What is IOT and how it’s going to change our lives?
IOT – “Internet of Thing” simply is a collection of connected devices and services that work together to do “useful stuff”. Each device in this collection has a unique identification, in this case IP address. For example an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tire pressure is low -- or any other natural or man-made object that can be assigned an IP address and provided with the ability to transfer data over a network.
IOT is growing recently and becoming easier to implement, with technology increasing, chip becoming smaller and cheaper, more people are utilising and using IOT to gather data and present them in more reader manner.
This data collection is usually stored in cloud via internet, so it can be easily accessed.
IOT is going to change how we communicate and share data. With vast access to internet data can be instantly shared and retrieved. Sensors connected to medical device can today sent collected data from patients to doctors directly, turn on the aircon before you reach home or simple turn on the light of your house from abroad. Possibilities are as endless as imagination
How this kit is an IOT product and what’s special about ESP8266?
ESP8266 Weather Station is a good example of IOT. It collects data in form of temp, humidity and pressure using the sensors and records it on cloud using the ESP8266 WIFI. ESP8266 is an excellent module. Its small factor allows it to easily integrate using low voltage of only 3.3v. Below are the main features;
- 2.4 GHz WiFi 802.11 b, g and n
- Supports WPA/WPA2 security mode
- 14 mm x 24 mm module size
- AP (Access Point), STA (standalone) and AP+STA modes
- Simple AT commands to join router, run TCP client and TCP server
- Built-in TCP/IP Protocol stack
- PCB antenna
Different ways of using ESP, ESP alone, ESP + Arduino and why we chose the latter
ESP8266 can be used as standalone or together with a microcontroller. ESP8266 can be programmed using Lua programming as standalone but is limited with functions due to small data space to store codes. To resolve this issue ESP8266 is connected to microcontroller. In case of ESP8266 Weather Station Kit, ESP8266 is connect to Arduino. ESP8266 is just used to connect the Arduino to the internet world whereas Arduino does all the hard work. This also provides the availability to use all the power of Arduino in relation already compatible sensors and shields. ESP8266 communicates using the serial connection making the programming easy and simple. The already available library and raw AT commands are very to use in any project.
What this kit will do for you?
Weather Station with a cloud backup for all the logged data which works on Wifi.
ESP8266 weather Station is designed to capture weather data and save the information on cloud in real time for data analysis. This is achieved through using sensors attached to Arduino and using ESP8266 WIFI module to send data to cloud.
Sensors
There are two sensors used with this project. DHT22 – a sensor used to get temperature and humidity and BMP180 – a sensor to get atmospheric pressure.
Cloud backup
The data collected is send to cloud for backup in real time at an interval predefined in the code. User can use this data to analysis weather information, e.g. create history chart or predict weather based on data collected
Wireless feature making it easy to install outside
This project uses ESP8266 WIFI module for connecting to the internet world providing an ability to send data to the cloud for storage. ESP8266’s small factor allows it to be easy installed. ESP8266 is WIFI capable making is wirelessly connect to internet making it a hassle free and ideal module to use outside.
No local storage
Since data is stored in the cloud and offsite, your data is always safe and easily accessible through internet from anywhere in the world where you have internet access. This also means that you have access to your data in real time and is readily available to you.