I finally make it to the first development milestone of WiFi-enabled BrewManiac.
Being excited, I want to share with those who watch BrewManiac by providing my plan of WiFi features.
***Features***
- Web-based interface, including setting, automation editing, and status monitoring. Check the following pictures to get some feeling.
- ESP8266 firmware OTA update. Web-based.
- Captive portal for wifi configuration, which includes network selection and password setting. (Maybe in case there isn’t a router, the ESP8266 can serve as an AP.)
- Zeroconf. The IP information will be shown on LCD, but it is more convenient to connect by just “http://brewmaniac.local”. Currently mDNS(for Apple) is working smoothly, and the library supports DNS-SD(Android). I will try to make SSDP( Windows) work.
***Future development,*** which means it won’t happen soon or be available at the first release
- Recipe(mash schedule and boil/hop time) editing and saving.
- UI enhancement ( don’t hold your breath. I am not good at this.
- Browser notification. ( I haven’t study them yet.)
***Hardware***
- ESP8266-based boards. ESP-12E is recommended. I use a NodeMcu, which is ESP-12E with breakout board and a USB port connected to UART0.
- The connection between Arduino and ESP8266 is basically UART or Serial. Currently I use SoftwareSerial on both platforms with 38400 baud rate. However, hardware UART is highly recommended.
- Please note that a converter board or voltage divider circuit is necessary because the signal of ESP8266 is 3.3V while Arduino is 5V.
***Technical Software Detail***
- The Arduino code has not been changed too much. Basically, the code for WiFI is a revised version of Bluetooth one. Instead of text, I change to binary for lower data rate and more information carried.
- The ESP8266 code is baed on ESP8266-Arduino. https://github.com/esp8266/Arduino
There are still a lot of jobs to be done and bugs to be fixed. However, I am glad to prove that the architecture works.
The current display is designed for screens of phones, it doesn’t look good on computers. It’s not a big deal. right?
