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
Numerous third-party modules featuring the ESP8266 microcontroller are readily available in the market. Modules carrying the versions ESP-12E, ESP-12F, or ESP-12S are natively supported by unicontrol as they are equipped with 4MB Flash memory or more. They are typically less convenient when it comes to firmware uploads, compared to development boards like the WeMOS D1 … Read more
The majority of simple home projects do not require custom-made PCBs like the one demonstrated in the Bath Vent Project. Numerous ready-made modules featuring ESP8266 (or a socket for one) are available, most commonly integrating the ESP-12E or ESP-12F. These modules are natively supported by unicontrol, as they come equipped with 4MB Flash memory or more. Unlike development boards such … Read more
Manual flashing of the ESP8266 may be necessary if, for any reason, the standard web installer upload is inaccessible. We recommend uploading the software image in .bin format to your ESP8266 using the NodeMCU Firmware Programmer. This tool has an intuitive interface, works reliably, and is easy to use, even for beginners. Download the .bin … 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
When the hardware intended for our own project is ready, the first thing we need to do is to upload the unicontrol software to the module. The easiest and recommended method is to upload it using the freely available Flasher program as described here. Once the software is successfully uploaded to the module, a reset … 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
The “Heating/Cooling Temperature Regulator” (HTR) software for our AYAtec_ESPtronic-V1.2 board is used to regulate and monitor temperatures in the required area (home heating, garages, aquarium, terrarium, animal husbandry, swimming pool, whirlpool …). Depending on which version is loaded into the control module or what HW configuration the module has depends on how many independent spaces … Read more