Tag: ARM WiFi

ESPToy 1.2 for easier Easier start with ESP8266

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It seems that ESP8266 WiFi module is successfully building a community around itself. And there are dozens of reasons for that. First of all – module is really cheap, then it can connect things to internet via WiFi and lastly it can be programmed as stand alone microcontroller by using Lua language. So it dives quite some opportunities. Ray recently discovered its potential. In the beginning he was playing with this module like with any other unit which accepts AT commands from host controller and does bring WiFi connectivity. But then he gave a try to its programming capability. Of course there is an initial hustle to flash it with Lua firmware that enables it to be programmed with scrips (there is even an Arduino IDE for scripting). Then he thought that this module could be wrapped with some hardware to make things much easier for starters, so he built ESPToy board which plugs ESP8266 module with programmed Lua firmware, then it carries USB to serial converter for easier interfacing to PC, additional there are button and RGB LED. Continue reading

Building simple web server with ESP8266 module

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ESP8266 is really cheap (~$4) WiFi transceiver module that comes in many PCB configurations. WiFi module can be connected to other devices that can access and control it with AT commands, but fun part is that WiFi module can be used as stand alone device which can be programmed with LUA script which could perform simple tasks like connect to WiFi, control GPIOs and toggle LEDs or drive other devices. Rui Santos have written a nice tutorial where he teaches how to set up a schematic of two LEDs connected to ESP8266 module. Then he demonstrates how to write a simple LUA script using ESPlorer Java based GUI and how to flash device with NodeMCU flasher. His example script enables WiFI module to work as web server where you can access it through web page and turn ON/OFF two LEDs by simply pressing buttons. Continue reading