Connected Little Boxes web flashing now live

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Well, that was fun. One thing I’ve always said about tricky projects is sometimes you have to “go and live there” to solve the problem. Well, that’s where I’ve been for the last month or so. I’ve been grappling with the JavaScript serial interface and the espytool with the aim of creating a website that can directly flash my Connected Little Boxes software onto a brand new ESP8266 or ESP32 device.

And I’ve finally gone and done it. If you want to put my software onto one of your devices (I’ve tested it with Wemos D1 Mini and Wemos 1 ESP32) you can go here, plug your device into your PC or laptop and then flash my software into it. For this to work you have to be using a Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browser.

I’ve also created a simple terminal (called Simpleterm) that you can use to configure a Connected Little Box from your browser. You can find Simpleterm here. You can use Simpleterm to talk to any device that uses a serial port.

The Connected Little Boxes website will be further developed over the next few weeks to add more projects. I’d love to know what you think. And it’s nice to be back in the blog…

Use OTADrive to remotely update your ESP devices

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I’m making a bunch of devices that I’ve decided to call “clever little boxes”. I’ve taken the important first step and bought the domain name. Now I have to make everything else. I’ve decided that the best place to start is with the deployment. You might think that this is crazy, but actually it is the most important phase of your development. If I’m not able to easily update the devices in the field and manage their deployment I won’t have a product, just a demo. Also, modern product development is a continuous process. You don’t make something and ship it. You make version 1.0 and then create version 2.0 based on the feedback you get.

To help me with this I’ve started using otadrive. Once you have created an account you can store firmware images on the site and then your remote devices can download and install new firmware images from them. You’re given an access key and a web based interface for uploading firmware and managing the devices that need to be kept up to date.

You get a tiny bit of Arduino code you can drop into your device to check for new versions. It works a treat. The only snag in my mind is that the site doesn’t seem to have a business model. At no point in the process of configuring and deploying versions have I been asked for any payment. This worries me for two reasons:

  • I might suddenly be hit with an enormous price list which makes the whole thing unviable.

  • The site might vanish overnight taking with it my entire network of devices.

I’m not that concerned just at the moment though. And if things get tough I can look at this on GitHub which might be where I end up putting everything.