Small Device, Small Price Tag: Starting IoT for Next to Nothing

Espressif makes a highly integrated SoC known as the ESP8266-EX that combines a microcontroller with a Wi-Fi stack on the same silicon. This chip, combined with flash memory and an antenna, is sold as a FCC/CE-approved module for under US$3. Breadboard-friendly DevKits that combine the module with USB serial port and power components are available for under US$7. This talk is not a sales pitch for Espressif, though. Rather, we will explore how to write software for this tiny platform, primarily focusing on the use of an open-source firmware known as NodeMCU. Using scripts written in Lua, we’ll see how to connect to a network, read data from other devices and sensors, and communicate with services on the internet – the types of activities that a tiny Thing would need to do!