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Before we start ...

... a few more important announcements and notes for successful and stress-free work with the calendar.

This manual is supported by the website www.iot.fkainka.de, where you'll also ﬁnd the necessary software. The manual gives an initial

overview of the individual tests. Because the Internet of Things is a complex subject, you'll ﬁnd supplemental information on the Internet that

makes the path to success easier.

More pictures and some additional articles could be included on the website that are useful for the development and design of your own

projects.

There's a comment function on the site. If problems crop up with a project, it can be helpful to present them to a larger community. For this

reason, on every article, you can write comments, ask questions, suggest improvements or support other hobbyists with their problems. So you

can still have fun even when something gets jammed.

Another advantage of the website is the element of surprise. The appeal of an Advent calendar is really that you don't know what's behind the

next door. With a manual, most of the time, you already see the test on the next page. On the website, only the chapter for the respective day

appears each day. So here's what I recommend: After this chapter, just put the manual in the corner and don't take it out anymore for now.

Instead, go to www.iot.fkainka.de and bookmark it in your browser. Then you can read the chapter of the day wherever you are, and later,

when you get home, you can experiment with the practical part of the day's project.

All fans of a classic manual, of course, hang on to the book. It can be completely comfortable not to have to hold a digital device in your hands

when you're getting an initial overview of the current test. But a visit to the website is inevitable because you still have to download the

associated programme. You'll ﬁnd it in each article under the heading "The programme."

I hope you have fun and have a joyful and exciting Advent!

Fabian Kainka

Day 1: The NanoESP board

It's the ﬁrst of December and thus time to open the ﬁrst door. Behind it is arguably the most important element of the calendar: the NanoESP

board

. This Arduino-compatible controller with WLAN function is at the centre of the 24 tests.

To s brieﬂy, it can be said that the board is most likely a cross between a board similar to an Arduino Nano and a WLAN module with the name

ESP8266. The communication between the two elements runs through a serial port generated via software, which is connected to Pins D11 and

D12. You should thus avoid these pins with your own projects.

So that you can successfully program your board, you ﬁrst need to install the driver. You'll ﬁnd it on the page http://iot.fkainka.de/driver. There

are versions for different operating systems there. In the Windows version, there is a setup.exe ﬁle in the ZIP folder that you have to execute. In

the window that then appears, simply click on "Install."

After the installation, you can now connect the board to the PC for the ﬁrst time. The PC should automatically ﬁnd the driver, while the two

Power LEDS (D6 and D2) light up on the board. The third LED (D3) ﬂashes ﬁrst. If the LEDs light up but the PC does not recognise any new

hardware, check whether you're actually using a USB data cable. You see, there are also cables that are intended only for charging devices like

smartphones but don't enable data communication. You can also look in Device Manager to see whether the device has been correctly

recognised and installed.

The driver is now installed, and in the meantime the third LED should also have stopped ﬂashing and remain constantly lit. That's the sign that

the initialisation of the board was successful. Now you should also be able to spot something else, namely that a new open WLAN exists within

your reach. The WLAN bears the name NanoESP. In today's practical test, you should connect to this WLAN. If the PC asks about the type of

connection, you should select the option "Home network." In this way, the communication with other devices isn't blocked. When you are

connected to the WLAN, you can open a browser of your choice and enter the following in the address bar:

192.168.4.1

This is the IP address of your board. The page that now loads for you to see is a small website that is sent from the board to your PC. This is an

Easter egg, which is a hidden function. The ﬁrst test is a function test and at the same time offers a glance at a potential use of the board as a

web server. But more on that later.

