[09/07/2018] MONDAY
I studied how to program a nodemcu ESP8266 wifi module.
I tested out some codes which I have done.
I tested out a few html codes that I've written.
There was a problem in connecting devices to the wifi module. I spent hours trying to troubleshoot it. However, I did not succeed. I'll try another approach the following day.
[10/07/2018] TUESDAY
After running more tests and consulting an engineer, I figured out the problem with the connection.
I developed a simple application to light an led with my phone, through the use of the wifi module. This was done as a study for using the module. The app and code that I developed worked as I intended.
However, after discussing with the engineer who gave me the project, we have agreed that using a wifi module will be a big hassle to develop. This is because, in order to create an application to control the machine from afar, we will need to have a cloud server to enable communication between the application and the machine. He has shared with me a platform on which this could be done on, which is through the use of MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport). MQTT is a machine-to-machine (M2M)/"Internet of Things" connectivity protocol. It is useful for connections with remote locations where a small code footprint is required and/or network bandwidth is at a premium.
The primary target of the project is to provide users a control panel which they can use to control the machine through their smartphones. The connection range of the application is actually the secondary target.
Hence, I plan to allocate a few days to study the use of MQTT, and decide whether I should continue with the use of wifi module or skip it and proceed with using a bluetooth module.
[11/07/2018] WEDNESDAY
I studied a bit about using MQTT in the morning.
From what I understand, users need to register through the service in order to be able to use it. The app that I need to create should be user-friendly. Hence, it could pose a problem if MQTT demands a certain level of understanding to be able to use it.
Further studies need to be done. I plan to continue it during the weekend.
For the time being, I developed a simple application which can control the machine through the use of a bluetooth module. I tested my app and found out that it works as intended. The next step of my project is to modify the main Arduino code for the machine.
[12/07/2018] THURSDAY
I reviewed the main code for the machine and tried to figure out how to modify it in a way that can allow users to control the machine through the built in controller and also my app, without having any conflict between the two.
[13/07/2018] FRIDAY
I tested out the code that I wrote by simulating the machine's response through Arduino serial monitor. I found out that there are some parts which needed to be corrected. Hence, I revisited the main code for the machine.