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Newbie

PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:17 pm
by geantas
Hello there,

First of all, I would like to say I am pleased to be joined in this community.
I am completely new, fresh, young guy who decided to start learning some serious stuff that could make my life easier.
So, I've developed an idea, why I couldn't create a system to automate my home. I know, I know, there are plenty of such solutions over internet. But first of all, they cost a lot of money, secondly they are not WiFi based (or maybe there are some?), and they are still not made by myself. So, I would really like to build something completely custom for myself.
After doing some research of how I could control multiple devices remotely, I've found there is a possibility to make some system which works via radio frequencies remote control. This definately is not a solution that I am looking for, as it is very limited and requires of disassembling devices which are already prepared for work. The more deep I got into this, the more info I got about completely WiFi-based system, controlled by one computer remotely, with no wires, totally via WiFi. So, I found that there is a new module released, called ESP8266 which has WiFi receiver built in and could do most of the things I want to. Unfortunately I figured out that there is no solution to do with Raspberry Pi yet (at least with ESP8266). So, there goes Arduino. I guess it is very cool tool too, but unfortunately I am totally not familiar with it.
As well as I am not familiar with ESP8266, nor with connecting it to Arduino or establishing a WiFi (and completely wireless) connection between these two devices, nor the programming of Arduino (as it is completely different from RPi).

So, what I would like to ask this great community here, is if there was any kind sould which could lead me through all the basic steps. Yes, totally from the beginning (I have to start somewhere, right?). I have bought "Funduino UNO Development Board" from miniinthebox, ESP8266. I have the wires and a PC. To be more specific, I can try to write some questions, even though they are asking something impossible:
1. What do I need to do to connect the ESP8266 to Arduino? Any pinout explanation, drawings? Maybe you have a photo of these devices connected?
2. Do I need any additional devices, like JTAG, etc?
3. How do I upload the WiFi configuration to ESP8266? There are hints on the internet, but there is nothing specific for noobs like me. I would really love some help with basics step-by-step.
4. After I disconnect ESP8266 and find a power source for it, will it be fully functional? I mean the communication between Arduino and ESP8266 will still work wireless? Or maybe I do not understand something and it actually needs Arduino to be always connected together?
5. Any help with the basic programming and explanation will help.

I think that's it for the beginning. I think I might find some more questions but this is the basics that I would like to know. If there is someone who has some time and could help me and lead on the way, it will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Re: Newbie

PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 9:25 am
by Borstenhorst
1: a few wires, and make sure you have a 3.3 V arduino.you might want to check http://www.seeedstudio.com/wiki/WiFi_Se ... ver_Module
2: nope
3: you send the configuration via the serial connection, once you have configured the device the configuration is non-volatile.
4: see 3
5: see 1 and AT command list

Re: Newbie

PostPosted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 9:48 am
by nicoverduin
Not that I am quite clear on your level of programming but:
a) If you have an Arduino type board, there are ample supply of tutorials available in the IDE
b) As for programming the ESP8266 you could use either the VM (virtual Machine environment) or create a separate installation on a new partion with UBUNTU(linux) and install the the compiler and SDK as described here: https://github.com/esp8266/esp8266-wiki/wiki/Toolchain
There is also an arduino installation for lunux machines to be found on arduino.cc.
If you wish to combine both envrionments in a decent IDE, try Eclipse.
On my machine I have both Arduino and EPS8266 SDK installed both working under Eclipse. So I have one environment for both worlds. For Eclipse I made a short desciption here : http://www.verelec.nl/?page_id=547

Re: Newbie

PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2014 4:53 am
by Imrangee
Hello All,

I would also like to thanks everyone here to absorb me in this community. I am too a newbie like geantas and want similar functionalities from ESP8266. I have procured an Arduino UNO and even an Arduino Mega board but so far I am unable to get the ESP8266 Worked. I followed tutorial http://www.seeedstudio.com/wiki/WiFi_Se ... ver_Module but so far in vein.
I want to ask all the geeks here that:-
    How I can configure the module to establish a connection?
    How to operate some relays through my Arduino Boards?
    Some example sketch / code for my boards?
Thank you in advance.