Internet of Things (IOT) has been in the market for some time now. It is no more a buzz word and we are surrounded by it without realizing it. I am interested in connecting things using wire/wireless and making communication happen between them. This is what IOT is doing, connecting objects with each other. Internet is just working as another wire/wireless tool to connect these objects. Once objects are connected they can communicate, controlled by human or machine.
ESP8266 module is one tool which acts as a bridge between connecting objects. It is a low cost WiFi chip with fully functional tcp/ip stack and a micro controller on it. Connect this device to any WiFi, add some code on micro controller and control things – This is what IOT is connecting and controlling anything from anywhere.
This device comes in 13 version (ESP-01 to ESP-13). All the devices have multiple i/o pins. The simplest is ESP-01 with 8 Pin.
ESP-01 and Pin diagram
Programming and connecting this device is very easy. It needs 3.3 v dc power supply, which can be generated using two 1.5 v AA dry cell or can be drawn from a supply unit. The power consumption is something which needs to be thought based on the time duration for which the device needs to be operational. It can be reduced putting the device in sleep mode. Another important aspect of power consumption is the connection to the WiFi. It becomes power hungry when connecting to the WiFi.
The details of connecting ESP modules will be discussed in another post. It can be connected to relays, sensors, arduino/raspberry-pi boards to perform various IOT operations. The next post in this series is “Introducing ESP-01 Module”, which explains the details of first version of the module.
Thoughts on Technology 