Category Archives: Projects


Controlling relay switches with an infrared remote

The infrared (IR) communication technology, which existed long before WiFi and Bluetooth, is still a key component in implementing major components of a typical home automation system. For example, IR technology is still used in cordless headphones, for intrusion detection in home security systems, and in handheld remotes for controlling home entertainment systems (TV, DVD, soundbox, etc), air-conditioning units, and other household appliances. Because IR technology requires a line-of-sight between the transmitter and receiver units, it can only be used for connecting devices in short range, like in a same room. In one of my previous articles, I wrote about a simple IR

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Making a simple weather web server using ESP8266 and BME280

Since its launch in 2014, ESP8266 has revolutionized the IoT space by offering an extremely cost-effective and programmable WiFi-enabled microcontroller to hobbyists and professionals, thereby opening the doors to all kinds of everyday objects and sensors to the internet. In addition, with it’s built-in WiFi capability, the ESP8266 can also serve as a standalone web server on a local network, and can respond to the http GET commands received from an internet browser. This project illustrates how to construct a simple standalone weather web server utilizing NodeMCU development board for ESP8266 and Bosch’s BME280 environmental sensor chip. On receiving the web requests, the ESP8266

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ChipKIT Project 6: BME280 Weather Station

BME280 is a fully integrated environmental unit from Bosch that combines sensors for pressure, humidity, and temperature in a tiny 8-pin metal-lid LGA package of size 2.5 x 2.5 x 0.93 mm³. Because of its compact size, ease of use (BME280 supports standard I2C and SPI interfaces), and availability of supporting open-source Arduino libraries, BME280 is very popular among weather enthusiasts. This project describes how to read barometric pressure, relative humidity, and temperature measurements from BME280 using chipKIT Uno32 to make a standalone weather station. The sensor readings are acquired over an I2C bus and are displayed on a Nokia 5110 LCD display.

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RGB matrix displays time and environmental data

Temperature, humidity, and ambient pressure are the key parameters for environmental monitoring. With the advent of MEMS and integrated multi-sensor technologies, it’s been feasible to miniaturize environmental sensors and embed them into portable electronics. BME280 is one such fully integrated environmental unit from Bosch that combines sensors for pressure, humidity, and temperature in a tiny 8-pin metal-lid LGA package of size 2.5 x 2.5 x 0.93 mm³. This article describes how to read the environmental data from BME280 using Arduino and display the data on a 16×32 RGB matrix panel using the RGB driver shield. Things you will need Following items are used

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Wifi enabled 8×64 pixel LED matrix display

This project is a modification of my previous Bluetooth-enabled LED matrix display project, which used 8×64 monochromatic LED matrix (total 512 LEDs) for displaying scrolling text message. The original project used Bluetooth for display data transfer from a smartphone, but this one now uses Wifi. The display message is sent through web browser to a ESP8266 module that is configured as a web-server. No Arduino or any other microcontroller is used. ESP8266 alone works as a WiFi server and drives the MAX7219-based LED matrices.

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