllers, particularly in consumer devices and wearables, now essentially require ping online. This is more important as the devices are getting smarter. Connecting to the internet is not just crucial but a hefty task as well. The typical TCP/IP stack…

Many IoT applications are controlled with the help of a webpage or an HTML website running within a Local Area Network (LAN) or Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). Some examples of such IoT applications include home automation, office automation, and smart farming. The HTML webpage or website controlling the things is hosted on a microcomputer…

MicroPython is an implementation of Python 3 for microcontrollers. It’s an awesome firmware that combines the powerful features of Python programming language with the low-level access of microcontrollers. Following is a list of microcontrollers supported by the MicroPython framework. Arch Mix, Actinius icarus, Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect, Arduino Primo, B_L072Z_LRWAN1, B_L475E_IOT01A, blueio_tag_evim, C3 mini, CERB40,…

ESP8266 and ESP32 are popular WiFi development boards. These microcontroller boards are ideal for building the internet of things (IoT). We covered how to connect ESP8266 and ESP32 (or any MicroPython port) with a network connection for use as a WiFi station here. We used the MicroPython network module.   This network module provides a driver…

The 1-Wire protocol is a proprietary standard for serial data communication from Maxim Integrated. This protocol is a low-speed, half-duplex, bidirectional, low-power master-slave data communication standard used by several devices, including temperature sensors, real-time clocks, EEPROMs, identification (intellectual property protection) devices, timers, and iButtons. There can be only one master device on a 1-wire standard…

In a previous article, we covered sleep modes in ESP8266. ESP32 is another popular Wi-Fi development board from Expressif systems. It’s more feature-rich than ESP8266, but also more power-hungry. The power consumption of ESP32 can reach up to 790 mA when the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are both operational — nearly double that of ESP8266, which…

SPI and I2C are the common serial communication protocols used by sensors for communicating with microcontrollers and microcomputers. Both protocols are master-slave protocols. The sensors often take the part of a slave device within an embedded ecosystem. Most of the time, a sensor only requires sending data to the microcontroller/microcomputer. This remains true even if…

Sensors use slave-master protocols for interfacing with microcontrollers and microcomputers. Among many different slave-master protocols, I2C and SPI protocols are the common serial communication protocols widely found in embedded devices. Both protocols let the microcontroller/microcomputer take the master role and allow interfacing of several sensors and embedded blocks on a common bus. This tutorial will…

Microcontroller boards require communicating data with a lot of other devices that include sensors, actuators, other microcontrollers, and microcomputers. This data transfer or exchange is carried over serial interfaces using standard protocols like UART, I2C, SPI, 1-wire, etc. UART is one of the common serial data communication protocols available on almost every microcontroller. UART is…

ESP8266, a System-on-Chip (SoC) manufactured by ESpressif, is the most popular IoT development platform is a complete and self-contained Wi-Fi networking solution. The SoC consists of a Tensilica L106 32-bit microcontroller and a Wi-Fi transceiver. Therefore, the chip can be used to self-host an IoT or embedded application or offload Wi-Fi networking functions to another…

This article explains how to build a voice-based Home Automation to control Home Appliances. Google Assistant is used to input voice commands or text commands. The main intention of this project is to introduce various IoT tools and integrate them to build a real-time project. As home automation is a friendly project, it is chosen…

This tutorial is about interfacing a servo motor with nodemcu esp8266 WiFi module. A web page is served by the nodemcu which enlists the servo motor controls. User can connect to nodemcu esp8266 and access the web page. To open the web page in browser user has to type the HTTP address of the server…

This tutorial is about controlling stepper motor over WiFi through desktop or mobile web browser using nodemcu esp8266 WiFi module. Nodemcu will work as a server and it will serve a web page. Web page contains the stepper motor control buttons. Stepper motor takes steps to complete one full 360 degree rotation. Number of steps…

In this repository of ESP8266 projects, we will take you through some of the most recommended DIY projects. A very small but highly potent WiFi module, it serves as a one-stop destination for a wide range of IoT based tasks and home automation projects. These projects quite similar to Arduino projects, however, ESP8266 projects are…

Measuring the voltage of your solar panel, ups, and other daily use batteries consumes a lot of time. Grabbing multi-meter, opening the battery boxes, and touching both the multi-meter leads to terminals of the battery takes some effort.  How about developing an efficient IoT system through which you can see the status of your battery…

This is a simple DIY project on internet of things applications. How to monitor room temperature over WiFi? One can see temperature on his mobile, laptop or desktop computer by this DIY project. Popular LM35 temperature sensor is interfaced with Nodemcu ESP8266-12e WiFi module. Nodemcu gets raw temperature voltage form lm35, converts the voltage in…

Measuring an individual battery voltage or a whole bank of battery using any microcontroller(arduino, microship pic, Avr, Atmega, Intel, NXP, stm32)is an easy task. You can find many tutorials on internet on how to do so. But what about if we want to measure an individual battery connected to a cluster of batteries in series…

 In the previous tutorial, a brief introduction of Internet of things was presented. The importance, challenges, applications and trends in IOT were discussed. Now, equipped with basic understanding of IOT, it’s time to investigate the building blocks of IOT. IOT is developed as a package with integration of various technologies.  Each technology has its own principle role within the IOT system. In this tutorial, the basic building blocks of IOT and their place in an IOT infrastructure will be examined. 

Use of sensors is pretty common in industries and organizations. But, Internet of Things (IoT) has put the usage of sensors at a completely different level. Again, the entire concept of IoT exists and survived because of sensors. What role does sensors play in IoT? Simply answered, they are the medium through which various physical objects are connected through Internet. IoT platforms function and deliver various kinds of intelligence and data using a variety of sensors. The world has gone digital and “smarter” through the interconnection of things via Internet through sensors.