New code for the ESP8266-01 and a new phone app to control it all - plus first look at the 4-channel Sonoff using Alexa
See video #110 at https://www.youtube.com/RalphBacon
(Direct link to video: https://youtu.be/ul2vtDXREBo)
OK, my "rant" in this video may have been orchestrated and done for artistic, light-hearted reasons, but I was also trying to make a point: some Far Eastern components are absolute tat.
It doesn't have to be that way, of course. Look at Apple components, built to the very highest standard possible - in the Far East, mostly. Thank goodness, then, that my Sonoff is a well-thought-out, quality circuit board with a high degree of capability.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, first things first.
So let's finish up on the "improvements" I've made to the ESP8266-01 relay module. I've rewritten the code for the ESP-01 and generated a new app for my phone, with a simple ON/OFF function. Basically, I've turned this unit into something similar to a single channel Sonoff!
However, it still required more work (and a hack, er, hardware reconfiguration) to do all this and we really should not have to do any of this. I discovered a simpler relay module that also takes an ESP-01 and seemed to be the answer. Was it? Watch the video and find out.
We also explore the new 4-channel Sonoff Pro that I link into my Amazon Echo (Alexa) with no fuss at all. I'm impressed with this unit. It does what I expected it to do (after setting some DIP switch options) and will definitely form part of my workshop automation project. Nice one, Sonoff!
So after this all this I'm thinking of my Raspberry Pi-based (Model B3+) hub running MQTT (mosquito) and Node Red - see what I'm talking about and then please give me suggestions, ideas and examples of what you have done.
LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS
Linking your Sonoff to Amazon Echo (Alexa)
https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-work-with-amazon-alexa
https://www.amazon.co.uk/xiao-fang-eWeLink-fan/dp/B01N313EQI
Sonoff 4-channel Pro RF Smart Switch
http://sonoff.itead.cc/en/products/sonoff/sonoff-4ch-pro
The phone app to control your Sonoff (links to Google Play or Apple App Store)
http://sonoff.itead.cc/en/ewelink
Node Red, a flow-based programming language for the IoT
https://nodered.org/
Explanation of "Inching" and "Jogging"
http://www.industrial-electronics.com/ind-mtr-cntrl_030.html
MIT App Inventor 2
http://ai2.appinventor.mit.edu
This will require you to login or register but it is well worth doing so.
If you already use Node Red or other browser-based flow editor this will be easy to use.
Some other examples of using this MIT App Inventor language
https://puravidaapps.com/snippets.php#2htmlread
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