ESP8266 IOT sensing with Blynk

Basically the internet of things, or IoT, is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

Evolution of IOT

The internet of things is also a natural extension of SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition), a category of software application program for process control, the gathering of data in real time from remote locations to control equipment and conditions.

SCADA systems include hardware and software components. The hardware gathers and feeds data into a computer that has SCADA software installed, where it is then processed and presented it in a timely manner. The evolution of SCADA is such that late-generation SCADA systems developed into first-generation IoT systems.

Designing of our first IOT system

Here we are using ESP8266 Nodemcu module which collects the realtime data from the temperature/humidity sensor (DHT-22) and the soil moisture sensor once every second.

I have created this arduino code where we are collecting this sensor data and sending it over to Blynk hosted API with the help of Blynk libraries.

1. Download the latest library Blynk_Release_vXX.zip file from the GitHub page and extract the zip file to the Library location of Arduino software.
2. Download Blynk App on Android or iOS device and follow these steps for getting started.
3. Download the code from my github repository.

git clone https://github.com/saurabh221089/esp8266_iot_blynk.git

Generate your auth token from app and update it in the code.

char auth[] = "53e4da8793764b6197fc44a673ce4e21";

Change you SSID and Password in the code and flash this code on your ESP module.

char ssid[] = "wifi4u";  //Enter your WIFI Name
char pass[] = "abcd1234";  //Enter your WIFI Password

In the created project on the app, assign the Virtual Pins to the Variables in the program to PULL the data from the API and show it on the app dashboard. 

Blynk.virtualWrite(V5, h);  //V5 is for Humidity
Blynk.virtualWrite(V6, t);  //V6 is for Temperature
Blynk.virtualWrite(V7, m);  //V7 is for Soil Moisture

Flash this code on your NodeMCU module and run the app on the same time to start monitoring.

If you just want to build a static weather monitoring module without any networking involved. You can create a weather monitoring station with ESP8266 and an OLED display.

All the best my friends for your exploration into IOT world. Happy IOTing!!

ESP8266 weather monitor

This tutorial will help you setup your own Weather Monitor with Nodemcu development board on which ESP8266 module is sitting as a microcontroller.

We are going to build a Weather monitor that will show all the vital stats for my home plantation.
Temperature (C), Humidity, Heat Index and Soil moisture percentage. This has helped me to maintain the perfect levels for apt growth of indoor plants.

What is an ESP8266?

The ESP8266 is a System on a Chip (SoC), manufactured by the Chinese company Espressif. It consists of a Tensilica L106 32-bit micro controller unit (MCU) and a Wi-Fi transceiver. It has 11 GPIO pins* (General Purpose Input/Output pins), and an analog input as well. This means that you can program it like any normal Arduino or other microcontroller.

And on top of that, you get Wi-Fi communication, so you can use it to connect to your Wi-Fi network, connect to the Internet, host a web server with real webpages, let your smartphone connect to it, etc. The possibilities are endless! It's no wonder that this chip has become the most popular IOT device available in the market today.

Pre-Requirements

1. Arduino software to upload the .ino sketch on the nodemcu

2. To program the ESP8266, you'll need a plugin for the Arduino IDE, it can be downloaded from GitHub manually, but it is easier to just add the URL in the Arduino IDE:

1. Open the Arduino IDE.
2. Go to File > Preferences.
3. Paste the URL http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json into the Additional Board Manager URLs field.(You can add multiple URLs, separating them with commas.)
4. Go to Tools > Board > Board Manager and search for 'esp8266'. Select the newest version, and click install. (As of Sep 1st 2019, the latest stable version is 2.5.0.)

Components Required

• NodeMCU (ESP8266 development board)
• OLED 128x64 screen
• DHT-22 temperature/humdity sensor
• Capacitive Soil Moisture sensor
• Few jumper cables to connect the components and a breadboard.

Github Repo to clone this project and code

$ git clone https://github.com/saurabh221089/esp8266_weather_monitor.git

Schematic diagram of the complete circuit

If you want to monitor the weather on your Android device when you are outside your home and want to leverage the full potential of ESP8266 module. You can create an IOT enabled weather monitoring station with ESP8266, DHT-22 sensor and Blynk library and monitor the weather from anywhere around the world.