Espressif is a company that has revolutionized the low-cost WiFi, BLE development. With classic ESP32 WROOM module, we have shown Controlling AC Powered Appliances With ESP32 and IBM Watson IoT with zero monthly cost. But the coding part with IBM Watson IoT was not easy. Although, we have pointed out how to use Android Apps to Control Devices Connected to IBM Watson IoT, essentially it was not … [Read more...]
How to Replace delay() with millis() : Arduino Programming
In many of the sketches shared by us have the millis() instead of delay(). Not always it is possible to explain a function within a guide on how to do a thing. In this article, we will explain about millis() and provide some easy examples so that you can reproduce yourself. It is normal that the Arduino users initially use the delay() function. The main reason is the blink example is the thing … [Read more...]
Arduino LED Candle : Some Codes to Help You
Thanks to China for making various designs of LED candles available all over the world. Indeed, most of these LED candles are not closest to the real candle, but they do give us the idea to think around playing around creating our microcontroller controlled LED candle. I was looking for a realistic feel and soon discovered that two people in project sites already worked a lot behind the creation … [Read more...]
eSIM : What You Should Know
eSIM (Embedded SIM) is an evolution of the SIM card for mobile phones and connected objects. Although the size of SIM cards has been reduced more and more, some "new" communicating objects, such as smartwatches, no longer have enough room to integrate a SIM card, even in nano format. And, above all, it is quite complicated to change the SIM card on connected objects. It was then decided to develop … [Read more...]
What is a Smart Speaker?
A smart speaker is an Internet-connected speaker that transmits music or voice wirelessly and integrates the functions of an intelligent personal assistant (IPA) via non-invasive voice control and speech recognition. No uniform term has yet developed for these devices, which is why terms such as intelligent loudspeakers and networked loudspeakers are also used to denote them. The speaker … [Read more...]
How To Easily Create Android App Controlled Local Devices With ESP32
For DIY IoT setup, we already have guides with IBM Watson IoT. In those guides, we have mentioned an Android App named "HTTP Shortcuts" for making the thing a bit smarter and professional. You'll not need to set up IoT to only locally control a device, for example, a water pump probably does not need control over the internet. In these cases, you only need Wi-Fi. Here is the code snippet for … [Read more...]
What Are the Problems of Smart Switches and Smart Sockets
Automation does not always need microcontrollers and Wi-Fi. The ICs, transistors and basic sensors can help to automate a lot of things. Smart sockets and smart switches are definitely great tools to control electronics of one house from another house. But, we are a necessity to tell you the potential problems and limitations of smart switches and smart plugs. Smart switches and smart plugs … [Read more...]
What is an Open Source Hardware?
Open Source Hardware is a piece of hardware that is manufactured according to the free blueprints. The movement and idea are close to or goes back to the Free Software, Open Source and DIY movement. Even if "open source hardware" often has a lot in common with open source software, "open hardware" can also take place far away from software technology: For example, the project "Open Source Car" … [Read more...]
Raspberry Pi Pico vs ESP32
You can get the Raspberry Pi Pico on Amazon for just under $4 plus shipping costs. The much older ESP32 you get in various forms for just under $10. You see, you get the ESP32 for a little more money with additional sensors or a display to display sensor data (or even the IP address of the microcontroller) or a camera. On the Raspberry Pi Pico, there are quite new chip RP2040 installed which was … [Read more...]
How to Make ESP32-CAM IP Camera Access from Anywhere in the World
First and foremost thing to warn - you can not compare the pro-grade IP cameras, something like EZVIZ IP camera with ESP32-CAM IP camera. ESP32-CAM IP camera module is dirt cheap and it is great to increase the number of video capturing devices. I would suggest you have some pro-grade camera to cover the main unsecured points of house/office and use ESP32-CAM IP camera module as an "add-on" to … [Read more...]
How to Test USB to TTL Converter
A USB-to-TTL adapter (USB-to-UART adapter, USB-to-UART bridge) is a USB device that lets us connect a device with TTL/UART port to our PC through the regular USB port. We can use it to update firmware on routers, modems, mobile phones, hard disks, and so on. For testing AT Commands, we need a USB-TTL module built on CP2102 IC. For the sake of proper description, we will describe how to wire The … [Read more...]