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Create a Micro-Indicator Device

Introduction

Create a Micro-Indicator Device

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a Dirty Watts Micro-Indicator light. This light shows at a glance when we are burning coal and gas to make our electricity. If the light is red, that means we're burning coal and gas, which is not so great for the...

Hardware

Create a Micro-Indicator Device

The first step is to hook up your microcontroller to your lights. We only need three wires, two for power (black and red), and one for data (green). Follow these steps: Cut off one end of three jumper wires and strip about 5mm of insulation...

Software

Create a Micro-Indicator Device

Now that your NodeMCU is connected to your lights, you must set up a development environment on your computer. The DirtyWatts microcontroller uses a tool called PlatformIO to handle uploading the C++ code to the NodeMCU. To setup your windows/macos/linux devi...

Wifi Configuration

Create a Micro-Indicator Device

When you have uploaded your code and the device starts up for the first time, it will spit out a bunch of messages saying it can't find a saved wifi network. Let's fix that! ..... *wm:Connect Wifi, ATTEMPT # 2 of 6 *wm:No wifi saved, skipping  *wm:Connect ...

Continued Development

Create a Micro-Indicator Device

Here’s some ideas for pathways to continue developing your DirtyWatts Micro-Indicator once you have tried out customising the Algorithm. Case You’ve got a pile of electronics, but nothing to hold the guts in. You could make a case from anything! You could de...

The Algorithm

Create a Micro-Indicator Device

Now your DirtyWatts Micro-Indicator is on and working, let’s look at what your light is trying to tell you. You can see how this colour is chosen in src/powerstations.cpp. void PowerStations::calculateInstructionPoint() { // Initialise the instruction p...