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karlalopezsanchez

#4: Message box to send messages to loved ones

Updated: Feb 9, 2022

Due to covid restrictions, maintaining any type of relationship is challenging. It seems like overnight all relationships became long-distance relationships. I wanted to let my loved ones know I am thinking of them and I care for them by designing a box to send them messages randomly via MQTT publish/subscribe protocol.

 

Hardware you'll need:

-ESP8266 WiFi development board

-Cable to connect ESP8266 must be able to power AND transmit data (VERY IMPORTANT)

-20x4 LCD screen for more characters (16x2 has less)

-breadboard & cables


Software needed:

-MQTT Hive

-Arduino IDE

-Website to publish messages: http://www.mqtt-dashboard.com/


 

Schematic:



 

How to start MQTT broker:

-Open terminal

-Find directory where HiveMQ is located

-locate bin folder within HiveMQ folder

-run command: ./run.sh

-after a couple of seconds HiveMQ should start running


 

* Note: change the uppercase lines to your unique wifi connection and MQTT connection.


Arduino Code to be uploaded onto ESP8266:


#include <Wire.h>

#include <LiquidCrystal_I2C.h>

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>

#include <PubSubClient.h>

LiquidCrystal_I2C lcd(0x27, 20, 4);

const char* ssid = "YOUR WIFI CONNECTION HERE";

const char* password = "YOUR PASSWORD";

const char* mqtt_server = "broker.mqttdashboard.com";

WiFiClient espClient;

PubSubClient client(espClient);


void setup_wifi() {

Serial.print("Connecting to ");

Serial.println(ssid);

WiFi.begin(ssid, password);

while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED)

{

delay(500);

Serial.print(".");

}

randomSeed(micros());

Serial.println("");

Serial.println("WiFi connected");

Serial.println("IP address: ");

Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());

}


void callback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length)

{

Serial.print("Command from MQTT broker is : ");

Serial.print(topic);

Serial.println();

Serial.print(" publish data is:");

lcd.clear();

{

for (int i= 0; i < length; i++)

{

Serial.print((char)payload[i]);

lcd.setCursor(0, 0);

lcd.setCursor(i, 0);

lcd.write((char)payload[i]);

//lcd.setCursor(i, 0);

}

}

Serial.println();

}


void reconnect() {

while (!client.connected())

{

Serial.print("Attempting MQTT connection...");

String clientId = "THE CLIENT ID YOU USED IN HIVEMQ";

clientId += String(random(0xffff), HEX);


if (client.connect(clientId.c_str()))

{

Serial.println("connected");


client.subscribe("THE TOPIC SUBSCRIPTION NAME FROM HIVEMQ");

} else {

Serial.print("failed, rc=");

Serial.print(client.state());

Serial.println(" try again in 5 seconds");

delay(6000);

}

}

}


void setup() {

Serial.begin(115200);

setup_wifi();

client.setServer(mqtt_server, 1883);

lcd.init();

lcd.backlight();

lcd.setCursor (0,0);

lcd.begin(20,4);

}


void loop() {

if (!client.connected()) {

reconnect();

}

client.setCallback(callback);

client.loop();

delay(500); //delay for debounce

}


 

To publish message onto LCD:

-Click on web socket client

-Enter your client ID then press connect

-Under Publish change the topic to the topic name you chose and entered into your Arduino IDE code and enter the message

-Message should display on your LCD!

Enjoy sending some love to your loved ones!!!



 

Video:






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