Home Automation Design With ESP32

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Hello,

I currently need some assistance and I’m hoping to get it here. I’m working on a project for my home but I’m sorta stuck. I would really like to control all appliances with Wi-Fi. I plan on making small nodes. There’ll be a separate node for main switches, then for the washroom switches, and maybe a third switch to control or a window curtain control node. I would like to make different nodes and they’ll all have some means of communication.

I did a personal research but could only find this: DIY Motorized WiFi Roller Blind - ESP8266 & Blynk - Share Project - PCBWay . I want to make that sort of nodes.

I’m presently concerned with the electronics side and would be needing someone’s guidance. Although, I’ve previously worked on ESP32, I’m not sure of my next steps. From what I recall, I think I might have to make some ESP32 mesh networks for multiple nodes to talk to the parent node. Any suggestion will truly be appreciated.

Thank you very much in advance!
Keonte.

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Sorry to be pessimistic but I don’t think you will get that here. This forum is mainly about making PCBs. While they are some people here who know what an ESP32 or an ESP8266 are (I’ve got a few that are just missing round tuits :wink:), you will find more of those people on hackaday.io or eevblog.com. When you have designed your circuits and want to make PCBs then ask away.

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If you don’t plan to transmit video in your home automation you can consider ZigBee also. I don’t know details, but I suppose you get less current consumption and may be bigger communication range with the price of less data throughput.

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Why are you re-inventing the wheel?
There are plenty of Bluetooth / ZigBee / Zwave / WiFi solutions out there already.

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Thank you. I’ll try eevblog for more assistance.

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Thank you for you suggestion. I’m still not fixed on my decision to transmit video so I’ll place ZigBee as one of my option. I’ll just check out which will be easier to work with.

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I understand that it might be totally unnecessary but I just want to try this out and see the outcome. After all, there might be no harm in trial.

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We have tested few years ago this modules:

We were surprised with the communication distance we reached. One was at street and one on the 4th floor at opposite building side. It was not me who did the tests so I am not sure if both were those modules. May be one had bigger antenna.
ZigBee

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What I don’t understand is why you think you need a mesh network. Is your home so large that you need node to node communication? Why not use the simplest topology where they all connect to one or more access points and are directed by a central server?

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Wow!!! That’s pretty awesome. I’m officially using ZigBee. I’ll try with different different modules and a bigger antenna to see the outcome first.

You’ve truly been of great assistance to me. Thank you!

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I felt that a mesh network will give me a way better coverage. What other topology would you recommend I use instead of mesh?

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If all the nodes are within range of the AP, why not just do like other people and use star topology? Do you have a very large home/estate?

In any case it’s a matter of hardware selection, network setup, and software, and little to do with PCB design.

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The house is about 10,000 square feet. So, do I stick to the mesh topology or go with the star topology?

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10,000 square feet is about 900 sq m. That’s not unusual for a large house with garden, around here at least. Why not try and see if you can get reception from the AP from the most distant corner before you commit to a topology? Even if you can’t get reception there are solutions such as WiFi repeaters. It seems premature to commit to an architecture without gathering more information.

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Okay. Thank you very much. I really appreciate.

I’ll follow your advice to by trying to do some test before choosing a topology.

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I may not totally answer your question but have a look our https://wizcube.eu platform. It is using Raspberry Pico and this is getting hype theese days and that is for a very good reason.
EspHome Has also a port on Raspberry Pico so theese modules can be used out of the box. More to come…
Having said that stick on wifi and mesh comunication. Any mesh. WiSun is comming as well.
We are preparing modules using Single Pair Ethernet to daizy chain the modules.
IP6 protocole and Low Power subGHz is under construction too
Everything in KICAD6 and open source
Enjoy

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Okay. Thank you very much.

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