Summary of content (13 pages)

PAGE 1
Before we start ... ... a few more important announcements and notes for successful and stress-free work with the calendar. This manual is supported by the website www.iot.fkainka.de, where you'll also find the necessary software. The manual gives an initial overview of the individual tests. Because the Internet of Things is a complex subject, you'll find supplemental information on the Internet that makes the path to success easier.
PAGE 2
Day 2: The Arduino IDE This time there's a breadboard behind the door. On it, you can quickly and easily assemble the hardware layouts of the Advent calendar. Since only the NanoESP is available so far, we'll start with it. It's best if you plug the controller into the breadboard as shown in the picture. That way, the greatest space remains free for experiments; the WLAN module sticks out behind past the breadboard. The micro-USB cable then hangs between the contact sides and is only a minimal disruption.
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data in the programme. But first you need to download today's programme from the website www.iot.fkainka.de. When you've opened the programme in the Arduino IDE, you will see at the very first two DEFINES. This is where you have to enter your WLAN name and the password. Only then can you upload the programme. You can now check the status of the WLAN connection on the serial monitor. In the ideal case, you'll see "WLAN Connected" there. The LED D3 also lights up.
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again in the interface view. Now a simple tap is enough to cause the LED to stay lit. Day 6: The hardware button In yesterday's test, you realised a simple control of an LED using the Blynk app. Today you'll see that the control works in both directions. The push-button switch behind today's door really comes in handy for this purpose.
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mentioned on Day 6, you can get around this problem by deleting the old projects. Now you have enough energy again. You'll find today's programme on the website. Enter your WLAN data and the token code, and already you can upload the programme. The programme now unites multiple hardware and software actors and buttons. For example, if you push the first button in the app, the LED at D9 starts to light up. The second button switches on the LED D3, which is permanently mounted on the board.
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around and trying out various colours. You can even get white if you move the circle to the top left corner. The three numbers above also give the current PWM value of the pins D3, D5 and D6. This time, too, you can conceivable use the programme for a living room lamp with mood lighting that can be controlled via app. Day 11: Day- and nightlight Behind today's door is a 10-kohm resistor, but we don't need it yet today. Instead, the set-up from yesterday's test works today as well.
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Layout with tilt sensor The Blynk interface for today's project is kept quite simple. There is a terminal through which the important information is delivered. At the same time, the terminal is used to input the password. Set the password in the programme. If you haven't entered anything, the password is "password". There's also another element, namely the push widget. Push messages are sent through it to your mobile. Push means that the message appears directly as a message on your smartphone.
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The website in the browser If you now want to connect your PC to the NanoESP's own WLAN, you have to call up the access point IP address in the browser. The pages are the same, with the exception that no pictures are displayed. The reason is that the PC has no connection to the Internet through this network and thus the images, as external resources, can't be loaded. The advantage of this network mode, however, is that you don't need a router as a way station but can access the board directly.
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really a problem as long as the contact on the left of the image is plugged firmly into the board. The current climate data in the browser After you upload the programme, you can now open the website. You see three values that are represented as text and as bars. You can now calibrate the values somewhat with the potentiometers. The temperature value, especially, should be compared to a thermometer and adjusted. That's the only way to ensure that the information on the website is more or less accurate.
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. The plus thereby always replaces only one topic level. The # replaces all at once. With the topic MyHome/# you thus receive all messages that are published in all subtopics of MyHome. The data that are published to a topic can be virtually anything, from pure texts to measurement values or simple 1/0 commands for switching a light. Behind today's door is a button. In the test, we primarily want to make a couple of dry runs on the subject of MQTT.
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know the project: It's about globally networked coloured lights that can be simultaneously controlled through Twitter commands. Another version of this project was part of last year's Advent calendar. This year we have the version with MQTT and expanded functions. Behind today's door is a 1-kohm resistor. The layout consists of the RGB LED with series resistors and a button. Download today's programme. Before you can transfer the programme to the NanoESP, you have to install a library.
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NanoESP/MyMQTTiD/climate/light NanoESP/MyMQTTiD/climate/hum As always, replace MyMQTTiD with your personal ID. You now see in the browser how the data arrive in quick succession. Next subscribe to the following topic: NanoESP/MyMQTTiD/climate/status You ought to receive the message "online." Now disconnect the board from the power. Logically, you should now no longer receive any new temperature data. However, after approx. 10 seconds, the status changes from "online" to "offline.
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Now you can switch between these persons by publishing the person in the topic NanoESP/MyMQTTiD/present . If you enter "sister" there, for example (pay attention to exact spelling), the settings for your sister are loaded and are used when the box is opened. After the gift has been removed, put the next one in, close the box again and load the next setting by publishing the next person. For test purposes, you can hold the sensor in front of a white sheet of paper, which simulates the closing of the box.