ESP8266 Community Forum

Hi folks,
I have a machine with various inputs, outputs, control systems, and settings. I am controlling this machine with a microprocessor (arduino, maybe a pi in the future) connected to an ESP8266. There is a document stored on the microprocessor containing the settings the machine needs such as thermal set points and machine state configurations. Assume this machine does not have access to the internet.
I would like to be able to use a cellphone or laptop (within physical wifi range of the machine) to access a webpage which will show me a UI page populated with the settings from the document. I would also like to be able to change the settings and even download/upload a new settings document through this browser interface.
I know that using various cloud services would simplify the situation, but I cannot be assured the machine would have internet access wherever it is installed. I also cannot use a custom app as I do not know what brand/type of device may be used to interface with the UI.
This is a complicated project, and I would appreciate any help you can give. Thanks!

That was a bit vague.
I'm thinking of a captive portal to access the esp, but I'm not sure if I can modify, download, or upload a document as described.

http://marvinroger.github.io/homie-esp8 ... hat-is-it/
I think you’re looking for Homie. It takes care of what you’re talking about and leaves you room to program the rest. It handles all of the communication between an ESP8266 and a backend MQTT server. Homie uses a configuration file stored on the esp8266 flash data area. Check out the example code on this site. It’s pretty slick.

http://www.internetoflego.com/rfid-scan ... c522-mqtt/
Here’s a project that uses homie installed on an esp8266 along with an RFID reader. It contacts an MQTT backend server to find the keycard in the database. This project also uses NodeRed. Using NodeRed, you can set actions to occur, such as kicking of am IFFFT action or doing some other automation control external to your MQTT server.

While the following probably doesn't do what you want (you didn't specify what the machine does) but it does sound like the situation is much like what you describe. Connectivity without the internet and control of a complex machine. If I were trying to accomplish a job like that I would look to see if I could use this as a starting point.

https://github.com/luc-github/ESP3D-WEBUI