With the initial prototyping of my IoT Controller now completed, and software performing as expected, I have started with the development of an add-on shield. The base device offers 2 built-in relays, and access to another 6 IO Ports on the PCF8574, as well as all the GPIO on the ESP-12E. This is all good and well and suits my initial purposes well, but
I do however now see a need to add more sensors to the device, as well as find an elegant way to power it directly from mains power, while not having lots of wires going anywhere.
So the next steps will be:
Design an add-on-shield to provide me with the following:
– Analog inputs.
The ESP-12E has only one, and that will be very limiting in some situations.
-Digital Inputs and Outputs
While there are still unused GPIO ports on the existing board, native to the ESP-12E,
having the ability to connect additional devices and sensors will definitely be a good
option to have in future.
-Some sort of Display
Small OLED I2C displays are cheap and easy to use. I can also go full colour with an SPI
display…
From here on, I have to decide on how and what.
I can go the discreet chip route, by using dedicated I2C chips that provide all these functions, or I can add a secondary micro-controller to the shield, which would provide more flexibility, but can also add complexity to the final design…
Please follow along and join me on the next part of this design journey. I can not promise
anything yet, but I do guarantee that it will be exciting…