Lesson 1 – Introduction to Internet Of Things (IoT)

Blynk Board with NodeMCU (ESP8266)

Tutorial

  1. The next tutorial of this series is called, “Introduction to Internet Of Things (IoT)”
  2. As part of this tutorial we will explore the definitions of IoT (Internet Of Things), it’s applications, it’s uses and how IoT might impact our lives.
  3. Check out the tutorial videos provided below.

Prerequisites –

This track requires an investment in the following products –

  1. Blynk board
  2. NodeMCU (based on the ESP8266)

You can download the Blynk application for free through the Apple store or the Google Play store. The Blynk app ships with a few different free widgets which you can use for your sample applications. Additional widgets if required will need to be purchased. We found we could work with the free widgets and hopefully that’s the case for you as well.

About the Blynk Board –

The Blynk Board is a ready to use board for Internet Of Things (IoT) project. The Blynk board can be used in conjunction with the Blynk App and NODEMCU (based on the ESP8266) board. Armed with a NodeMCU, Blynk Board and Blynk App you will learn how to make your own IOT (Internet Of things) application in minutes. The Blynk board makes it super easy to create IoT (Internet Of Things) projects that will let you control devices over your wireless network at home including over the internet. The board has got two 5V relays, can control 2 x DC devices, has an on-board DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor and can be used to create various IOT applications or projects.

About the NodeMCU –

The ESP8266 is a low-cost Wi-Fi microchip with full TCP/IP stack and microcontroller capability produced by manufacturer Espressif Systems in Shanghai, China. The chip first came to the world’s attention in mid 2014 with the ESP-01 module, made by a third-party manufacturer Ai-Thinker. This small module allows microcontrollers to connect to a Wi-Fi network and make simple TCP/IP connections using Hayes-style commands.

NodeMCU is an open source IoT platform based on the ESP8266. It includes firmware which runs on the ESP8266 Wi-Fi SoC from Espressif Systems, and hardware which is based on the ESP-12 module. The term “NodeMCU” by default refers to the firmware rather than the development kits. The firmware uses the Lua scripting language. It is based on the eLua project, and built on the Espressif Non-OS SDK for ESP8266. It uses many open source projects, such as lua-json and SPIFFS.

 

Questions