IoT and home networking -> DIY slant

I suppose I should be using the term Maker instead of DIY, AFAIK they are interchangeable.

Is anyone here fooling around with networking small devices (e.g. Arduino and their ilk?) I'd like to do some things with this, perhaps even automate controls for stuff like HVAC, lighting and such. My slant on this is doing what I can on my own. SmartThings look interesting but a starter kit costs $200. Seems like a lot.

Right now I'm thinking about what to use for networking infrastructure. Should I go with Wi-Fi? Zigbee? Xbee? Wi-Fi seems like overkill.

Incidentally... One recent find in the vein of microcontrollers is one I'm working with at the moment. ST Microelectronics has an eval board - the STM32F4DISCOVERY that has a 32 bit processor " featuring 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4F core, 1 MB Flash, 192 KB RAM" and runs at 168 MHz. By my calculations that's about 10x an Arduino and for less than $15US! There's also one with a built in QVGA LCD for about $24US. (These are already on my Christmas list. ) And there is a Wi-Fi add on . For $40US. (Yes, I'm cheap.) On the plus side, STMicro provides libraries to drive the Wi-Fi and having to write my own could take a bit of work.

Pointers to resources on this would be welcome! Comments WRT experience - even better!

If you're not already aware (I assume you are, though), http://hackaday.com is a great resource for things like this. I personally use retail Zwave products for my home automation, it's one of the top technologies in that market right now. You can buy Arduino shields for Zwave tx/rx so it's possible to roll your own devices as well (assuming you have a Zwave controller). Electric Imp is budget IoT device that is being used in a lot of applications. I picked up a Quirky wireless propane tank gauge at Home Depot a few weeks back for $5 on clearance and it's built off of an Imp.

I'm totally unaware - thanks for the tips!

Just a quick update to this if you're still interested. The ESP8266 is quickly becoming the go-to IoT chip. It can easily be integrated with an Arduino or other MC, but it also has a fairly robust MC itself, and people are writing custom firmwares and SDKs to be able to flash directly to the chip and manipulate its GPIO pins. At less than $3 for WiFi capabilities it's a no brainer. I was thinking about using the NRF24L01 transceiver for RF, but stumbled upon this wifi chip instead. I ordered a handful of them and they should be here late this week, you should check it out!

pcgamer4life said:

... The ESP8266 is quickly becoming the go-to IoT chip.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I already have one. And a couple of the NRF24L01 transceivers. I just need some time to fool with them.

There are a couple wrinkles to the ESP8266 chip though. It is 3.3V and the Arduino runs at 5V plugged into USB. It also needs 300mA at 3.3V to operate properly which is a bit much to power from the 3.3V pin on the Arduino. I've got some regulators to produce 3.3V and a level shifter to convert the I2C channel between 3.3V and 5V. I've also got some other toys to fool with including Cypress PSoC (http://www.cypress.com/?rID=92146) and Arm (http://www.st.com/web/catalog/tools/FM116/SC959/SS1532/PF259090) to fool with.

And I'm still tied up finishing an Arduino project for my grandson for Christmas. It turns out that just declaring data const does not automatically in flash because the AVR does not have a unified address space. By the time I got that sorted, the app no longer ran and I had to take a couple steps back...

But I'll get to it before too long.

Feel free to post logs of whatever you're working on! Once these ESPs come in, my first project is going to be a garage door sensor and opener. (probably a sonar + photo sensor to see if door is open, and toggle a relay connected to the opener to open/close). First version will probably be arduino dependent, but eventually I hope I can accomplish it through the ESP alone.