Open Build IoT - Mesh 8266
An open source mesh network integration using ESP8266 based on painlessMesh library.
Mission
To be the backbone for developing a localized / independent internet or an off-grid internet.
General
One of the painpoints of IoT development is its too much dependency on main grid internet (hence it's name) but we believe it has become the bottleneck for market adoption. ESP8266, the most affordable chip there is ($5 apiece as of this today May 2019) has that capability to be assembled into a "Mesh Network" that works like internet in a localized setting.
Get Started
Microcontroller Setup and Code Upload
- Download Arduino IDE: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
- Open the IDE and click: File -> Preferences -> Additional Boards Manager --> Paste this link: http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json
- Then click: Tools -> Board -> Board Manager -> search ESP8266 Community, then click install
- Then click again the Tools -> Board -> NodeMCU 1.0 (ESP12E Module)
- Then click again the Tools -> PORT -> USB0 (or anything that works)
- The click Sketch -> Upload | Note: This procedure uploads the bare minimum code and checks whether there are potential errors. There are two common errors. The first one is on the PORT setting. Go back to Tools -> PORT then choose the right one. The second one is the admin permission error. For linux users, run this command in your terminal to change the permission: $ sudo chown user path. Where "user" is your machine's username and path is the location of the permission denied folder.
- At this point, you can now start and upload the sample code / sketch.
Dependencies
- PainlessMesh
- ArduinoJson (6.10.0)
- ArduLibraries
- ESPAsyncTCP
- TaskScheduler
How It Works
- Upload the code as it is to three ESP8266 devices. From here on, we'll call them "nodes".
- Fire up serial monitor and obeserve the messages coming in and you should notice that the other ESP8266 device (also called node) is communicating to your device.
- Turn on the 3rd Node and see in your serial monitor how the third node communicates immediately without any additional setup hence "auto-organizes" itself.