Wifi RGB controller

After doing the smart coffee table project, I read online that others had done the same thing in a much much easier way. And cheaper... Instead of soldering the mosfet circuits together and connecting it to a nodemcu, you can pretty much buy commercially available versions(link here). Then you just reprogram them to your liking. In my case I want it to talk MQTT to my openhab server.

I also discovered the lovely Tasmota software, a more elegant and put together version of what I made.

To do this you have to solder some wires to the labeled pads on the pcb and connect it to your usb to ttl converter. 

In my case I left the header soldered to the board in case I ever want to reprogram it in the future. I plan to use this controller with some led strip lights that I am putting above my 3d printer. 

Wifi Door Sensor

I started out by buying a NEO Wifi Door Sensor. They are fairly cheap and I had read online that they had a esp chip in them. So the theory was I could reprogram it to talk MQTT to my openhab server. The device was fairly small and runs off a cr2 battery.

So I tore it apart and saw the pads labeled vcc,gnd,tx,rx,and io_0. Thought it was a walk in the park, solder some wires and load code through the arduino ide. 

This is where everything fell apart... Couldn't get an code to load and I realized there was another mcu sharing the tx/rx lines. In the end I gave up and just took the magnet and reed switch, then built my own using a Wemos D1 Mini.

I used the schematic found from this website: http://www.whatimade.today/esp-8266-mailbox-notifier-using-deepsleep-and-blynk/. A single 18650 battery powers the unit, currently monitoring the battery to determine how long it will last. The device was then packaged up on a hand soldered pcb.

Then placed on my front door.

So now every time the door is opened, it sends an update to the openhab/Mqtt server, the server then turns on my foyer and living room lights. #nerdgoals

Code: https://github.com/kbittle/Esp8266_DoorSensor