ESP8266 Webster very that passes data to serial - arduino

Hello I am trying to get my ESP to run a webserver that will accept a string of text an output that text through a the uart serial pins to my arduino I can't find out how to do it I would apreshiate it
My seyup would be
Arduino connected to the esp through serial pins the esp would start a server and my pc would open the webserver and type in a string of text that string would transmit to the arduino

I can't comment yet, so I'll put this in an answer :)
What I understand is you want a simple 'webserver' on your ESP, that listens to simple GET requests, takes the query string, and sends that over the serial line to your Arduino.
Firstly, are you capable of flashing new firmware to the ESP?
It's not hard, but as I understand your request, you will need to be able to do it.
Then you need to pick what would be your preferred approach:
Flash NodeMcu firmware, and expand the webserver lua example to do what you want.
Set up the Arduino IDE to work with the ESP (tutorials exist), and write a Arduino sketch to do what you want.
You could also use esp-open-sdk, or the official Espressif SDK, and write what you want in C, but since you sound like a beginner, the two previous options are likley a better choice, their easier.
I expect the NodeMcu/lua way might be the quickest, although if you're already familiar with the Arduino IDE that might be a better choice.
If there are details you are stuck on, expand your question, and I'll see if I can stick them in the answer.

Related

ESP8266 Point to Point communication with 2 arduinos

I am using 2 esp8266 wireless modules to establish bidirectional wireless communication between 2 arduino boards (one mega and one uno) without the use of any earth based technologies (i.e. radio frequencies, wifi which relies on earth sattelites, etc.). My solution was to use the esp8266 to establish a private area network with both esp's acting as a station and an access point (AT+CIPMODE=3). Unfortunately, this solution has proven to be more of a hassle than it was worth.
To start, I have the esp's each wired according to this diagram
When I first started out, the red LED was on and the blue LED was off. During this time, I was able to send AT commands, establish the server, and achieve the communication I required by entering commands directly to the serial monitor. After this, I started writing a library using the SoftwareSerial library to allow me to issue commands directly through the program to set up the esp as needed upon start up of my script. Before doing this, I changed the baudrate to make sure it was running at 9600, and entered the AT commands in the serial monitor to make sure everything was working properly and it still worked.
After I began writing the library, before uploading the code with a test of the library I noticed the blue LED was lit solid now. Noticing this, I reuploaded the barebones script (I haven't uploaded the library code to the arduino yet) and the esp was no longer receiving the AT commands.
Does this indicate an issue with the board which I can fix or does this mean the board is done?
With my deadlines approaching fast in about 3 weeks it is crucial I get this wireless communication working so if this is an issue with the board, I'm going to have to scrap the esp's and use a different way of communicating. So my second question is, if this is the case, what are other viable options for establishing this communication? I have used xbee's before and while that would be ideal, they fall out of the budget I have been alotted so I need to keep it under $50 for this. If bidirectional communication is not possible for that price I can live with one way because I just need to get this system working. Basically I just need to transmit a single byte of data.
I realize this response is a little belated, and I hope you got it sorted: I've started working with the ESP8266 myself in the last few weeks, and hence why I was looking around for tutorials on direct communication between 2 units, when I found your post.
From what I've been able to ascertain, the AT commands are a part of the 'firmware' which ships with some modules. The Arduino code however starts loading onto the chips at memory address 0x0000, which is the same address that the firmware update tools use.
In other words, I believe that with the Arduino-coded program running on there, you lose the AT command functionality.
If you find a firmware update tool for the ESP8266 (plenty online) you'll get back the AT commands.
I suppose though the real question is why would you want to? It seems that the AT commands are just a way to treat the ESP as a dumb WiFi antenna. With the Arduino code, you're actually treating it as a micro-controller in its own right.

Serial Output to Arduino LED Display

I recently completed this project with my Arduino (a fairly new hobby for me):
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-24X6-LED-matrix/?ALLSTEPS
I can change the code to make whatever messages I want scroll accross the matrix but I thought it might be cool to have live information, like stock quotes, scroll accross. I think I could figure out how to do that except I would like to use it at work where there are lots of firewalls in place and I doubt Arduino software is on the approved list of programs. Is it possible to send messages to the Arduino through a USB without installing any drivers?
No it is impossible because data in Arduino is sent via serial command, the USB is only for convenience, but arduino work with FTD driver that emulate a serial connection. You should choose another type of connection bluetooth or wifi.
Hope this help you.

