You have successfully set up and secured your initial IoT network. However, as your private home IoT network grows, maintaining each device individually becomes a real burden. This is where overarching smart home management systems come to save the day. Two of the most popular open-source tools today are Node-RED and Home Assistant. These platforms … Read more
1. Introduction While the ESP8266 microcontroller (with or without unicontrol) 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. With only 9 digital GPIO pins and 1 analog pin it is underequipped for … Read more
So, you’re transforming your home into a smart one and have created your first device. Before you expand your Internet of Things network further, it’s crucial to consider cybersecurity. A well-secured IoT network can prevent unauthorized access and protect sensitive data. Bear in mind that no network or device can be entirely invulnerable to unauthorized access. Therefore, … Read more
Starting your smart home transformation can be a daunting task. Even though you might have a clear goal in mind, the path to achieving it, and especially the first steps, often remain too hazy for comfort. To provide clarity, the following guide to DIY smart home lists the initial steps that might help you understand what lies ahead if … Read more
The pinnacle of DIY home automation is creating your own touchscreen dashboard that seamlessly integrates all the smart features of your home.
With the release of unicontrol 1.09, one of the most eye-catching smart home features has been implemented: the RGB LED strip driver.
The most universally applicable use of IoT devices is collecting a wide range of telemetry data. Whether your goal is to decrease energy consumption, gain new insights into your surroundings, enhance your security systems, improve your environmental quality, or catch early warnings of potential problems, the initial task is to gather the necessary data to … Read more
To revive the unicontrol module or to set parameters that are inaccessible due to missing Wi-Fi connection, it is possible to access the ESP8266 in an emergency mode via the integrated serial interface. It can be useful, in case of a forgotten password, entering wrong values by mistake during configuration, Wi-Fi malfunction – etc… Before … Read more
The unicontrol software was developed as a small intelligent control system tailored-made for ESP8266 modules and primarily intended for our ESPtronic V1.2 board. It is however, also possible and very effective to use it for a number of ready-made control units from most manufacturers equipped with the ESP8266 module. This includes industrially used components such … Read more