arduino – Martyn Currey

Arduino & ESP8266 Webserver

July 7, 2017January 4, 2015 by Martyn

Update:
This is a very old guide and things have moved on a lot since this was written. One of the main advances is the ESP8266 core for the Arduino IDE. This means the ESP8266 can now be programmed like an Arduino and this is how I use them now, no more messing around with AT commands. For a general overview and examples of using the ESP8266 with the Arduino core see ESP8266 and the Arduino IDE.

Here is my first attempt at a web server using the ESP8266. It includes a request count and also a text input field.

ESP8266 webpage

Enter your name and hit submit

ESP8266 webpage 2

Arduino to ESP8266 By Serial Communication

December 25, 2016January 1, 2015 by Martyn

Following on from the FTDI + ESP8266 post, if you do not have a FTDI serial adaptor you can use an Arduino. Here is how to set up the Arduino to talk to the ESP8266.

FTDI + ESP8266

June 7, 2016December 31, 2014 by Martyn

Just started to play with the ESP8266-01 modules. Purchased from Taobao.

These, I believe, are version 2 and have the LEDs near the antenna. When first started they identify themselves as [Vendor:www.ai-thinker.com Version:0.9.2.4] and are version 018000902-AI03. This is a custom firmware from ai-thinker.

There seems to be quite a few different versions of similar modules. And the same module could have one of several firmwares.

Arduino with HC-05 (ZS-040) Bluetooth module – AT MODE

February 24, 2019October 28, 2014 by Martyn

Since writing the below many more modules have been released using the zs-040 breakout boards. Some of the newer ones include modules with a version 3.0-20170601 firmware that work in a slightly different way. I still do not have any of these and so cannot help directly but searching for the firmware should get plenty of hits online and a good place to start is stack overflow and the Arduino forum.

Update 20.07.2017

The zs-040 breakout boards are now being used for many different modules and you may not have the exact same boards as those shown below. The modules I am using here use the EGBT-045MS Bluetooth module and have the HC/Wavesen 2.0-20100601 firmware. They also have an EN pin rather than a KEY pin and they have a small button switch just above the EN pin.

There are now newer zs-040 modules that use the real HC SMD modules, these have a newer firmware and include a blue LED at the top right of the SMD daughter board.

There are also modules that use the same breakout board but have different board markings such as the fc-114 modules:
HC-05 FC-114 and HC-06 FC-114. First Look
HC-05 FC-114 and HC-06 FC-114. Part 2 – Basic AT commands
HC-05 FC-114 and HC-06 FC-114. Part 3 – Master Mode and Auto Connect‘

Turning a LED on and off with an Arduino, Bluetooth and Android. Part II: 2 way control

June 2, 2017October 20, 2014 by Martyn

In the first part I showed how to control a single LED from an app created in App Inventor. This worked OK but was very limited. You could control only 1 LED and the control was one way; from the app to the Arduino. What if you want to have 2 way control of the LED and to be able to also control the LED from the Arduino side? What if you want to control more than 1 LED?

In this guide we look at adding two-way communication. Here we control an LED but you could have it doing anything.

In first example you could only control the LED from the Android app, here we extend the example so that we can also control the LED at the Arduino side. When the LED is turned on or off by the Arduino we want the button in the app to update to show the correct LED status.

The first example used methods only suitable for controlling one LED, this time we will try to make it so the Arduino sketch and also the AI2 app can be easily scaled and so once you have the basic app in place adding extra buttons and controls should be fairly straight forward.

Arduino / ATmega 328P fuse settings

June 14, 2024August 16, 2014 by Martyn

Part of programming stand-alone ATmega chips is setting the fuse bytes, these are special settings that can be used to change how the ATmega chips operate.

Some of the things you can do by changing the value of the fuses include;

select different clock sources and change how fast the chip runs,
set the minimum voltage required before the chip works.
set whether or not a boot loader is used,
set how much memory is allocated to the boot loader,
disable reset.
disable serial programming
stop eeprom data being erased when uploading a new sketch.

There are many articles online but I could not find a single source that brought all the information together and fully explain what the fuses actually do.

It is important to remember that some of the fuse bits can be used to lock certain aspects of the chip and can potentially brick it (make it unusable). However, with a bit of care it is fairly straight forward to understand and use the fuse settings.

Disclaimer, I am relatively new to programming fuses and these are notes I wrote to help me remember things. The information is based on the data sheet for the ATmega chip, internet searches, and questions I asked on forums (especially the Arduino forum).

Controlling a Solenoid Valve from an Arduino

April 5, 2019July 11, 2013 by Martyn

There is now an updated and more detailed post. See Controlling a Solenoid Valve from an Arduino. Updated.

Using the Arduino to control the solenoid valve is simply a case of setting a pin high for the appropriate amount of time. There is, however, a caveat, the solenoid works at a different voltage to the Arduino and you cannot directly connect the two. In this case a TIP120 transistor is used as a bridge.

The TIP120 allows a small dc voltage (from the Arduino) to switch a larger dc voltage (12V to the solenoid). It can be thought of as a switch, applying a current to B allows current to flow between C to E.