How to write logic to handle arduino sensors on separate computer

The ArduinoIDE writes firmware to my Arduino UNO but I want to handle logic and code outside the microcontroller on the computer with the microcontroller strictly being a sensor and the computer handling the logic.
How can I have the computer handle the logic and listen to sensors (output data to a computer) and respond (input commands to the board)?
Is this done with serials? How do I get started with this?
I know how to code, I just need help understanding how to get the hardware to talk to one another. Arduino to computer, computer to arduino.
For example, I have a thermal sensor on the board, how can I have bi-directional communication where the output of temperature would go to a program on my computer and respond to the board to turn on an LED or other command based on statements on the computer.
All help is appreciated.
There is a tutorial on arduino.cc how to read a sensor on arduino en display the values in processing.
There is also a tutorial to turn on a led with a command from a pc.
If you want to do real complicated things I suggest that you take a look at Firmata

Upload Arduino code on virtual serial port through Arduino IDE

I downloaded several software that provide virtual COM ports. These COM ports do appear in the Device Manager and can be selected for upload from the Arduino IDE, menu Tools -> Serial Port -> COM3. It starts uploading and reaches 90% and then it either times out or just does nothing.
I want to upload onto the virtual COM port so I could then read the compilation output files in another program. I don't want to use my Arduino at all, and I don't want to manually get the verbose output files when uploading. This problem doesn't happen when I upload on the real Arduino.
The application should work on all platforms. This task seems easy on Linux, and I am facing the stated problem on Windows and any help with Mac would also be useful.
The application will be an educational tool for hardware simulation and visualization trying to give a more hands-on experience for users than other simulators out there. So may be this will give you an idea of why I want to do so.
How can I get started?
I think you might be assuming that uploading code to Arduino is one-way communications: this would be like putting strawberries in a blender, and a Daquiri comes out. If that was true, you could just take whatever the IDE dumps to the serial port, save it to a file, and you have an Arduino binary. (Skip to TL;DR if not interested in details. Upshot: this assumption is not correct).
The 1-way communication assumption is not entirely correct: there is a program on the Arduino (called "a bootloader") which is responsible for communicating with the programmer ("programmer": a program that programs the Arduino, assume it is the Arduino IDE for now). In their most "natural" state, the Arduino CPUs cannot be programmed across serial lines. Rather these chips are programmed either via the in system programming (ISP) or via the JTAG protocol. The bootloader is a program that runs on an Arduino CPU and loading of sketches/programs over the serial port. This program runs at startup and looks for programming commands over the serial port.
If it discovers that a programmer is trying to communicate programming information, it will read the compiled Arduino binary coming over the serial link, store it in flash memory, send it back to over the serial link for verification, and if everything is successful, exit and launch the stored sketch. If no programming information appears on the serial port, that is, no programmer is trying to write a new sketch, then the bootloader simply quits and launches the program already stored in flash.
TL;DR: In order to implement a pseudo-Arduino on your serial port you must write a program some code that simulates an Arduino (bootloader) on the other end of your virtual serial port. So when a programmer/IDE says to Arduino "are you there?" your program will respond "yes!", just like an Arduino would.
The default Arduino bootloader is STK-500 compatible: that means that it implements STK-500 commands - the reference for which can be found here. If you decide to do this, then the easiest thing might be to start with an existing bootloader, such as Arduino's or AdaFruit's (there are others too), and modify it. Such a bootloader would have all the commands already implemented, and since it is written in C (I wouldn't choose an assembly bootloader to modify :), it should be easy enough to modify.
Alternatively, you might decide that STK-500 is too difficult to implement. If this is the case, you can use any programmer protocol that Avrdude supports: Avrdude is a program for programming AVR chips, and Arduino IDE uses Avrdude internally to send the sketch to the Arduino. If you do this, then you'd have to change the settings in Arduino IDE for which programmer you are using.
Personally, I think STK-500 compatible is the best option for this, but YMMV.

How to send/receive serial communication

How can I send a string via serial communications from Java or Python? I have a very little arduino program that will recieve a CSV string of ints that each control different relays (I adapted it from their example).
I just got an Arduino, and I am trying to use it to open and close a relay remotely. I have it opening and closing the relay, no problem. But I really have no idea where to start as far as using serial communication.
I have a bluetooth dongle that I can connect to, but once I do that I'm lost.
Also, this is my first time using serial communications AND my first time using an Arduino. So I'm sorry if I am completely off on some of the things I am asking. All I know is what I've learned from Google.
Thank you very much
You can use any Java or Python serial port classes and methods. There is however one thing you need to be aware of.
The newer arduino's have a feature known as AutoReset. This works by connecting the DTR signal from the serial port to the Reset line on the chip using a capacitor or such. The IDE uses this to reset the board to activate the bootloader and initiate uploading code to the arduino. The serial monitor in the IDE is aware of this and does not toggle the DTR line when comunicating with the device (except when it initially connects).
There is are several ways to defeat this feature and you can read about them here.
As for actually comunicating with the device, there are several tutorials about serial communication in both Java and Python.
Pyserial includes the option to not use the DTR lines when opening a port.
Here is a website explaining how to use RXTX (a Java library) to comunicate with an Arduino
Best of luck.

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