Published July 19, 2019 © CC BY-NC

ESP8266 - Control an External LED Over Internet

Control an external LED light from anywhere in the world using the ESP8266. The GPIO pin serves as an output source to the LED.

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ESP8266 - Control an External LED Over Internet

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Espressif ESP8266 ESP-01

Arduino UNO

LED (generic)

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Blynk

Story

Become familiar with ESP8266

Find about how ESP8266 works and then learn to control the built-in LED of ESP8266 from my previous Hackster article.

https://www.hackster.io/Niv_the_anonymous/esp8266-beginner-tutorial-project-6414c8

Please follow the tutorial before moving to this project (link above).

The GPIO pin

To control the LED, GPIO 0 pin of the ESP8266 is being used. ESP8266 (version ESP-01) has only four GPIO pins. GPIO_1 is a Tx pin and the GPIO_3 is an Rx pin which is connected to Arduino for uploading program to the ESP8266 board.

In the previous ESP8266 tutorial, the GPIO_0 pin is connected to GND while uploading the program to ESP8266. After that, it is removed (see the previous tutorial - https://www.hackster.io/Niv_the_anonymous/esp8266-beginner-tutorial-project-6414c8).

Connecting the LED to ESP8266

So the GPIO_0 pin should be connected to the LED. Connect the circuit according to the connection given below in the schematics column. GPIO_0 pin should be connected to GND while uploading the code. After the code has been uploaded, remove the GPIO_0 pin from the GND and connect it to the positive terminal of LED and the negative terminal should be connected to GND. The code is given below. Copy the code and paste it in your Arduino IDE software. Don't forget to select the right board manager type( see the tutorial -.https://www.hackster.io/Niv_the_anonymous/esp8266-beginner-tutorial-project-6414c8).

The Blynk app

Configuring the Blynk app to connect with ESP8266 has been explained detailed in my previous ESP8266 tutorial: https://www.hackster.io/Niv_the_anonymous/esp8266-beginner-tutorial-project-6414c8

Open the Blynk app and add a button in it.

Now click on the button and tap the PIN tab. Set the digital pin to gp0 PWM.

You have set the button to control the LED.

Turn ON the WiFi and ESP266, it will automatically get sync with it.

Press the button and you are ready to control the LED over the Internet. Watch the video in the beginning.

Code

ESP8266_LED.ino

/*************************************************************
  Download latest Blynk library here:
    https://github.com/blynkkk/blynk-library/releases/latest

  Blynk is a platform with iOS and Android apps to control
  Arduino, Raspberry Pi and the likes over the Internet.
  You can easily build graphic interfaces for all your
  projects by simply dragging and dropping widgets.

    Downloads, docs, tutorials: http://www.blynk.cc
    Sketch generator:           http://examples.blynk.cc
    Blynk community:            http://community.blynk.cc
    Follow us:                  http://www.fb.com/blynkapp
                                http://twitter.com/blynk_app

  Blynk library is licensed under MIT license
  This example code is in public domain.

 *************************************************************
  This example runs directly on ESP8266 chip.

  Note: This requires ESP8266 support package:
    https://github.com/esp8266/Arduino

  Please be sure to select the right ESP8266 module
  in the Tools -> Board menu!

  Change WiFi ssid, pass, and Blynk auth token to run :)
  Feel free to apply it to any other example. It's simple!
 *************************************************************/

/* Comment this out to disable prints and save space */
#define BLYNK_PRINT Serial


#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <BlynkSimpleEsp8266.h>

// You should get Auth Token in the Blynk App.
// Go to the Project Settings (nut icon).
char auth[] = "YourAuthToken";

// Your WiFi credentials.
// Set password to "" for open networks.
char ssid[] = "YourNetworkName";
char pass[] = "YourPassword";

void setup()
{
  // Debug console
  Serial.begin(9600);

  Blynk.begin(auth, ssid, pass);
}

void loop()
{
  Blynk.run();
}