“unicontrol is a single fine-tuned, general-purpose ESP8266 firmware for autonomous devices. It saves hours of your time when automating the space around you with no coding required”
Why unicontrol?
Developing basic autonomous applications for the ESP8266 can be highly inefficient. Consequently, even skilled programmers might spend entire days developing and fine-tuning the firmware with low added value. unicontrol, as a general-purpose ESP8266 firmware, alleviates this burden by offering a pre-optimized toolkit for defining basic applications.
What’s more, setting up unicontrol does not require any coding, making it the ideal choice for non-programmers.
* In this case, estimates assume a moderately experienced programmer coding an application from scratch, using all publicly available libraries or examples, estimated by ChatGPT. To demonstrate, time required for hardware preparation and/or dashboard/app setup is not included.
| common applications | unicontrol | self-coded* |
| Basic online Thermometer / air monitor | < 15 minutes (watch ) | ~6-12 hours |
| Autonomous Thermostat with MQTT control | < 30 minutes (watch ) | ~11-19 hours |
| IR remote-operated relay with IR code learning procedure | < 30 minutes (read  ) | ~13-22 hours |
| RGB LED strip driver with MQTT control | < 30 minutes (read ) | ~10-15 hours |
| Autonomous Rain-tank sensor with Auto-fill and remote control/set-up | < 30 minutes | ~11-18 hours |
| Safety relay with automatic shut-down and online notifications | < 30 minutes | ~8-12 hours |
Knowledge base
Furthermore, an extensive knowledge base is available online to help you get on board as quickly as possible. It ranges from technical details explained in the user guide to real-time, step-by-step demonstrations found in our video tutorials.
- Get inspired by the Blog
- Find answers in the User Guide
- Learn from the Video Tutorials
- Ask in the Discussion Forum
Hardware
While the ESP8266 microcontroller still remains to be a powerful choice for any IoT automation project, the bare ESP8266 in any of its forms has a critical lack of I/O options without a supporting PCB.
The result is the sensoraya PCB, an internally developed, professional ESP8266-based WiFi IoT control board unlocking the full potential of this microcontroller. It is suitable for most smart-home or industrial automation projects with up to 10 relays, 8 analog inputs, 8 MOSFETs, 3 digital I/O outlets and more.
ESP32 on the way
Indeed, the current version of unicontrol is available exclusively for ESP8266. However, development is undergoing to add its natural successor ESP32 to the family in both firmware and hardware. Subscribe below to receive the news when this version is available.
