ESP8266 a Complete Beginners Guide (IOT)

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The basic question is what all is needed to use this great tool . I will also lay out all the alternatives I have read so far which are used to program ESP-01 (ESP8266) .

1. ESP8266 module . I will use ESP-01 .
2. A 3.3 Volts power supply

   or 5 volt to 3.3 volt DC-to-DC converter

   for standalone ESP projects or AMS1117 or LM1117 converters(LD33 ) .
   

3. Arduino UNO or any other Arduino , with wire ( With or Without the IC )
4. Female to Male , Male to Male Header wires .
5. Breadboard mini or general 850 Point one ( Basically any Breadboard ) .
6. If you don't have or want Arduino , You can use a FTDI or USB to Serial TTL CP2102 adapter .

NOTE : Basic thing to understand is that the ESP can be powered with Arduino or the CP2102 adapter while programming , but for standalone projects we need a solid power supply at 3.3 Volt and 500mA .

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WARNING : WORKS ONLY WITH 3.3V AND NOT 5V . ESP8266 WILL PROBABLY FRY AT 5V .

I don't take responsibility for it.

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Basically it needs only 3.3V and Maximum of 800mA at peak and Minimum 250mA to operate .

I have attached a PDF from the ESP8266 Community Wiki that is a datasheet of ESP8266 .

I will be using this Freeduino ( Similar to Arduino ) to program the ESP-01 , since I don't want to remove the IC from my new UNO .

Attachments

• esp8266_specifications_english.pdf
  Download

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Setting up the Environment .

Software Arduino Environment v 1.6.4 or greater

Installing with Boards Manager Starting with 1.6.4, Arduino allows installation of third-party platform packages using Boards Manager.

It have packages available for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux (32 and 64 bit).

Install Arduino 1.6.4 (or greater) from the Arduino website ( I have 1.6.11) . Start Arduino and open Preferences window.

Enter http://arduino.esp8266.com/package_esp8266com_ind... into Additional Board Manager URLs field. You can add multiple URLs, separating them with commas. Open Boards Manager from Tools > Board menu and install ESP8266 platform (and don't forget to select your ESP8266 board from Tools > Board menu after installation).

Procedure:
Start Arduino 1.6.4 or Higher

Select ‘Tools’- ‘Port’ whatever # your USB-serial is on

Select ‘Tools’ -‘Board’ ‘Generic ESP8266 Module’

Select ‘Tools’- ‘CPU Frequency’ ‘80MHz’ or Overclock afterwards at '160Mhz'

Select ‘Tools’ -‘Flash Size’ ‘512K (64K SPIFFS)

Select ‘Tools’ -‘Upload Speed’ ‘115200’ for ESP 12E , also Some ESPs may be 9600

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CONNECTIONS

The Connections are ( For ARDUINO ) :-

Firstly Remove the Atmega Chip from the Arduino

1. Vcc and CH_PD ( ENable) to 3.3V on Arduino
2. GND to Ground . ( For ESP -12 , GPIO15 to GND as well )
3. Tx to Tx of Arduino
4. Rx to Rx of Arduino
5. RST , GPIO0, GPIO2 are floating ( Neither High nor Low )

Important part here is the ESP uses more current than the Arduino , thus at risk .

Therefore I use and external DC 12 V , 1 A beside the PC connection .

For other connections refer the Images .

Before flashing lets check the connections

The ESP modules usually come with a built in AT Firmware by the Ai-Thinker .

So refer to this Image for commands .

Open up the Arduino , Go to the Serial Monitor ( Do select your COM port ) and Write :

AT

// This should return OK , else it's not working

Possible Errors :

1. Check connections
2. Select proper Baud Rate
3. Arduino COM port is correct
4. The Red LED ( ESP 01 ) is Bright (High )

If none of these work Pray to God .

Some Commands :

AT+GMR = to check firmware version

AT+RST = Soft reset

AT+CWLAP = Find Nearby Wi-Fi

AT+CWJAP = Connect to a specified AP

NOTE : If you are trying to connect to any wifi using AT+CWJAP and it returns ERROR or just sits there

Follow these commands :

AT+RST

AT+CWJAP=" "," " // ( This should return Error or OK, it's fine )

AT+CWJAP? // No AP or Error , Still Fine

AT+CWJAP = "Your SSID","Your Password" // THESE ARE CASE SENSITIVE

ALTERNATE TO AT command from ARDUINO :

There is this Java Software : ESPlorer , a wonder to use .

I have uploaded this also in the ZIP file .

Now the main step ,

The ESP can be programmed by various methods .

There are many Firmwares for it like the NodeMCU , ESPBasic , Arduino , etc

The NodeMcu runs on the LUA script ( Out of my expertise as of now )

But Arduino still runs on C++ ( In my expertise )

So we will Flash a firmware which will make the ESP to take the Arduino Script (Cpp script ) and run it .

Softwares available :

1. ESP8266 Flasher
2. NodeMcu's own Flasher
3. ESP Flash Download Tool
4. Another ESP flash tool

In my Quest ( To flash ESP 12E ) , I learnt and tried mostly all of them .

I made a zip file for all the different tools I have used .

Now to the main part ( Using the ESP8266 Flasher )

• Open ESP8266 Flasher
• Select the COM port ( Very Important )
• Select the BIN file , i.e your Firmware file
• Take GPIO0 to GND ( RST and GPIO2 are floating )
• Select 0x00000
• Hit Download
• The Blue Led starts to Blink fast

It will start to Erase and Write firmware ( 0 to 99% )

And will end at saying Unable to leave Flash mode , Don't worry it's perfectly fine.

THE BIN FILE is in THE ZIP ( v0.9.2.2 AT Firmware.bin ) Use this .

Possible Errors :

• GPIO0 is not grounded
• Loose connections
• COM port is not correct

If nothing works , restart your ESP and Take the RST ( Reset ) to Gnd and remove

Let the blue Led flash once and try again from the start

Attachments

• ESP.zip
  Download

These instructions are available everywhere but the most important part here is to put the ESP module in Bootloader mode before uploading .

Firstly select The correct Board - Generic ESP8266 module

Then the COM port

Open any program in Arduino , let us say Blink .

Change pin 13 to 2 , and use a LED and Upload

Now before hitting Upload , take Gpio0 to ground

And RST to ground afterwards , Remove RST after half a second ( The blue led flashes for some millisecond )

Take GPIO0 back ( To high or Float )

Hit Upload , the blue flashes once and then blinks till it gets uploaded .

Now you are all done . Remember before uploading put ESP in Boot Mode .

Thanks for reading and If you have any queries just comment below , Very Happy to Help .

P.S : If you are looking for serious home automation , Try using NodeMCU or ESP-12E or 12F .

Since they have More GPIO pins .

If I helped you in any way , do hit on that little heart , means a lot to me .