Week 1 Challenge: ESP8266 as wireless OSC bridge

THE TOPIC: The wonderful new ESP8266, is “a self contained [and very low-cost SOC with integrated TCP/IP protocol stack that can give any microcontroller access to your WiFi network. ” In other words, the cheapest, smallest and likely easiest way to connect your physical computing projects to the internets.  Maker favorite vendors like Sparkfun and Adafruit sell it, you can but it for barely over $2 on ebay, and there is a very active and giving community formed around it with a forum, a wiki and more.  We want to make it very easy prototype rapidly with the ESP8266.

THE CHALLENGE: This week’s challenge is to great a set of instructions and a 1-minute-or-less demonstration video that shows how you can use an ESP8266 to send sensor information from an iOS or Android smartphone, to an Arduino Uno, in order to control a physical computing an actuator, using the OpenSoundControl protocol.  More specifically:

• Research and make reference to available iOS and Android apps (ideally free ones) that allow one to send the phone’s sensor values to another machine, using OpenSoundControl over wireless.  A quick google search reveals many options.
• Prototype a circuit made up of an Arduino UNO, an ESP8266 and whatever else is necessary, that allows the Arduino to fade and LED based on sensor information from the phone.  Document this circuit diagram using Fritzing; create a circuit schematic using Fritzing or Eagle.
• Create a 1-minute-or-less video that demonstrates this visually
• Create a set of instructions in the form of a post on this blog that contains all of the above, give this post the “Weekly Challenge” category.

HINTS: Here are two related project on GitHub and a relevant discussion thread

• https://github.com/ameisso/OSCLib-for-ESP8266
• https://github.com/sandeepmistry/esp8266-OSC
• http://www.esp8266.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1883